Searching for a home can be a long and laborious task and it can sometimes feels like you're going round in circles.
The ECHO's Where I Live series explores one house from across the region each week, with its owner giving us an insight into what makes a house a home.
Mel, 38, and Richi, 40, bought their pad in Meols on the Wirral in November 2020. It was location that was the main selling point as their house is just 200 metres from the beach, near great schools for their child and within distance of a train station for easy trips to Liverpool.
Mel told the ECHO: "When we came to buy it we looked at every other house in Meols. Once we had an idea how we could reconfigure it we fell in love with it."
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The couple decided to completely gut the place and got to work on day one. Mel said: "Richi and his dad Dave did the majority of the work with a few helping hands."
The project has included removing partition walls to create an open plan space on the ground floor by merging the kitchen and reception rooms. They also moved walls and doors, gutted upstairs, and reconfigured the main bathroom.
The outdoor space did not escape Mel and Richi's plans, as that too has been revamped with new decking, a feature path and even a freestanding pod they call "The Bunker".
The pod was about £8,000 to build and its name was inspired by the Covid-19 lockdowns.
Mel said: "Lockdown was a catalyst to the idea of the bunker as we wanted a space that was inside/outside that we could use,.
"We were lucky enough to manage to build it ourselves without having to pay out hefty labour costs. Richi had an old Cold War bomb tail that he made into a bar table with the left over decking, that combined with being a lockdown renovation is why we called it the bunker to start as a joke and then the name just stuck. Basically it’s the place to be for the zombie apocalypse ."
The Bunker and its outdoor seating space is actually now Mel's favourite spot in her home. She added: "It's a great space entertaining for all times of the year. We also love the open plan kitchen and living area as we can go about our life and have eyes on our little one at all times."
For the garden, inspiration was drew from their time living in Australia. Mel said: "We’ve both lived in Oz and love our outdoor living and spaces. In the summer we live outside until the sun goes down."
When it comes to interiors, both Mel and Richi love "clean, straight lines and minimal spaces". There's also inspiration drawn from Scandi styles.
Mel is also fond of some touches the couple left in: "Our exposed steel joists in the open plan area that we painted black as a feature get a lot of attention. They give the space an industrial look and feel to a house from an era that doesn’t have much architectural merit."
Would you like to be included in the ECHO's Where I Live feature?
We'll be taking a look inside a different property each week. If you're splurging on a renovation, trying your hand at DIY to save money, or have a passion for interiors, let us know.
Please email your name and details to storm.newton@reachplc.com
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