A warm welcoming aroma of spicy candles waft across the hall of Dawn Oldham’s London home decorated in preparation for her Christmas festivities. This square hall was one of the great features, which originally encouraged Dawn to put in an offer, explaining how ‘having a large square hall in London, as opposed to the usual narrow corridor made the property feel more like a country house, ’ She recalls how reticent she had been about buying a modern house in the first place. “I really wanted a period property and when I was persuaded by my estate agent to view this house. frankly it filled me with horror and gloom.’ She took an instant dislike to the glass porch and plastic windows and found it difficult to imagine what to do to improve it.