When Claire and Darren Beckett had their first daughter, it quickly became apparent that their two-up, two-down home wasn’t going to cope for long. ‘It was just about big enough for the two of us, but when Amelie came along it definitely felt overcrowded,’ says Claire, who runs online lifestyle store Chalk Homeware. With precious little spare cash to increase their mortgage, the couple found another two-bed, but one that could be extended. ‘There’s a basement ripe for refurb and the loft can be converted, too, as and when funds permit, so eventually we will get the extra bedrooms we need without overstretching ourselves,’ says Claire.
But before they could even move in, the property needed a lot of work on the ground floor. Luckily, Darren’s a carpenter and was able…
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Country Homes & Interiors (Digital) - 1 Issue, September 2019