'Taking the wall down made all the difference'

By opening up a tiny conservatory and combining it with the living, dining and kitchen areas, Sally Parson has created a light and airy multi-use space

- Stephanie Smith

Taking on a house in need of some care and attention eight years ago, Sally Parson had to think carefully about what to do with the downstairs of the property. Sally and husband Mark wanted a more open-plan feel to suit family life. 'Some of the work had been done to open the living and dining area up,' she explains. “There were doors to the garden, but there was a strange conservatory tacked on the end with a wall that was blocking out the light. It had a door into it from the living area and another one from the back end of the separate reception room, so there was barely any space to do anything in there. The kitchen we inherited wasn't great, but we knew we could leave that for a little while. It was the lack of light that was the immediate problem.’

THE PROJECT

With the project split into three distinct phases spread out over an eight-year period, phase one was taking out the wall between the kitchen and conservatory, as well as re-roofing and putting in windows in the kitchen for more light. ‘We lived with it like that for a few years as the basics were in and the kitchen was still in a reasonable condition, but nothing really hung together,’ says Sally.