Nice to meet you
About Us
We’re just a family of 5, with no interior design experience but a clear idea of what we did, and didn’t like. We have always cautiously avoided any interior design decisions before, and as a result lived in ‘safe’, inoffensive and bland interiors. We wanted something different…
Our Interior History
Both of our previous homes had only been stopgaps and not where we had intended on staying forever, so in the back of our minds we had to consider what the future buyers would approve of. Added to this, both of the homes we had were newbuilds: admittedly the second one did have a lot of features but still – we felt the interior had to reflect the walls in which it sat.
Our quest to find a home which would cure Danny’s itchy feet was never going to be easy. We like to think we’re fairly flexible on our housing demands, but location was key and after keeping our RightMove tabs refreshed for a couple of years we started to realise that what we were looking for might not yet exist. Danny’s family live on a farm, and my determination to avoid living up there was weakening. We explored the possibility of building an oak framed house in one of the fields which would have utilised an unusued drive and kept us at a suitable in-law distance! But discussions with our local planning department quickly identified that this would never be approved.
Time For a Change
Our Barn Conversion Adventure
It was almost exactly the same time that we found out about a family friend had been given planning permission exceptionaly easily by his local planning department due to a new ruling: Permitted Development Section Q. This was designed to ease the planning process when converting an agricultural barn into a dwelling. Our interests peaked and we thought we might as well have a go at converting the old tractor shed on Danny’s parent’s farm. At this point we were not particularly confident at it going through, but with a decision required before 8 weeks we figured it would be worth the punt. We submitted it on the 19th March 2016, three days before the youngest was born, and then 8 weeks later it was approved. We couldn’t really believe it!
The rest, as they say, is history. We have continued to receive so many enquiries and requests for advice that we thought we would revamp our website and set it up as an advice hub based on our experiences. We love how many homes we have already helped to inspire, and hope we continue to do so as we challenge people to quit the norms and go with your gut!