The Homeowners

This decadent Derbyshire house is the family home of Lorna, John, Freddy and Arran. In 2020 Lorna reached out to Resi looking for help with revamping and modernising her recently purchased property. We were enlisted to design a ground floor wraparound extension to replace an old, drafty conservatory. We also reconfigured the internal layout of both the downstairs and upstairs, and rethought the rear facade adding 'his and hers' balconies to two of the bedrooms.

The transformation of this home didn't stop at the door; the family also decided to get creative with their gorgeous garden by building an outdoor kitchen / BBQ area and turning what was an old pond into a fire-pit, creating the ultimate garden party destination. For the interiors, Lorna enlisted Leicestershire-based interior design firm Novo Design, who were a vital sounding board throughout the entire project, working closely with Lorna to turn the family's pandemic purchase into their forever home.

The Story

We moved here in 2020, having lived in London for a long time. The house is in a village in Derbyshire. I grew up not too far from here and I vowed I would never move back to Derby! But, we were ready to leave London after 15 years there. It was Covid when we moved, we had very young children and weren't living the London life anymore. We weren't going to the theatre, or going out to all the nice restaurants, instead we were craving the outside space to walk the dog and teach the kids to ride their bikes.

What we love about this house is hosting people in it. We both have big families and lots of friends who live all over, so it was really important that we could host them; we didn't want to segregate ourselves by moving away. I grew up in a house full of people, where everyone was welcome. If somebody didn't have somewhere to be, they'd come to our house. I want this house to be like that. There's enough space for people to find their own comfort. My parents live 20 minutes away and they often pop in for a coffee. They're here whenever we need them, and their relationship with our children (and also the relationship we now have as adults!), just because we see them so regularly, is really special. This house is their home as much as theirs was my home growing up.

We bought the house and moved in during the summer of 2020. We contacted Resi quickly. We knew we needed to do a lot of work, and we had big ideas! We kicked off the process of considering what might be possible whilst living here, figuring out the space and how we used it. I realised I wasn't going to be able to pull the whole house together on my own, it felt quite overwhelming, and so I put the feelers out for someone who could help me with the interiors. I had an out-of-control Pinterest board of all things I loved, and I didn't know how to distill that into something that would flow throughout the house, knowing we were renovating every single space. Abbie and Reece at Novo Design were invaluable in bringing my vision to life.

We've been in this house for a year now. That’s a full cycle of seasons, holidays, birthdays, and now it feels like the home it was always meant to be.

The Challenges

We started demolition in September 2021, and worked through 18 months - quite a delay to a project we thought would take a year! We needed to rebuild a roof, which we hadn't planned for, plus we faced huge delays in supply. It's also a very bespoke finish with lots of fabulous, important detailing to maintain the character - complexity takes time I've learned! And so in the end we completed in May of 2023, just over a year ago.

I think budget is always stressful in this kind of project. An old house has lots of unknowns hidden away… like the roof above the large ensuite and the master bedroom, where rebuilding it all wasn't in the original plan. It was an extension done in the 80s before building control regulations, and it wasn't structurally sound. It pushed us back, and pushed the budget up. Now we have a well-insulated roof, high ceilings and a loft we didn't have before. It’s a really lovely space. The steel bifold doors were very complex too. They were made in Romania and were very, very delayed, which meant we couldn't seal the house, couldn't dry the concrete floor, or reduce room humidity enough to lay the parquet flooring. 200 square metres of engineered parquet flooring takes a long time to lay, and we couldn't start it for months.

It was difficult doing the project at first with two young kids and, what felt like, tons of big decisions to make each and every day. I was busy being a mum, plus working and project managing this huge renovation. So, about halfway through, I quit my job. I had a moment one night, trying to work out the electrical plan, and locations of light switches. It was 11pm, I was tired after working all day and looking after our kids, and I said 'I don't care anymore'. In the morning I panicked, because I needed to care! This is our forever home. So I took a break from work to focus on the project. I'm so glad I did, as it meant I could focus AND enjoy it. The last thing I’d want is to finish it, and then look around thinking about how hard it was, or what I’d got wrong, or how I wasn’t happy doing it.

The Garden Room

Where the extension is now there was an old 1980s conservatory. It was very hot in the summer and very cold in the winter. We extended a metre and a half out to the side and we put the steel doors in as a nod to my love of art deco. I wanted big curved glass windows and we ended up coming up with this steel structure, which mirrors the shape of the bay window next to it - bringing some of the old into the new space.

Inside the extension and the main living space, I wanted to maintain the sense of two rooms but for it to still be open plan, which is why we kept a half-height wall with a fireplace. I think the technical term is ‘broken plan’! The extension itself, we call it the garden room, is where we hang out. Obviously, the favourite part of this room is the view, and the steel doors give it some extra character. Being able to sit in here and look outside at the view is super special.

The Boot Room

The boot room is the family entrance to the house and the one we normally use. At risk of sounding really boring and practical, it's my favourite part of the house - it doesn't matter what happens in here, all the mud and the football boots, wellies, wetsuits, they all get chucked into the dog shower, along with the dog! It keeps the house itself much cleaner. Before, there were two small cupboard sized rooms, no insulation and it didn’t function well. We ended up knocking it down and starting again - a mega bonus of which is the new loft space above! Inside, we have loads of storage, and a loo. I have a proper utility room too - which is just so nice to have after living in London with no space.

The Playroom

For the boys' playroom, we put in the steel sliding doors to tie in with the rest of the steel used. They have glass panes and they slide away, so that when you come into this space, you can see right through whether they're open or closed. It used to be a snug with a fireplace and big sofas, and we wanted to use it as a space that the boys could have for themselves, but also still be close to us. They spend a lot of time in here, particularly on the window seat which wasn't here before.They pile on there with their friends and lots of blankets, and pull the telly out to watch a movie. It's great because it's their space, but it's right here so we can see them, hear them and be available for them. But if too noisy we can shut the doors, which is nice too (though it looks a little bit like they're in a cage)!

The Study

The study has lots of character, the panelling actually came from Sheffield Manor - it's from the 16th century. The rest of the furniture is inherited from John's grandpa. Both mine and John's family are Scottish, so the tartan carpet felt fitting. It’s an old, characterful and cosy space.

The His & Hers Balconies

One of the biggest changes we did to the oldest part of the house was to change the top three windows. When we were planning the renovation, we wanted to make sure that we were sympathetic in retaining the character of the house. In the master bedroom, there was this sort of hexagonal tower that went all the way up to the top. It had a flat roof and enclosed the room with a window seat around the window, facing the bed. It didn't make sense, as we wanted to look outside at the view rather than inwards! We talked to Resi - needing a lot of help with building regs - and managed to change the space into a balcony.

On the other spare bedroom that faces out into the garden, we changed the window to double doors that open out onto a balcony you can walk out onto. The idea Resi talked us through were 'his and hers' style balconies from back in the day.

The Room with a Loo & The Room with a View

The house originally finished here, next to the master bedroom. There was a single-storey garage on the other side of the wall. 50 years ago, the previous owners decided to change that garage into a big billiards room. I don't think they knew what to put on the top of it, and so they made it into an ensuite bathroom that was bigger than the flat I lived in in London. We needed to figure out a better use of that space. By splitting it into three rooms: we created a sizeable dressing room that leads into the master ensuite, and separately we walled off a section to create an ensuite for the spare bedroom next door. So now there's two great guest rooms; one with a bathroom and one with a balcony. We call them the room with a loo and the room with a view!

The Kerb Appeal

We wanted to tidy up the front of the house because every single one of the windows was a different size and a different height, just all over the place! To make them uniform, we had to pin up the house and then rebuild the front with the right openings.. So now each of the windows are the same size, same level all the way across to the other side of the front door. This also brought a lovely symmetry into the kitchen design inside.

The Front Door

Something that was really important to me was to have the window into our home to contain the story of other places we have, or do, call home. It’s also another nod to my love of art deco. It contains a couple of Rennie Mackintosh roses. He was a Scottish architect and designer who we love. Then the paintings are of special places we call home. John's from Teeside, so there's the Teeside transporter bridge - a key landmark apparently! South Africa is a place we have both spent a lot of time in. The whale in the front is a nod to our daughter who died very young, and whose nickname was Flipper, so she's here as well. We have Chamonix, another place that we just adore, and London where we met, lived for 15 years and where all the children were born. There's a little rainbow in there for our dog ‘Bow, whose full name is Rainbow. Lastly we have Edinburgh, where we got engaged, where I went to university, and represents a big part of both our family’s history. The window was SO fun to make, I worked with a designer who helped me with the Art Deco and Rennie Macintosh theme, and she then painted these pictures from photographs I sent her. I worked with a local guy who fabricated it for me, and I would go to his shed as we pinned it all together. I even went to Birmingham to a glass factory to pick the different pieces of glass. The whole process was really special, and it's lovely every time we come into the house to remember all the other aspects of home outside of this building.

The Fire Pit

I planned the inside of the house, and John worked on the outside design. We used to have a big pond, which was beautiful but quite old in its style, it leaked and the young kids and dog were obsessed with playing in it, which didn’t feel safe, so we decided to create a sociable space that also enabled us to shelter a bit from the wind, and so we dug down to create the fire pit in the space where the pond used to be.

The Outdoor Kitchen

The outdoor kitchen & bbq area was designed to match the house. It has the same roof tiles. We had to work on the planning with Resi, because there were a couple of objections from the neighbours around the height of the shelter. We adapted the planning application and ended up digging down to have it sit lower, which pleased the neighbours and has worked well for us because it can be windy here and it's created a nice little zone.

Novo Design

Abbie: I remember the first time I met Lorna like it was yesterday. A grey morning, drinking coffee surrounded by 1980’s pine furniture and red floral curtains. She explained her vision for this epic renovation, it was a project designed to create spaces for life, love and laughter (and obviously included generous wine storage). My coffee was still too hot to drink when I knew I wanted to help deliver this dream.

After submitting our proposal to Lorna and John we crossed all our fingers and toes and were delighted when they appointed us to help on this amazing journey. And what a journey it was. Lorna blew our minds… her ability to digest all the information, read drawings and understand the complexity of all the interlinking elements was incredible. The time, effort and energy she put into reviewing every detail to make sure it was what they needed paid off. This is a house of destinations: the posh loo, window seat for vinyl, kids den, indulgent views, present wrapping, dog washing…. It all works harmoniously providing not just a glorious aesthetic, but a functionality to suit family life, entertaining and a fun-filled joyous existence.

When the build came to a close, the install was such a special and emotional end to the project. It was an honour and privilege to help intertwine the family's passions, as well as the memory of their daughter, Chloe throughout the spaces and details. Seeing their reaction, knowing they felt all family members have their place here, was incredible.

What a journey, what a project and what an amazing family who couldn’t deserve this dream house more!

Lorna's episode of Resi Renos is live on our YouTube channel.

Architectural Design by Resi
Interior Design by Novo Design
Photography by Peter Furlong

Photographed: Lorna (Homeowner), Reece (Interior Designer at Novo Design) and Alex (Founder & CEO of Resi). Oh, and ‘Bow (Dog).