Kitchen is heart of the home

“We ended up staying at my mum’s for almost a year but the property we got was well worth the wait,” says Lisa, who has two sons Zac, five, and Aaron, four.

The couple may have been technically homeless but by biding the time they were in a prime position when a repossessed property came on the market in one of Leeds’s most desirable areas.

“It went to sealed bids and even though ours wasn’t the highest offer we were the most proceedable and the bank wanted a quick sale, so we got the house,” says Lisa.

The 1960s detached dormer bungalow was in need of renovation. The Lees got it for £423,000, though when they realised the full scale of the work involved, they negotiated the price down to £411,000.

“It had been stripped bare. There were no kitchen units, just a sink, no radiators, nothing, and there was a lot wrong with it but it was in a great location and it had the space we needed. Nothing else in our price range could compare,” says Lisa.

The four-bedroom property needed re-roofing, re-plastering, re-wiring and a new boiler. The interior was spacious but needed some reconfiguring and one of the first jobs was to create a large living kitchen.

Most of the back wall was replaced with glazed, bi-folding doors that allow light to flood in. A separate small room was integrated into the new kitchen and it now sports a large sofa and TV.

Underfloor heating was installed and topped with porcelain flooring before the pièce de résistance, a state of the art, all singing, all dancing kitchen was designed and installed by Arlington Interiors.

The sleek German units by Jette are cleverly made to give the maximum amount of storage. There are deep drawers in the island that are purpose-built for crockery and pans.

There is an integrated steam oven, microwave and two conventional ovens plus a warming drawer and induction hob with a remote control extractor fan. A Qooker tap gives instant boiling water and there are plugs and usb points for gadgets.

“The kitchen is brilliant and the best room in the house by far. In fact, we spend most of our time in here,” says Lisa. She and Jamie also reduced the size of the utility room and increased the size of the tiny cloakroom to make a downstairs bathroom.

Upstairs, the enormous landing gave the opportunity to steal more space for the master bedroom suite, which features fitted wardrobes and a headboard that doubles as a dressing table. “It was mum’s idea to have fitted wardrobes because the roof makes the space difficult for conventional furniture. They work really well and I’ve even got a special shoe cupboard built in under the eaves,” says Lisa.

The final job was to re-lay the drive, which was threatening to cause damp problems. The renovation took six months and Jamie, a recruitment manager, and Lisa, a marketing manager, were working full-time throughout.

“We had very little time and no experience but we had lots of help from our parents,” says Lisa. “My in-laws are into property so their help and advice was invaluable and my mum is great with design. Basically they all helped us project manage and without them it would have been very difficult.”

The final cost of the work came in at £85,000 but the house has been valued at £650,000, which gives them a healthy chunk of equity.

“It’s great to know that we’ve added value but it is irrelevant really because I think we’ll be here forever,” says Lisa.

Arlington Interiors, Kitchen specialists, Leeds, tel: 0113 232 3233 www.arlington-interiors.co.uk