Kitchen Confidential

More updates on the Dixies conversion ... drum roll... I am very excited to finally be able to share some pics of our new kitchen.

The actual kitchen was relatively easy to choose, but we got held up by the decision on the floor (it was more expensive than we'd budgeted for, but we found the money in the end!); we were delayed by a missed sink order; and we found ourselves in a spot of bother (about 10cms worth) when we discovered that the larder unit had been built too tall for the new kitchen ceiling - oops.

Things ironed themselves out in the end with an equal mix of panicking, rushed orders, and some very clever carpentry, and we are left with a gorgeous new kitchen.

The units are from Neptune, and are hand-made in solid Oak, with Ash-lined interiors. We went for a simple Shaker style that Neptune calls Suffolk, to match the pared-down style of the cottage.

The colour scheme includes muted, classic colours that are calming and easy to live with. The main units are painted in Neptune's Honed Slate, with accent cupboards such as the larder in a contrasting yellow called Clotted Cream. We also ordered some extra paint to transform a dresser bought on eBay: after much searching and many missed bids I managed to pick up a generous, Ducal dresser for a bargainous £170, which fits in perfectly with the country-kitchen feel.

The units are complemented by Farrow & Ball's Elephant's Breath on the actual walls of the kitchen.

To compensate for the low ceiling and to give the room a light, modern feel we chose a white and grey quartz for the surfaces. This works particularly well, bouncing light around the room, and making the kitchen area feel as spacious as possible.

Home is where the hearth is

The most exciting development this week has got to be the arrival of our lovely new fireplace.

After painstakingly working out the measurements and calculations based on the stove size and fire regulations, my (very) rough drawing of a fireplace has miraculously been turned into reality.


The colours and textures of the materials fit perfectly with the planned look and feel for the house, and they've all been up-cycled from the old house so we have a lovely juxtaposition of old with new. Bricks from the old conservatory have been used to construct the lower half of the fireplace, with the lintel made from a sawn-down beam that used to be in the kitchen.


We may have to wait a little while to get the fire to go inside, but for the moment it looks great just the way it is!

Top tiles

Day 70

Well the builders are keeping busy, moving swiftly along in the new bathroom this week - my latest obsession with the house...

The tiles have been chosen for a natural, rustic look, and I love the way the textures and colours work together. Even though we've used a dark slate for the shower tiles, the slight luminescence of the white textured floor tiles helps to reflect the light from the velux window around the room.

The tiles actually proved a bit of a nightmare for both us and the builder, with a combined total of around 8 hours spent in various different local B&Qs searching and buying the correct tiles. I think it's been worth it (although I'm not sure our builder would agree!).

Wall tiles

Floor tiles

Shower tiles, showing main wall tiles and
inset tiles

Now we just need to find some lights, shelves, and decide on the paint colour.

Tiles include: Shower - Porcelain wall and floor tiles in Energy Black from AG Ceramics, inset with square Natural Stone 100mm tiles from B&Q's natural tile selection; Wall - Natural Slate in Oyster; Floor - Ceramic Metallic floor tiles in White Field (both B&Q).

A room of one's own

Day 47
I have a slightly different view as I write this blog - from the balcony of our apartment in Florida! Jet lag has made us get up before sunrise for the last two mornings, so it seems like a good opportunity to catch up with the house diary by posting the pics I took of the house before we left.

It's very strange to think that the house is still growing whilst we're on holiday, but after a two hour meeting with the builder on Tuesday night before we left for the airport, we feel confident with the work they've got planned for the next ten days.

So here's where we are - we now have rooms! Before now, the build has concentrated on the outside shell of the house, but the wooden frame for internal walls has now gone up, so we can finally get a real feel for the sizes of the different rooms. Positives: the master bedroom is a lovely size, and the height given to the room by going up into the eaves is just lovely; the second bedroom upstairs is also a great size. Downsides: the master en-suite is smaller than we thought, which means we're going to have to be clever when it comes to the design and type of furniture; the utility room is also a bit smaller than we thought after we borrowed some more room for the kitchen, but there's still plenty of room for my cross-trainer, appliances, and most importantly the cats!

Spare room - who wants to come and stay?

Master en-suite.
In this picture you can also see the old wall of
the house where the extension joins on. 

Master bedroom view

Snug (shot taken from the kitchen)

Utility room (top)
Downstairs cloakroom (left)

Whilst we're away the builders are putting on the roof, the electrician will be completing the first stage of the wiring, and they may even get to laying some of the plumbing - should help with the back-from-holiday-blues!

The little green house

Day 37
It's been another busy week on the build-project front, but nothing that has made for very interesting images, hence the dearth of updates on the blog this week.

In summary, we have the roof joints, rafters, and eaves in place, and the builders have erected the scaffolding on Friday which will allow them to begin work on the exterior of the roof this week. You'll also see from the image that the whole structure is now covered in what I can only describe as a green felt-like meshing, ready to be rendered at some point over the coming weeks. We also ordered the windows this week, so they are now in production! In short - things are coming along swimmingly.

Day 32
It's been another storming week on the building front this week. We now have a first floor, complete with eaves, and they've insulated and boarded approx 3/4 of the outside walls. Will let the pictures do the talking - all very exciting!

Feeling chipper!

Day 28
It may only have been a three day week this week, but that didn't hold the chippies back. In the last three days we've seen the most physical change in the build to date (apart from the destruction phase). The builders have worked hard, and seem to have performed a small miracle. We now have an exterior wood frame for the whole of the ground floor of the house, and the same for the guest room to the left of the first floor. It's very exciting, and although we don't have the actual walls in place, the build now feels more like a house, and less like a 'project'.

The wood frame makes it easier to get a feel for the space of the rooms, and how they flow together - everything just seems more tangible now we have more of an idea of the parameters. We've also agreed the dimensions for the doors and windows, which you can see marked by the wood sections if you look closely.

We literally can't wait for next week now, to see the walls of the master bedroom (to the right) take place - it looks like a big room looking from below - although we need to fit an ensuite and the upstairs corridor into the space too.

Fully grounded

Day 25
After 25 (working) days since the start of the build, we are finally at ground level. It's a very satisfying feeling - not that I've done any of the hard graft myself - and it now feels like we're getting somewhere. Now that we've gone through the destruction and foundation-laying phases, we're hoping the actual build will feel quick - and I should have lots more progress to share.

The builders actually got to this stage on Tuesday, and then abandoned the build temporarily to allow the concrete to dry. I got around to taking an update photo this evening, and managed to capture the glorious promise of the build at floor level, illuminated in the last warm rays of what has been a glorious Easter weekend.

Onwards and upwards this week (literally!). We need to make a fairly quick decision this week about the windows/exterior doors, and we have 130 trees arriving for the hedge, so we need to arrange a meeting with the farmer who owns the field next door so we can agree a boundary line before we get planting. Am exhausted already... best get back to some planning - over a celebratory glass of Easter wine.

A kitchen in the Costwolds

Celebrations were in order this weekend - the hubby and I had our first year anniversary. We stayed in the Cotswolds in a lovely hotel just outside of Cheltenham - Ellenborough Park - it's recently undergone a substantial refurbishment, and we would absolutely recommend it!

We were inspired by the formal but un-stuffy interiors, and the feeling of lightness they've managed to breathe into the old castle.

Ellenborough Park

We were supposed to be going to Norfolk, the venue for our honeymoon, but we ended up in the Cotswolds because we wanted to go to see a potential kitchen supplier, based in Swindon - Neptune.

We had a very exciting meeting - the kitchens are all beautifully made, solid wood with the cabinets and panels made of a mix of Ash, Poplar, Oak and Birch, with an in-frame design, and dovetail jointed drawers. I love the Suffolk kitchen - it's a simple shaker style, and just what we've been hankering after in terms of quality and design. Now we just need to get the layout right! We talked to the designer whilst we were there, and should be getting some CAD drawings through this week - will keep you posted.

Suffolk Kitchen, Neptune 

The only way is up

Day 19
We have a wall - am very excited! The team's been busy today and we have a good 5 rows of bricks - finally we're going the right way - up!

Not the best picture I'm afraid - there are so many piles of bricks and scaffolding in the garden that I can't get to my offical picture-taking-point anymore... anyway you can see the row of bricks to the bottom right of the picture - this is the foundation of the outer wall which will be the back of the kitchen.

It actually looks smaller than I thought it would be, now it's taking shape - but I hope it's just a wierd perceptions thing!

More upwardly-mobile images to come this week fingers crossed.

In the Frame

Day 21
Well it's been a long week of waiting, but after the drought of work, it took just 5 hours for the build team to put up the framework that will hold the main part of the new extension together. The red frame is a made of about 30 metres of steel, and thankfully it looks pretty strong. It's been bolted into the concrete pads that were laid into dug-out trenches as part of the foundations.

We've also got piles of scaffolding, bricks, and scree-like in-fill - it's not very picturesque, but it should make for an exciting week next week. Hopefully we should get a nice lot of pictures showing the house progressing in the right direction this week (ie. being constructed rather than de-constructed).

Suddenly, amongst the Spring blossom on this balmy evening, the whole project feels a lot more positive - and the Summer end date that seemed so far away has become just that little bit closer.

A watched plot never boils

Day 16
My impatient nature is finding this week very difficult, as there are no big changes to report. Now that the destruction work is complete, things seem to be moving very slowly. We still have builders arriving every day, but the work, although crucial, is dull - the main advancements this week seem to have been digging out the patio, putting in foundations, and most recently, laying the drainage. Pictures below for anyone inclined to view!

Who's stolen my house?

Day 11

The demolition is finished! Am sure the neighbours must be very pleased - everything that's coming down is now well and truly down. I guess you could say we're definitely past the point of no return!

So you can now see that the two side walls and a small section of roof remains - these will stay as they are, with the new part of the house extending at a perpendicular angle from the existing house.

Well that didn't take very long

Day 2
We always knew the conservatory didn't have any foundations to speak of, but even with that in mind, I wasn't quite expecting it to come down quite as quickly as it has. Am sure there's something poetic to be said here about living in a house of cards, but am in far too much shock (and excitement) to think of what it might be.

In just two days, we're now back to where the house would have been around 200 years ago - with the original cottage area, adjoined by the single story lean-to extension.

Work has started!

Day 1
After a lot of planning, packing-up, and more planning the work is finally underway.

This is how we started:

First step - the patio and conservatory come down...



The plans

Now that the builders are about to start, I've realised I haven't shared the plans yet.

So to go back a step, the house is made up of three parts:

1. The original part: two farm labourers cottages circa 17th Century, that were knocked together to make one cottage somewhere along the way

2. The middle: a single-story lean-two extension, age uncertain - estimated 19th-20th Century

3. The conservatory: about 20 years old, poorly constructed, with no foundations

Each of these three sections is similar in size in terms of the floor area, although the only part with a corresponding upstairs level is the original, front section of the house.

In the new plan the original section of the house will remain unchanged (both upstairs and down), whilst the other two sections are removed (all but two walls) and re-built as a new double-story extension - here are the visuals of the plans which should make more sense!

(The plans have actually been amended slightly since this - will try to find time to scan in the most up-to-date floor layout and upload when I get a spare second).

All packed up and no where to go!

Well after a lot of help from my parents we're all packed up and ready for the builders to descend on us.

The house looks very sad, and it's going to be a long 5 months using our makeshift 'kitchen' (otherwise known as a fridge, microwave and kettle) in the dining room, and eating off paper plates.

I already hate that the 'good' half of the house looks like a junk shop - there's certainly going to be lots of weekends spent staying at friends just to escape the mess...

Suddenly feeling very apprehensive.

The growing pains of our little house...

Small designs...

What do you do when you've found a great house, in a perfect location? Improve it of course...

The house as it stands is a typical old cottage that's been extended - it's got a very live-able downstairs, and a less than live-able upstairs, with small rooms and low ceilings.

Actually the ceiling heights aren't too bad for a cottage - I can get around without bending in flats, but Jodes (the hubby) has to walk around with a permanent stoop, and has had quite a few really painful bumps to the head.

For just the two of us, the space is fine, but we want this to be a family home, which it can't really be unless I surrender my dressing room to be a kid's bedroom (just not an option...).

There were also a few problems that came up in the survey when we first bought the house to do with the lack of foundations for the conservatory, and the poor construction of the middle section of the house (a 200 year old extension) in terms of where it's fixed to the original part of the house.

So the plan is to retain the original part of the house, knock down the conservatory and 'extension' and rebuild both of these areas as a double-story. This will give us a load more room upstairs - an extra 2 double beds (one with an en-suite) - and it will fix the other problems with the walls/foundation by removing them, and in its place leaving us with a practical family space.

The house came with planning permission when we bought it, so we'd always planned on doing the work - the last 16 months have been spent sorting out our finances, tweaking the plans, and getting the builder on-board. Oh - and getting married last year took up quite a bit of time too!

Anyway, we're nearly there - how exciting!

The beginning

Having been obsessed with interior design for many years, a little cottage in Hertfordshire is my first chance to finally design the home I've always wanted. Very exciting, and actually... just a little bit daunting...

We've started a couple of the rooms already - more before and after shots on these to come - but the main project is due to start in 2 weeks time, when two thirds of the house will be knocked down and then re-built, leaving us without a kitchen for five months - eek!

Here's the house as it is now: