'We weren't fazed by taking on a big renovation'

To get their dream property at the right price, Dagmara and Artan Lenja chose a fixer-upper Edwardian terrace and transformed it into their ideal family home

- Stephanie Smith

Dagmara and Artan Lenja were keen to find a renovation project they could really sink their teeth into. ‘We wanted somewhere with potential, which we could turn into the sort of family home we dreamed of,’ recalls Dagmara. ‘We’d started off in a one-bedroom flat and gradually worked our way up size-wise, renovating each property along the way. When the children came along, it was time to think bigger.’

Having lived mainly in the Catford area of south-east London, the couple were happy to stay local. ‘We like it around here because there are lots of green spaces, good schools, excellent transport links and a real sense of community,’ Dagmara says. ‘House prices here are better than in most areas of London, but anything already done up would have been too expensive.’ They knew they’d have to take on a property that needed lots of work, which didn’t faze Dagmara and Artan – as an interior designer and the boss of a building firm, respectively, the couple are used to working together on projects, starting from scratch and coming up with solutions.

After an extensive search for nearby properties for sale, the couple spotted a totally unrenovated house just one street over from where they were living. ‘It hadn’t been touched for years. It had no central heating, and it obviously needed a total rewire,’ says Dagmara. ‘The same family had lived in it since it was built more than a hundred years previously. We liked the idea that we would be only the second owners of a period property like this and could make it our own, while respecting the origins of the house.’