11.02.26
In My Space with Kelly + Simon | Client Chit-Chats.
Our clients wanted to expand and modernise their home, making it more livable and suitable for the whole family. That meant a larger kitchen-dining area with unobstructed views out to the garden, a new pantry and snug area, and an on-trend office to enhance the work-from-home experience.
And that’s just on the ground floor. Upstairs, we added a master bedroom and ensuite, with vaulted ceilings and generous windows to admire stunning garden views.
Keep scrolling to read the interview.
HL: Looks like you’ve got settled into your new space! How has the new space impacted your day-to-day life so far?
S: Kelly and I are parents of two young kids, and we’ve grown up in this area with a family home in mind. What we lacked was a bit of extra space to really get the best out of a family home. We entered into the project, opened up our kitchen, created a bigger bedroom, and what’s happened is it’s allowed us to really grow and flourish as a family, spend time without being on top of each other, but also maximise the things we love doing the most, being in the kitchen, entertaining, the kids staying out of the way, getting their friends over, and really being able to enjoy the very best of what living in Haslemere and being a family can offer.
HL: So, what made you go with Heronlake in the first place?
K: So we first met Heronlake through Chris Medland, the architect, who designed our new space. We met Stuart and Terence, and we just found them really trustworthy, honest and really helpful in bringing our attention to parts of the house we hadn’t thought of and things we needed to consider in the planning process.
HL: That’s great! So how did you end up working with them?
S: So how we worked with the Heronlake team to create the space is relatively interesting because I had very little to do with it, to be honest with you. I was primarily at work most of the time. So Kelly stage-managed our project build with Tel and the team from Heronlake, but we found it extraordinarily collaborative. Heronlake bent over backwards to accommodate the vision that we wanted for our house.
And I’m sure, like so many people building extensions and undertaking huge projects, it’s quite a nerve-wracking process. Sometimes it’s hard to actually understand what you want in the project, and it’s very easy to start changing your mind and second-guess decisions. We found the process really easy. They understood that we didn’t quite know the direction we were going in, but they were always there to keep us within the guardrails and make sure that whatever direction we took, we were happy with the end product and it was what we wanted for our home.
We never felt pressured, and we always felt they had our back. And we managed to keep within budget, which I’m still reeling with surprise about.
HL: Well, we appreciate that and it was great to work on this transformation with you. The house interiors look great, where was your design inspo from?
K: We found our design inspiration… well, we didn’t actually find it. It just came to us from the heart. It’s a family home. We wanted something that worked for a busy family with active kids. We’ve created a really open and entertainment-friendly home. Our kitchen is really the heart of it.
HL: Yes, it really is! What about your favourite areas in the space?
S: I think we’re probably divided on this. For me, it is almost certainly having a much larger office space. With the way people work in the world these days, being at home more, it was really important to me to have an area that I could get away from the kids, stay out of the way from Kel if we have people around, and be able to really focus on my work. How about you, Kelly?
K: Yeah, definitely not my favourite space. My favourite space is definitely the utility. It’s so large compared to what we had. I have all the space now for all the children’s activity and sports paraphernalia, jackets. It’s just an amazing space for me as a mum of two busy kids.
HL: That totally makes sense for both of you. What about your top decor piece or item?
K: Favourite home décor? Something that we actually agreed on would be our beautiful brick fascia. We absolutely love it. It’s just really made it feel a little bit more modern, but also a bit country too.
HL: It suits the space really well…and finally would you recommend Heronlake to friends?
S: So final question on In My Space is would we recommend Heronlake to friends, etc. 100% yes. We have thoroughly enjoyed the whole business of building an extension and renovating our home. It’s often cited as one of the most stressful things you can do, and it certainly has its moments and challenges and can push every marriage, even the very best ones, to the very limit.
But we always found that Heronlake were beside us the whole way and the journey was done collaboratively. They listened to us, and more importantly, we got the feeling that it wasn’t just a job they were coming to do and then leave. They committed from the beginning and still continue to commit to make sure that we are happy, that the home remains exactly what we wanted it to be, and that they’ve put their stamp of approval on it, which I think means everything to Stuart and the team at Heronlake.
They guarantee their work, they guarantee their promise to be by their clients. We couldn’t have chosen a better contractor to do our work for us. So yes, 100% recommend to our friends and wish them all the very best. Thank you.