{"id":678056,"date":"2026-09-08T06:12:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T06:12:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/678056\/"},"modified":"2026-09-08T06:12:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T06:12:18","slug":"a-colourful-victorian-house-in-london-designed-for-modern-family-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/678056\/","title":{"rendered":"A colourful Victorian house in London designed for modern family life"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Image may contain Architecture Building Furniture Indoors Living Room Room Home Decor Flower and Flower Arrangement\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"ResponsiveImageContainer-dkeESL cQPiWi responsive-image__image\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/_DSF1546.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>A view of the drawing room from the other side: Katie had the tall corner cupboards made for the drawing room; they contain a kettle, a sink, and a bar, painted in a bespoke colour. The William Yeoward Christian sofa is upholstered in Zak &amp; Fox Tapinu, with cushions made up in De La Cuona\u2019s Vienna Velvet in Tango. The tapestry on the back wall is by Daisy Ginsberg<\/p>\n<p>It enabled Katie and her team to \u2018begin with flow\u2019, and work with Alex Tart Architects on modern extensions to the basement and side-return \u2013 the latter over two storeys \u2013 a conventional approach made particular by the gracefulness of execution. There\u2019s now a study on the raised ground floor, and a broad staircase leading down to a generous open plan kitchen and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.houseandgarden.co.uk\/topic\/dining-room\" target=\"_blank\" isautogenerated=\"true\" class=\"text link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dining room<\/a>, abutted by a sizeable playroom that can be shut off. For the owners do entertain, and the reception rooms above have been retained as a drawing room and a music room. The bedrooms were organised with the observation from the owner that they didn\u2019t need to be big, as \u2018we are a family who want everyone to gravitate towards the living areas.\u2019 It enables the children, on their floor, to have two <a href=\"https:\/\/www.houseandgarden.co.uk\/gallery\/bathroom-ideas\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">bathrooms<\/a>, \u2018which they\u2019ll appreciate as teenagers,\u2019 notes Katie (whose has grandchildren.)<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Image may contain Home Decor Cushion Couch Furniture Architecture Building Indoors Living Room and Room\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"ResponsiveImageContainer-dkeESL cQPiWi responsive-image__image\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/_DSF1685.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>A view of the music room from the drawing room: the north-facing music room has been painted in Francesca\u2019s Paint Sea Kale, and the washed linen curtains have been edged in Pink House by Rebecca Cole, Imole Gilt. The rug is from the Peter Page x Turner Pocock series. The Rose Uniacke Club Armchair is upholstered in De La Cuona Pure Equator in Wildfire EQU9<\/p>\n<p>Katie has a progressive attitude towards the architectural details that so effect the character of a room (she has famously removed them in her own <a href=\"https:\/\/www.houseandgarden.co.uk\/topic\/edwardian\" target=\"_blank\" isautogenerated=\"true\" class=\"text link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Edwardian<\/a> house) and saw their inherited lack as an opportunity. \u2018We could choose what to put back \u2013 and that was mouldings that have a Victorian profile and proportion, but not the fussiness.\u2019 There are no ceiling roses, no mantlepieces over the fireplaces &#8211; while flat-fronted panelling affords warmth to the soaring, north-facing music room, and natural light has been maximised by glass panels in the internal doors. \u2018It\u2019s an understated take on period appropriateness, and there\u2019s no jarring in transition to the modern extension,\u2019 she observes.<\/p>\n<p>Notable is the series of clever features that ameliorate the owners\u2019 lives. An attractive pair of tall corner cupboards in the drawing room conceal a bar, a sink and a kettle, so drinks can be made without having to traipse up and down stairs. Thought has been applied to the laundry room, and capacious cloakrooms for coats, shoes, \u2018and buggies,\u2019 lists the owner, recounting Katie\u2019s helpful expertise when it came to such planning. And the dining area can be given a sense of separation by filling an inset trough in the almost 10-feet-long kitchen island with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.houseandgarden.co.uk\/topic\/flowers\" target=\"_blank\" isautogenerated=\"true\" class=\"text link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">flowers<\/a>, allowing caterers to work unseen, and prettily mirroring the garden opposite.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A view of the drawing room from the other side: Katie had the tall corner cupboards made for&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":678057,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[267],"tags":[365,362,363,364,1576,366,18,117,19,17,1572,1573],"class_list":["post-678056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-city-houses","tag-design","tag-eire","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-london-houses","tag-victorian-houses"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117233946250514381","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=678056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678056\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/678057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=678056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=678056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=678056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}