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When renovating their homes, most owners want things done bigger and faster. But when one Victoria couple bought their cottage-style home in 1982 they threw those ideas out the window — along with a pile of Gyproc and a chunk of their living room.

Brian and Leslie have since lived through more than 20 years of renovations, including the restoration of the original front porch, for which they sacrificed part of the living room.

The couple (who asked that their surname not be published) bought the 900-square-foot bungalow because it was the least expensive property in their chosen neighbourhood, Fairfield. Just minutes from downtown Victoria, Fairfield's tree-lined streets offer parks, schools and many heritage buildings, some of which date to the 1880s.

"We bought it because of the location," says Brian. "Our kids were little and we were just starting out ... We only had a bit of money so we took on things that didn't cost a lot," he recalls. This included mostly outdoor work, and the bathroom, which was "unlivable."

But once they began working on the house, something surprising happened: beneath the concrete siding, behind the overgrown yard, they found a 1912 arts and crafts bungalow — and a new passion.

With a little research the couple discovered that their home belonged to the movement that began as a reaction to late 19th-century industrialization and advocated hand craftsmanship and human-scale architecture.

Leslie says she and her husband "became really interested in the arts and crafts movement and the furniture and pottery that goes along with it."

They researched the movement and their home, searching the Victoria city archives and spending holidays checking out local architecture. "It was a rather obscure thing at the time because no one else was really talking about it," Leslie remembers.

Working nights and weekends, Brian began to restore the home, using the original, untouched dining room as a template. "It is what convinced us to buy the home," he says.

Now, other than some fresh paint and arts-and-crafts-style stencil work by Leslie, the dining room gleams in its original state, with a built-in buffet, window seat, wall panels and wainscoting.

Brian built two bedrooms in the unfinished basement for the children, and converted the second bedroom on the main level into a family room, which matches the mood of the dining room with custom-made wall panels and woodwork.

Their arts-and-crafts passion fully roused, the couple became determined to recreate the original dwelling to the best of their abilities. That meant reclaiming a front porch that a previous owner had walled in to create a larger living room — but with a limited budget and a growing family, that project had to wait.

"The previous owners had put in an aluminum window and we couldn't afford to replace it with an original wood window, so I put up trim and created a mantel for the fireplace," Brian recalls. "I designed the mantel shelving by taking a cue from the dining room and it looked good. But it just wasn't original without the porch."

In 1996 he set to work on the kitchen. "It took seven or eight years to finish the kitchen," Brian says.

"I went through and did one wall at a time. I created a breakfast nook that matched the dark wood panelling, took out the aluminum sliding door and put in a wood-framed substitute."

Through it all, the family lived amid the construction. "I had orange crates nailed to the walls as kitchen storage for years," says Leslie.

"I read a storybook as a child called The Boxcar Children — they make a home in an abandoned boxcar. Well, I felt like that a lot of the time," she adds.

While they struggled with the slow process of their renovations — and the mess ("I was constantly sweeping things up," says Leslie) — the couple never felt that their attention to detail and dedication to restoration was extraordinary. In fact, they found that their life amid rubble was the norm.

"All of our friends were fixing up Victorian or arts and crafts homes," Leslie recalls. "So it was totally acceptable to entertain with Gyproc dust or torn cabinets; maybe there would be no kitchen or a stove in the middle of the room."

Nor were their son and daughter upset by all the work. "We bought my son a tool kit, and while I was working he was right along beside me," says Brian.

"And he's quite handy today," adds Leslie.

Although Brian did most of the work himself, he turned to professionals when needed. "Some of the custom millwork was done by Vintage Woodworks," he says. "And we had all the lighting restored by Waterglass Studios," adds Leslie. Both Victoria companies specialize in quality heritage reproduction.

While Brian got his hands dirty, Leslie focused on the decor, filling their home with authentic period furniture and collectibles.

"It's been an adventure to decorate," she says. Her dedication to authentic finds quickly became a priority: "Half the time I was spending the grocery money, so we'd end up eating macaroni."

The children got caught up in the decorating spirit, too, she says. "I'd take the kids with me. We'd make a purchase and come home to rearrange the furniture. When Brian would get home, we'd walk him through the house until he picked out what was new."

The children caught her thrill-of-the-hunt fever, and have grown up to be collectors themselves — of "mid-century modern teak," she says.

In 2002, the couple finally got around to restoring the front porch.

"Everything was still in place, the railings and the posts, it had just been boarded in," says Brian.

"The previous owners literally just put Gyproc up and stuck on some stucco. That was it. So it wasn't too hard for us to take that away," says Leslie.

Reclaiming the generous veranda meant losing space from the living room, however. "It was a sacrifice," Leslie concedes. "We can't really entertain in that room, but it's an integral part of the home."

Her husband agrees: "It's part of the arts-and-crafts philosophy: A true bungalow had a porch. It is very neighbourly and true to this home's origins. ... We did it for the integrity of the house and the style."

Though the major restoration is complete, the couple continues to work on their home. "It's getting to the point where we have to start again," Brian explains. "We just redid the bathroom again last year." Next up: refurbishing the dining room floor.

The two say their proudest moments come when people visit the home and think everything is original. They hope their restoration will be recognized with a heritage designation from the city.

"It may not have a celebrity-filled history, and it may not be flashy, but it is an honest representation of this working-class home," says Leslie.

"After 26 years of putting our time, effort and money into the restoration and maintenance of our 96-year-old home, we want to preserve and ensure it for the future," she adds.

"Everyone has a hobby," Brian says. "Ours is our house."

Special to The Globe and Mail