This lovely Walthamstow home belongs to Kate and Michael, who decided to embark upon their renovation journey following a frustrating search for a family house. They were struggling to find somewhere in their local area that had sufficient space for their family that was within budget. Location was key, as they've been happily living in the Walthamstow area for over 6 years and were keen not to uproot.

Pre-renovation, the house wasn't in a great state and had a very different feel to how it looks now. It came with a wonderful big garden but from the kitchen there was little to no view outside, meaning if the toddlers were out playing they had to physically be outside with them at all times to keep an eye. In the kitchen dining area the floor was sloped with pipes sticking out, and the windows throughout the property were very old.

The ground floor was made up of three separate rooms; there was a utility room spanning the back of the house, a kitchen in the middle and a living room at the front of the house, and all three rooms were connected by narrow doorways. We transformed the downstairs through designing an open plan layout facing out to the garden, removing the utility room to create a spacious kitchen with a breakfast bar, a dining area and a place for the kids to store their toys and play. There's plenty of natural light flooding in through the extension via the doors, a beautiful oriel window that can be used as a reading nook or extra seating, and two large rooflights. As you enter the extension from the corridor there's now also a WC tucked away into the space under the stairs. The back doors open up onto a gorgeous patio area which we raised to be flush with the ground floor internal level with steps down into the garden. The living room is still at the front of the house, but has been renovated and separated off to be accessed from the corridor.

The process was great. Our Resi designer gave us a couple of different design options, we jumped on a call to discuss and one edit later it was done. He really understood what we were looking to do, and the dashboard was really useful.

Photography by Matt Gamble.