BIG ideas

RYAN JAMES AND PARTNER CRAIG HAVE TOTALLY TRANSFORMED THEIR SMALL COTTAGE WITH SMART DECORATING AND SPACE-SAVING TRICKS

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Ryan and Craig moved here several years ago from a Victorian two-bedroom property in Woking. 'We'd renovated that quickly and made a bit of profit on it, and we wanted something a little different to do it all again,' Ryan says.

WHAT CONDITION WAS THIS COTTAGE IN WHEN YOU BOUGHT IT?

'This place had been rented out and was all perfectly livable but it needed some character and clever ideas. There was a lot of dark mahogany and the ceilings had been lowered, so it felt very small and enclosed.'

HOW DID YOU APPROACH THE RENOVATION?

'We did a lot of the work ourselves. Both of us are fairly good at DIY and we have lots of ideas – we've pretty much changed everything in the cottage, from the flooring to the doors.