The house’s decoration, Sophie explains, was an exercise in problem solving: ‘Most of the budget went on restructuring and restoring the house, so there wasn’t much left for the decoration, but it was an opportunity to be creative’. In the name of creativity, Sophie held on to as much of the house’s original material as possible, repurposing it where necessary. The internal window above the kitchen sink comes from the original extension and is a play on the idea of doing the washing up while looking out the window. Salvaged too are the stained glass windows in the pantry and encaustic tiles on the floors in the hallway.
Sophie sourced the kitchen from Howdens and had it installed so that the cupboards stop short of the end of each wall. ‘It makes it feel more bespoke and gives it a freestanding feel,’ she explains. ‘We also colour-sprayed the cupboards and changed all the handles so it worked within the budget but it’s got my touch on it.’ She exercised similar ingenuity in the main bathroom, where she opted for marble tiles in varying sizes laid in a brick formation instead of costly slabs of marble. ‘All of a sudden it has an extra layer to it than if it was just beautiful marble slabs,’ she says. Meanwhile, outside, Sophie and Chantal had the extension painted in the same strong red as the house’s window frames, and topped it with a cost-effective corrugated iron roof. ‘It is so striking,’ says Chantal. ‘I always think the view from the outside looking in is just as important as from the inside looking out.’
Sophie found the wall light on Etsy. In the dining room, to the right, joinery provides extra storage while a fabric curtain conceals shelves below. ‘It’s like the skirt of an outfit,’ says Sophie.
Christopher Horwood
A bar area in the dining room, neatly housed in custom-designed joinery.
Christopher Horwood
With the exception of the dining table, which the owners brought with them from their old house, they needed all new furniture. In keeping with both the tone of the house and the budgetary constraints, no room is over-stuffed. New, antique and bespoke pieces were chosen carefully and placed strategically, so everything has form and function within the space.
‘There is an element of the clients growing up,’ says Sophie. ‘Their last house was very colourful and energetic with lots of wallpaper. They had that in them, but we almost needed to dull it down a bit and bring it out in the right places. Everything here is more elegant, refined and a bit calmer. When the light comes through the shutters, there is a kind of energy to the house. It is really special.’ Perhaps the house has a wild card or two up its sleeve, too.