Professional snooker player Barry Hawkins and his wife Tara live with their 10-year-old son Harrison in a four bedroom semi-detached house in Aylesford, Kent.
Despite having a good size garden with fantastic views of the countryside, these couldn’t be appreciated from within the house.
Barry, aged 41, said: ”The original kitchen was small and dark, it let the rest of the home down. We always wanted a big, bright kitchen with an island in the middle. We had a lot of space at the back of the property so we could afford to extend without it having an impact on the size of the garden. We also knew that extending the home would add value to the property if we ever decided to move in the future.”
After doing research online and asking a local architect to draw up plans, which were submitted and accepted by the local council, they employed a builder to add a single-storey extension to achieve a large modern, open-plan kitchen and dining area that they could enjoy as a family and when friends came round.
The bifold doors and VELUX roof windows help flood the space with light.
To fully appreciate the garden and views of the countryside, they also added large bi-fold doors to give them easy access to the outdoors.
To add even more daylight, the couple installed three large VELUX INTEGRA white-painted electric roof windows that have an in-built rain sensor.
Barry said: ”If we didn’t have our VELUX roof windows in the new extension it would be dark, dingy and lack natural light. I’m so glad we decided to spend a bit extra and install three large windows as we get the most beautiful light throughout the day and I don’t think we could have achieved that by installing less given the size of the space. Mornings in particular are always very sunny. It’s great to start the day having breakfast on our kitchen island with the daylight flooding down from above.”
They also installed VELUX electronic black out blinds that help keep the heat in during the night and on colder days.
The kitchen extension took one month to complete with the only challenge being to move outdoor drains and needing to call the gas board to check an old pipe underground wasn’t live.
Barry said: “We couldn’t use our kitchen for one month but we had a small oven in our dining room, which let us cook meals but the dishes were done in the bath in our upstairs bathroom. It was a challenge and not always easy towards those last few days but totally worth it for what we have now. The kitchen is the heart of our home and where we spend the vast majority of our time as a family. It’s a perfect multi-purpose space where we can cook, play, entertain and relax. We absolute love the extension and the daylight we get from the roof windows.”
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