I didn’t buy my home because I loved it. I bought it because it was five minutes’ walk from the Tube and half an hour from work. At the top of the road were three supermarkets (handy for picking up supper on the way home from work) and two dry cleaners (handy for dropping off dry cleaning on the way to work). The house itself was a bit small, but it didn’t matter: I was out during the day and often away at weekends so I was hardly ever there.

All that changed when I gave up my office job to work from home.

I bought a desk and put it in the smallest bedroom, only to be reminded of the house I lived in as a student. It was so cold and damp I used to study in bed. Too depressing. So I moved the desk to the sitting room, but then I couldn’t separate work from relaxation and when friends came round I felt obliged to tidy up.

But it wasn’t only the desk that was a problem. After being in a vast open-plan office for so many years, I felt hemmed in. The Farrow & Ball paint colours, once warm and cosy, now looked dull and dingy.

I decided my home wasn’t fit for purpose. The only solution was to move.

But first, to maximise my profit, I extended the kitchen into the side return and converted the loft into a bedroom and bathroom, with French windows, Juliette balcony and three large Velux windows. While the kitchen was being finished, I moved my desk into the new bedroom (sans bed or bedroom furniture) and suddenly I had a light and spacious office. Then, when it was all done and the builders had gone, I had a kitchen with bi-folding doors onto the pretty courtyard garden and a table I could work from when I didn’t feel like traipsing up to the top floor. Except that I always felt like traipsing up to the top floor.

The house felt different: lighter, brighter (I painted over the Farrow & Ball in shades of white) and, of course, bigger. Friends and family kept telling me I’d be mad to move – so I didn’t. I’m there round the clock now – and I absolutely love it.

MM, London

Further information

'A loft conversion saved our relationship' is part of our new series, A Savills Love Story, prompted by Savills new advertising campaign.

We invite you to submit your own Savills Love Story. What made you fall for your home? Was it love at first sight or more of a slow burn? Do you have a 'type' or is your approach to house-buying more pragmatic? Or tell us about your fantasy home – the magical place you've always wanted to live, perhaps inspired by a novel or a fleeting glimpse in a magazine? We will donate £50 to YoungMinds for every story we publish on Savills UK Blog. We'll also make a donation for every story submitted for consideration.