Q&A with Elaine

What is your favourite design feature?

The internal feature brickwork. We sourced a brick far cheaper and far nicer than we ever thought we would get. And we love the external canopy and the seater.

What would you change or do differently?

I would change the location of the thermostats to control the underfloor heating temperature. I think that decision was driven without us knowing what implications it would have. And maybe, in hindsight, we should have tried to get the landscaping done at the same time as the build.

What surprised you?

We spent so long fine tuning the initial design, when we were in the process of doing it we realised it was just a blueprint. Our architects were very patient with us, but we didn’t need to spend as much time as we did at the start. What also crops up is the sheer number of decisions that still need to be made. At times it was decision overload even with an architect, a builder and spec designs.

What single piece of advice would you give a friend who’s looking to embark on a project similar to yours?

Our architect was invaluable. We could not have done it without them. So, for anyone who doesn’t want to be super involved in the process keep your architect engaged during the build stage. We are control freaks; we want to know what’s being built. But at the same time, we want to be able to hand it over and then walk away.

Would you do it again?

No, we wouldn’t, we have no plans to leave this house.