I am rejoining the renovation club with a hip-to-gable loft conversion with a rear dormer. Here, we’re looking at the process behind the initial first drawings…
The steam of our tea gently wafts, our pens poised ready for note-taking, and a sense of excitement and anticipation sizzles in the air (along with the sound of the tumble drier rumbling in the distance). My husband and I log into Zoom for the first design meeting with our loft company – the journey is about to begin.
It had been a couple of weeks since we’d signed on the dotted line and paid our deposit, so Marcus and I had time to discuss what we did and didn’t want from our new master suite. But first, a little about us: Marcus is the clean, organised, and practical one. I am the opposite. I am the creative, sometimes overly optimistic, incredibly messy one. For instance, if I do a load of washing, it will make it upstairs on the same day, but will probably sit on our floor for about four to five days.
Taking our personalities and lifestyle into account, Marcus stipulated he wanted a bathroom as maintenance-free as possible. As for me, I wanted a walk-in wardrobe where I could plonk my clothes and which wouldn’t affect our bedroom.
Another main reason why a walk-in wardrobe is on my loft conversion wishlist is because I don’t want a large open area with cupboards pushed against the walls, resulting in lots of redundant, empty floor space. Seconds after we joined the meeting, we talked with our architect-designer about the next steps. We then went through the initial drawings he’d mocked up following a structural survey completed on our property the week before.
The proposed plans
I was a little surprised, as the proposed loft space was smaller than I anticipated – due to the steep eaves. Gone were my grand ideas of a walk-in wardrobe; or were they? After some tweaking, our architect came up with a scheme which meant we could have a long thin space that ran parallel to the eaves.
The compact ensuite would be opposite, directly above the family bathroom (making it easier to connect the pipework). This means the ‘sleep zone’ is quite modest, but really once you’ve got a bed, drawers, and lighting, what more do you need? And actually, the more I thought about it, the more I liked how this would create the cocooning sanctuary I had initially pictured.
Thinking on the spot, I asked for the entrances to the walk-in and ensuite to be archways – so while the three areas would be separated, the loft would still feel open and filled with natural light.
A week later, we had the first draft of plans down on paper, sparking the rest of the official process – with our loft company sending the plans to the council for a Lawful Development Certificate. (While lofts are covered under permitted development – where you don’t need to obtain planning permission – this is always good to do, as it helps confirm everything is being done properly.) We also had to inform the neighbours and get our party wall agreement signed. (Thank you, Cassie and Rob, for making that part so easy.)
We’d have to wait a few weeks until all that came through… which gave me us plenty of time to think about the bathroom design.
In the meantime, you can also keep an eye on the progress over on Instagram (@georginakbbmag) where I’m documenting the reno journey.
Enjoyed this post? Click here to find out why we decided to convert our loft
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