Doubling Up

By extending up and out, Fiona and Will Marsh have increased the size of their home, creating a light-filled oasis of calm, ideal for family life

- Amelia Thrope

Fiona and Will Marsh wanted a larger home for their young family in the corner of southwest London they had come to love. So when they spotted a four-bedroom house for sale less than a mile away from their home, they moved quickly and snapped it up. ‘Despite the fact that the house was dark and awkwardly arranged, and the garden overgrown, we could see it had potential to become a spacious family home,’ recalls Fiona.

But before they started refurbishing work, Fiona, a solicitor, and Will, a commercial property developer, agreed they would spend a few years living in the house to develop their ideas. ‘We wanted to take our time to work out how we would use the space and understand the problems with the layout before making any changes,’ she says. ‘For example, I don’t think I would have realised how dreary it is to have a kitchen sink with a view of nothing but our neighbour’s side wall otherwise – living with it helped me decide to move the room completely.’