A complete home renovation in Kingston upon Thames with a open plan kitchen and dining, bathroom, study, and landscaping

This three bedroom semi-detached Kingston home with a large garden had not been renovated for over 15 years, so the new owners wanted to uplift and modernize their new home to be suitable for a young family of four. Refresh Renovations design and build specialist Saleem A Jalil was commissioned to redesign and renovate the entire home as well as design and build an additional new home within its immediate curtilage. Therefore, this renovation required a lot of coordination between the various design and build teams building the two projects, which Saleem and his team were able to come out on top!
Homeowner Rima first met Refresh Renovations South West London at the homebuilding show in Excel and she was quite impressed with the structure and transparency of the renovation process offered by Refresh Renovations. "Being a project manager myself for over 15 years working with financial services institutions, I am very attentive to details and very keen on knowing the process, plan, and schedule of time," says Rima. 

Why she chose a Refresh Renovations franchise

"In addition to its global brand, what attracted me to Refresh Renovations is that they provide a single point of contact which made the process quite easy. My project was assigned a dedicated project manager (Sam) who introduced the project design & build program, helped set my expectations, and explained where we would start and worked with me to set the right budget for the project" says Rima.
"This was very important to me and my partner as we had contacted several renovation companies prior to Refresh, and each of them immediately provided me with a lump sum budget for my project without even asking for my preferences on specific details, finishes and specifications," explains Rima. Whereas with Refresh, I was provided with a detailed report containing a cost breakdown and detailed specifications."

An old house renovation

The assigned team started by completely stripping out the existing floors, ceilings, and walls which was crucial for such an old house.
Refresh Renovations recommended Atelier Set Architecture who provided all the architectural and interior design drawings, details, and mood boards, which Refresh was able to then build to Rima’s expectations.
"The home was internally remodelled to make it flow! Where the ground floor appears visually connected from the front to the rear, creating the ideal layout for an open plan living space," explains Saleem. "Creating a seamless flow between the living, kitchen, and dining area involved the introduction of several structural posts and beams that were going to support the two floors above." Once the structural elements were in place, Saleem proposed natural oak wood flooring, which added a natural voguish feel to the home. 
Refresh then installed a 1.5m by 1.5m Fakro roof light to the rear extension which flooded the kitchen with natural sunlight. The team also added ceramic tiles to the kitchen and bathrooms, creating an elegant look and contrasting the oak wood pattern of the living and dining areas; "This open-plan area ended up being one of my favourites," reveals Rima.
Next, the team installed a new guest toilet on the ground floor. "This involved fitting a macerator as a traditional waste pipe would have been too instructive and therefore financially inefficient to install," elaborates Sam, the project manager.

Moving on to the first floor involved the removal of the walls of the box room and the introduction of a contemporary skylight. "This really maximises the natural light and allows for a multi-purpose area for the family to use; here you can study, play, or just lounge!" says Saleem. Furthermore, the loft was also converted into another bedroom with extended eaves storage and drawers.
When it came to the exterior of the house, the bespoke front garden design allowed for both soft and hardscaping. "The softscaping included natural slate, and its colour works so nicely with the newly white-painted external walls and the black front door," says Saleem. "Meanwhile, the hardscaping included paving a path towards the front door." However, the exterior work didn't stop there, as the rear garden was completely revamped to include a natural wooden deck accompanied by a modest green patch featuring artificial turf!
As the project manager, Sam managed all the project design & build team during this project, which included Cliff Turnbull for Structural Engineering, About Roofing Ltd for Roofing, Star Glass Ltd for Glazing, and liaised with London Building Control and several building merchants. Doing so meant Refresh served as the client’s single point of contact, taking the stress away from their renovation project and providing them with a turn-key renovation solution.
When asked about the final result, Saleem says "Although an old house like this comes with a lot of uncertainties, we were able to transform this aged semi-detached house into a modern terraced home that suited the client special needs and budget." He added "One of my favourite features is the first floor study—which was initially a small dark and uninviting enclosed space, and now, it's just flooded with natural light as a result from the newly installed skylight and existing windows!"

Final thoughts

"I've been very pleased with Refresh Renovations South West London and the team's professionalism," says Rima. "Even though Saleem has been very direct in some occasions, his thoroughness and holistic view has guided me into taking the right decisions and prevented me from deviating from the proposed scope. His team, being attentive to details, has given me added comfort to know that the build work is being supervised and monitored throughout the project."
"We followed the Refresh process from start to finish," says Saleem. "As shown on the drawings, the concept design explored the various internal redesign and remodeling possibilities, which extended out to the front and rear gardens." This professional, tried and tested design process is what allows us to complete every project on time, within budget, and to the highest standards!
"I'm very happy with the final outcome as they have met and exceeded my expectations," says Rima. "Refresh Renovations has kept me informed regularly through the process without hassling me on small details, hence the results did not come as a surprise. I would certainly recommend Refresh and would contact them again for any new renovation project I undertake!"

Thinking of renovating?

If you would like to get started on your own renovation project, get in touch with a Refresh renovation specialist today for a completely free consultation!