Surrey Homes | SH42 | April 2018 | Garden supplement inside

Above: Jo put in the dining room extension which joins up the kitchen and the snug, when she first moved in 14 years ago,
combining the beams of the original 16th century cottage with a light airy modern feel. The glorious four-oven Aga, was already in
place
Ally first visited at the end of September, had her swat team
on site by November and then it was six weeks hard slog to
have it ready for Christmas.
“I was hanging pictures on December 23rd…” she says.
But that was the fun end of the project, which started with
three skips outside, with Jo determined to clear out all the
stuff they didn’t need any more.
“Jo was ruthless,” says Ally. “We had a system: in the skip, or
to the side of the skip. The next morning, if it was still on the
ground next to the skip it went into the skip. The house looks
twice the size now we’ve cleared it out.”
And while Jo was determinedly getting rid of unwanted
belongings – and local charity shops had a bonanza from
it – Ally was at work organising the interior starting with the
entrance hall, which had been ‘a lost space’.
She created a deep cupboard at the back of it, fitted out
with apple crates, each with one family member’s name on it,
as their designated space to stash their stuff between outings.
No more hallway clutter.
She was also on the hunt for family pieces that could be
given a new lease of life. The two chairs now in the hall had
belonged to Jo’s late mother and inspiration struck when Ally
spotted some bold Mexican blankets and rescued them from
the skip.
“They’d been on the floor for years,” says Ally, “and looked
seriously past their best, but I had them dry cleaned and they
came up beautifully.”
The chairs were transformed and what had seemed like
rubbish, was upcycled and given a whole new lease of life.
Also pressed into service was a trove of fabrics Jo found
stored in a cupboard. A lovely patchwork quilt, which had
been made by her mother for the babies’ cradles, was used to
reupholster two chairs, one in pride of place in the snug as a
lovely daily reminder of granny.
Another great find was bolts of African printed fabrics,
brought back from Tanzania by the family, which Ally had
made into piles of brightly coloured mixed cushions and
upholstery, creating a vibrant theme which runs through the
house.
This unifying technique is also used across the curtains
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