And just like that, Christmas is here! Our tree is And just like that, Christmas is here! Our tree is up, the Santa hats are out and the first doors on our advent calendars are open.

I love this time of year. It is my favourite. And it’s one of the few times still full of magic even as an adult. I’m going to be soaking up every minute of joy the next few weeks bring and I hope December is full of moments of joy for you too.

Happy December! 🎄
AD | Christmas has arrived at @thelexiconbracknell AD | Christmas has arrived at @thelexiconbracknell and there’s so much to entertain the whole family whilst you do your Christmas shopping! 

Visit The Lexicon Glow Room for a magical light experience that will dazzle you with 20,000 LEDs. It feels like the room goes on forever! Then, take a dip in the Light Pool, a magical ball pool with golden balls to be found and prizes to be won!

If that wasn’t all, have a photo in the giant Christmas bauble ‘sparkling selfie station’ and follow the Twinkle Trail, spotting baubles in shop windows to collect the clues and enter to win fabulous prizes this Christmas. Plus, share your sparkling selfie station pictures, tagging #thelexiconbracknell or email them to marketing@thelexiconbracknell.com and you will automatically be entered in a competition for the chance to win a restaurant gift card too. 

There are also special performances from local choirs, bands and singers and even the chance to meet Bluey, Hey Duggee and Chase from Paw Patrol! You can be sure that a trip to The Lexicon will have something for everyone over the festive season this year. We loved our visit to The Lexicon last weekend and know we’ll be back again before Christmas!

Find out more on @thelexiconbracknell website.

#TheLexiconBracknell #Merry&Bright
AD - Press Trip | What a lovely evening that was! AD - Press Trip | What a lovely evening that was! We had our first Glow Marwell experience tonight - and we loved it. It may even be the best light trail we have been to.

We spent well over two hours at @marwellzoo, enjoying the light installations, indulging in the food stalls and cafe, toasting marshmallows and even meeting Father Christmas! 

Glow Marwell was such a nice way to kick off the festive season - and it’s on all the way through December! If you’re looking for a really nice festive activity the whole family can enjoy, this could definitely be it!
AD | Are you looking for gifts for the grandparent AD | Are you looking for gifts for the grandparents this year? @famileo_uk is a wonderful gift, giving the recipient a personalised gazette of family news regularly throughout the year - and it costs from just £5.99 a month. 

Multiple family members can use the same subscription, all posting messages to be added to one gazette - and sharing the cost of the subscription too! It’s great for parents, siblings and children to all share their news with grandparents each week, fortnight or month. 

We’ve been sending my dad Family gazettes for a while now and he absolutely loves them. It means we tell him all the little things that are happening and not just the big news you remember to mention in phone calls. The children get to upload their own messages to their grandad and it’s definitely made them feel closer, building a stronger relationship despite living far apart.

Find out more about Family over on the blog - link in bio - and buy a subscription for your nearest and dearest this Christmas. It’s a gift they will definitely love to receive.
Two weeks of Fred & George! I won’t be doing the Two weeks of Fred & George! I won’t be doing these updates every week but I like having somewhere to put all these photos!

They’re now three months old, super loving and happy, making biscuits and purring constantly.

They stay in ‘their’ room overnight but explore the house during the day, getting more confident as time passes. They even got to the point of relaxing on the sofa with us last night.

Fred & George are now very much part of our family and I can’t imagine them not being there now - even at 7am when they’re miaowing at the door for breakfast!
AD | Stuck for screen-free entertainment that your AD | Stuck for screen-free entertainment that your kids will love? Claim your FREE Banjo Robinson activity pack today!
 
Reading for pleasure is a key indicator of a child’s future success, but if your child doesn’t love to read, what can you do? We know it’s not always easy keeping kids entertained and away from screens, so we’ve partnered with the award-winning @banjorobinson to gift you a FREE activity pack, worth £9.99.

Here’s a little look at the Banjo Robinson subscription - Troy loves it! Travelling to world with Banjo is so much fun! You can read our full review over on the blog and claim your free activity pack too - link in profile.
A whole week of Fred & George. We weren’t meant A whole week of Fred & George.

We weren’t meant to get more cats just yet but sometimes the universe sends you things when you don’t expect them.

These little guys needed a home and a family to love them. And we had a home and a lot of love to give. We still miss Leia but this pair are definitely helping make me feel whole again.

They are both used to us now, and love us. They’re less nervous, give us cuddles and let us pick them up. They’re still living in our spare room but starting to explore the rest of the house under supervision. 

They play fight constant. Love toys, especially a crinkly feather thing on a string attached to a stick, and love being up high. They are an awesome pair and we are so glad to have them.

Thank you @millbrook_rspca @rspca_official for trusting us with ‘Lonestar and Starfish’. We could not love them more. 

#catsofinstagram #catstagram #catsofig #catsofinsta #catlovers #adoptdontshop #rspcarescuecat #kittensofinstagram #kittens_of_instagram
[AD - Press Trip] I’ve just finished writing abo [AD - Press Trip] I’ve just finished writing about our half term break at @pottersresort and it’s over on the blog if you want to go have a read.

I wanted to put some of my favourite photos on the grid too as the kids did so many fun activities - they had THE best time. 

Giant swing, segways, climbing, archery, laser clays… there was so much to do that we couldn’t fit it all in - we need another trip!
And there ends our October half term - well, apart And there ends our October half term - well, apart from Troy who has a bonus week off!

This half term has been pretty lovely. Troy had his school residential the first weekend and then we had a really lovely few days in Norfolk before heading home and picking up two new members of our family - Fred and George. 11 week old rescue kittens who have pretty much stolen our hearts.

It’s been so nice to have a chunk of quality time with this pair and now I’m looking forward to the Christmas holidays. These two are the best company and I really do live for the school holidays. 

How has your half term been?
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House and Home · June 22, 2017

Our New Kitchen Dining Room Extension

This post contains affiliate links and I may receive commission if you visit a link and buy something. Purchasing via an affiliate link doesn’t cost you any extra, and I only recommend products and services I trust.

Anyone that reads this blog or follows me on social media will know that our new extension was a complete labour of love. It had a fair few hiccups along the way but it’s finally finished – we have guttering, the last bit to be done, and a shiny new dining table which we’ve been waiting two months to be delivered.

Our New Kitchen Dining Room Extension

What did we want from our new kitchen dining room space?

You can see our old home in this post I wrote before the work started. We wanted to make our downstairs a more sociable space, a space that could grow with our family – with a dining table we could move easily around, a new kitchen and a work space for me. We also wanted a utility room and a downstairs toilet – a massive luxury for us, having never had one before.

We did need planning permission for the extension and once that was granted, the work on the kitchen diner extension started last October and was meant to be finished by Christmas.

In the end we had a problem with the steel joists which meant work had to stop for three weeks over the festive season. When work finally started again it was full steam ahead – and it was all definitely worth the time, energy and dust that it took to get to this point.

Our New Kitchen Dining Room Extension

Where did we get the kitchen?

We now have a big, open-plan kitchen and dining room. We chose a Howdens kitchen – in Burford Grey Tongue and Groove – with a kitchen island in the middle of it – which is home to my recipe book shelves too, something I have always wanted.

Howdens helped with the kitchen design and helped to blend the kitchen into the living space with a breakfast bar and making the most of the natural light coming in through the sliding doors.

Our New Kitchen Dining Room Extension

There is plenty of worktop space for small appliances and preparing food and we have a 1.5 bowl ceramic sink which goes so well with the kitchen. The wood worktops are solid oak and they will need quite a lot of maintenance – we have already oiled them four times and this will be something we do regularly throughout the life of them. It protects them, preserves them and keeps them standing up to life with a family.

Our New Kitchen Dining Room Extension

The splash back tiles took some choosing – who knew there were so many different types of tiles?! We wanted something like metro tiles but as we have those in our bathroom already we didn’t want them in the kitchen too. Instead we went for these more rustic tiles that fit well with the feel of the room and also have a matt finish which gives a nice finish rather than reflective glossy tiles.

Our New Kitchen Dining Room Extension
Our New Kitchen Dining Room Extension

What internal storage options did we go for?

All of our kitchen cupboards have integrated storage solutions – pull out shelves, vegetable drawers and tall larder units. But our main investment was to buy plinth drawers that go inside the kick board of each unit. They have created so much extra space and are something I hadn’t seen before. We also got a handy drawer that fits under the sink. It goes around the pipes and makes the space so much more usable.

Our New Kitchen Dining Room Extension
Our New Kitchen Dining Room Extension
Our New Kitchen Dining Room Extension

We also decided on integrated appliances to make everything a bit more streamlined – and to look automatically tidier! So we have a full height larder fridge and a full height larder freezer which are perfect for a family kitchen as well as an integrated built-under oven, hob and dishwasher. They’re all Beko appliances and they do the job perfectly.

Our New Kitchen Dining Room Extension
Our New Kitchen Dining Room Extension
Our New Kitchen Dining Room Extension

How is the new room heated?

One splurge we made was to get underfloor heating – mainly because I didn’t want radiators messing up the look of the open plan kitchen room. Saying that out loud makes me laugh but it’s true – and it’s the sort of thing you have to think about when planning a space like this.

We also made the biggest wall of the room into an exposed brick wall using brick effect tiles. The wall is one of my favourite parts of the room – it was such an expense but it was so worth it. Pretty much like the whole kitchen extension!

Our New Kitchen Dining Room Extension

We looked everywhere for a dining table to suit the dining area space and ended up having to order one from Etsy. We then oiled it – so many times – to give it the same protection as the kitchen worktops and I’m so pleased with it – it fits the extension perfectly and is a real focal point.

Our New Kitchen Dining Room Extension

The chairs were ones I looked for everywhere. They’re quite popular restaurant chairs at the moment and I originally wanted a rustic finish but found these glossy black ones in Asda at a bargain price and just had to get them. I ordered the bar stools to match which weren’t as much of a bargain but still fit the room so well.

Our utility room is home to our washing machine and anything else we want to hide in the cupboards! I know it will always be a bit of a dumping ground but it’s so lovely to have a space to put things and close the door on it.

Our New Kitchen Dining Room Extension

The utility room leads to our downstairs toilet – probably my new favourite room in the house. It’s so lovely to have a downstairs toilet and it makes family life so much easier. Plus, I added a smile sign, a couple of vases and a little bird to make it a bit more homely – and I love it.

Our New Kitchen Dining Room Extension
Our New Kitchen Dining Room Extension
Our New Kitchen Dining Room Extension

One of my favourite parts of our extension is my work space. It’s lovely to have a desk and somewhere to keep my laptop, planner and camera. I’ve always worked from the sofa until now so this space is heaven for me. I just need to get a new chair – and have decided on one from Ikea.

Our New Kitchen Dining Room Extension
Our New Kitchen Dining Room Extension

We’ve also created a bit of an entrance hall as you walk into the extension with a coat rack and shoe storage unit. It’s turned into somewhere the children put their shoes on for school, drop their school bags when they get home and where we all meet before a day out.

Our New Kitchen Dining Room Extension

The whole extension is such a bright and homely space. We’ve got five Velux windows in the roof which really let the light stream in and we painted it white to make it as bright as possible. We’ve also got bi fold doors which are amazing to open up and let the fresh air in – as well as making the garden and house flow so nicely.

Our New Kitchen Dining Room Extension

Outside the extension has completely transformed out house. It looks so different – the pitch of the roof is different and we really made the extension as big as we could whilst still keeping side access. It’s such a great space.

Our New Kitchen Dining Room Extension
This was taken before the guttering was finished and before we’d had all the windows cleaned – but you get the idea.

But, it has left us with the garden being a mess and needing so much work doing to it. It’s always the way isn’t it – you finish one room and then you need to instantly sort another! But, as far as the extension goes we couldn’t be happier.

Our New Kitchen Dining Room Extension

Here’s a little video tour I made if you’d like to see more:

Our New Kitchen Dining Room Extension

In: House and Home

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Comments

  1. Amy Fox says

    June 22, 2017 at 10:06 pm

    I have such kitchen/extension envy right now. It is absolutely stunning! I hope you guys enjoy it x

    Reply
  2. Mim says

    June 22, 2017 at 10:40 pm

    Oh I LOVE it! Your hard work had paid off so much – what a gorgeous space 🙂 I love every detail you’ve chosen – you’re going to have so many happy memories there x x

    Reply
  3. Clare aka Emmy's Mummy and says

    June 23, 2017 at 12:33 am

    I’ve a huge kitchen but this I’m envious of. So much usable space, sadly lots of mine is wasted space.

    It looks AMAZING.

    Reply
    • Donna Wishart says

      June 23, 2017 at 8:18 am

      Ah thanks Clare! Yep, making use of all the space was such a priority. I think years ago people just chucked cupboards in and didn’t really think any further than that! x

      Reply
  4. Tracey Williams says

    June 24, 2017 at 7:02 pm

    How cool are those plinth drawers, never even knew such things existed. I bet it has made such a difference to your home life. I have loved following your extension over the past few months, and it looks amazing Donna x

    Reply
  5. Clare - My Tunbridge Wells says

    June 24, 2017 at 9:12 pm

    Oooh it’s lovely – you must have delighted! Taking some inspo. from this for our extension which we are hoping will happen at the end of the year…

    Reply
  6. Esther @ Inside Out & About says

    June 24, 2017 at 9:39 pm

    WOW WOW WOW Donna! I love the brick wall effect tiles, and totally agree that they were worth the expense. They look fabulous. You are so brave getting solid oak worktops, but they look incredible. You must be so over the moon, and love having such a functional space. Really amazing Donna xx

    Reply
  7. Caro | The Twinkle Diaries says

    June 27, 2017 at 3:16 pm

    OHMYGOODNESS!!!!!! Weeeeeeeeeeeeee! It looks SO amazing Donna — you must be absolutely thrilled!! What a fantastic space. A kitchen extension is on the cards for us too, in the next couple of years, and I can’t wait. Made me laugh that you said the downstairs loo was now your fave room in the house. We don’t have a downstairs loo and I KNOW that it will be my favourite room (along with a utility) when I finally get one!! I know how pleased you must be with it all — thanks so much for sharing on #HomeEtc

    Reply
  8. Laura - Dear Bear and Beany says

    June 28, 2017 at 4:57 pm

    I LOVE it so much Donna. You and Dave should be so proud that because of your hard work you have this beautiful space. If you need an IKEA buddy to go and buy the chair, I’m your girl and I need to know where you got that bottle open plaque from, it’s fab! x

    Reply
    • Donna Wishart says

      June 28, 2017 at 5:46 pm

      It’s from The Range! And YES let’s make an Ikea date! x

      Reply
  9. Emma says

    November 12, 2017 at 3:25 pm

    Eeeeeks. This is stunning Donna. We are about to move house and it is a complete renovation project! So I am reading all of your renovation posts for tips 🙂 Love your kitchen and that skirting is actual genius. Adding it to my wishlist!

    Reply
  10. Linda harrison says

    February 8, 2020 at 2:51 pm

    Hi
    Strange question but do you still use your BEKO American refrigerator, and can you tell me does the mains plug come from the bottom of the fridge or from the top? We getting one delivered this week and just want to know where to drill the hole in the wall. I asked BEKO and they couldn’t tell me!

    Reply
    • Donna Wishart says

      February 8, 2020 at 8:33 pm

      I’m so sorry, I don’t know the answer. We don’t have the American fridge freezer anymore and I’m unsure where the lead was on it.

      Reply

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