When your surveyor tells you midway through your build that your house is now worth a third less than what you paid for it, you either lose the motivation to keep going, or carry on and hope for the best. Ann Marie Cousins was a litigator when she and her husband, David, bought their home in Yorkshire and, although, she’d extended kitchens and bathrooms before, renovating a house that’s of architectural interest and in a conservation area was entirely new.
The couple bought the property in 2011 and the decor had a distinctly 1990s vibe with peach and yellow walls, but it was a beautiful house. Initially, they thought they’d only have to give it a refresh with a coat of paint and swift removal of the green carpets. But after living in the property for two years, they soon realised that to achieve the home they really needed for their growing family, they would have to undertake a bigger project.
“We found out that I was expecting our third child before we began, which meant we could plan everything in advance by the time we moved out for work to commence,” says Ann Marie. “When the builders started, everything had been costed and the prices the builders gave us were the real costs because we’d detailed everything from the very beginning – I didn’t want to have any surprises.”
The family moved out for 10 months while the house was rewired, re-roofed, re-plumbed, had a new boiler fitted and had the basement tanked. They also converted part of the attic to add an extra bedroom and a bathroom. “We initially had four bedrooms on the first floor and two small doubles on the second. We converted one of the big bedrooms into an en suite,” Ann Marie explains. This new bathroom features a CP Hart sink, and vanity unit and tiles from Plan It Earth.
On the ground floor the kitchen was accessed via three steps, which caused a disconnect between this space and other rooms on that floor. Another issue was that the kitchen’s ceiling height was more than 3.4m. “There were a couple of spots in the room where you’d get tinnitus because it was so echoey,” she says.
When the couple were planning how to improve the layout, it became clear they should incorporate the basement into the rest of the house – it’s now a home gym. To establish good head height below, they raised the kitchen and the breakfast room floors by 12in so that they were in line with the rest of the ground floor. “This allowed us to have an open-plan kitchen and dining area with a big island.”
The new kitchen has a ceiling with tin tiles from Andy Thorntons, and the echo has now gone. A natural grey polished concrete floor by Concreate establishes a neutral foundation for industrial details, such as the aluminium worktop, yellow Wayfair stools and BTC pendant lights.
“This ground floor space is great for socialising. We’ve had everything from christenings to parties with 150 guests.”
Ann Marie’s analogy for the home is that it’s like having a great biker jacket that you can make smart with a silk shirt and heels. “It then becomes casual when you pair it with a T-shirt and jeans,” she says. “It’s about having a classic core, that everything else can pivot round.”
That’s what she’s done throughout. While all the spaces have their own moods, the classic foundations remain. “Whenever I’ve gone a bit crazier, it’s by using paint,” she says. “It’s not that expensive or difficult to change, but if you look at the more permanent aspects, such as the flooring, it’s fairly classic – it’s oak parquet from Havwoods.”
The main bedroom is intentionally subdued. The walls are painted in Farrow & Ball Cornforth White and covered in Galadriel Truffle Voyage wallpaper. Bespoke cabinetry by Dovetail in the en suite helps to create a luxury spa finish.
The Yorkshire light is cool and several rooms in the house are northfacing. Playing with different hues has made them inviting. The sitting room is painted in Dulux Pink Nevada 2. In the hallway 3D wall art tiles from art3dwallpanels.com add interest to the expansive space.
“Ultimately, we’ve put our heart and soul into building a home for our growing family – a home to last and a home we all love being in. For us, it wasn’t really about increasing its value although, of course, when we eventually sell we know it’ll all have been worth it. But whether it’s worth a third less or a third more, what we have gained is a beautiful home, which has been the perfect backdrop to our family’s ever-changing needs and one we all enjoy being together in – . And to me that’s the secret of successful design.”
