Indholdsfortegnelse for March 2025 i 25 Beautiful Homes

PROJECT DETAILS DESIGNER Alice Leigh of Alice Leigh Design (aliceleigh.co.uk) PROPERTY A five-bedroom 17th-century cottage WORK Decorating and furnishing as part of a wider brief to update the whole property LOCATION Surrey A cottage not far from London became the ideal weekend bolthole for the owner and her two children but needed a decorating update. A mutual friend recommended designer Alice Leigh. ‘Our brief was for a relaxing refuge from city life,’ says Alice. 1 STARTING POINT The owner had already sought advice from a Farrow & Ball colour consultant and chosen Cromarty for the room. ‘It’s a warm blue-grey that complements the natural light that spills through the window,’ says Alice. ‘We took the shade into consideration along with the garden view and original fireplace with its gorgeous wood…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY Detached mid-century home ROOMS Sitting room, kitchen-diner, cloakroom, utility, pantry, music room, art studio, five bedrooms, four bathrooms LOCATION North Kent ‘I wanted to be able to stand in the hallway and catch a glimpse of all the areas of the house, but without it being one, cavernous open-plan space’ A decade after swapping their period property in Islington for a sprawling mid-century house in the Kentish countryside, Max and Kaz Taylor haven’t looked back. They truly embraced the slower pace of rural life, with a warm village community, an easy commute back into town and plenty of outside space for their two teenage children, Oscar and Mary, and rescue dog Annie. They loved the bones of their 1960s house, with its generous rooms, taller-than-average ceilings,…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY A 1930s detached house ROOMS Sitting room, family room, kitchen-dining area, utility room, cloakroom, five bedrooms, two bathrooms LOCATION North London balancing the practical needs of a young family with the desire to create an elegant and sophisticated home were at the forefront of Katie Howard’s mind when she first met with interior designer, Katerina Tchevytchalova of K’Arte Design. ‘We were very lucky when a house came up for sale on our favourite road in an area of north London we really love, but it was in bad repair and needed a complete renovation,’ explains Katie. ‘We appointed architects and builders to open up the ground floor and create extra bedrooms and utility space, but it was only when I started to think about the interior…

PROJECT DETAILS DESIGNER Claire Totman of Claire Totman Designs (clairetotmandesigns.co.uk) PROPERTY New build WORK Creating a large kitchen-diner LOCATION Surrey This Georgian-style home needed a new kitchen to make better use of the space and the owners asked designer Claire Totman for help. ‘It’s common to assume that to make a layout work you need to extend but we will always look at ways to reconfigure an existing space first,’ says Claire. 1 STARTING POINT Although the kitchen was big enough for a dining table, the family seating area was squeezed in. A separate sitting room was on the other side of the wall but the homeowners weren’t keen to knock through and lose the space. Claire suggested turning the integral double garage, used for storage, into a formal sitting…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY Victorian villa ROOMS Sitting room, living room, kitchen-diner, utility room, boot room, study, cloakroom, five bedrooms, five bathrooms LOCATION West London HOW DID YOU COME TO BE INVOLVED IN THIS PROJECT? The clients had seen one of our previous projects and loved our style and approached us to work together on their own home. WHAT WAS THE BRIEF? Our brief was to reimagine the existing building to create a beautiful family home that was timeless, elegant, yet practical with a rational layout that maximised space. HOW INVOLVED WERE THE HOMEOWNERS? Very. We visited many suppliers and showrooms together, as well as holding many site meetings to review samples in situ. DESCRIBE THE HOMEOWNERS’ STYLE. Sophisticated, understated, luxurious. WHAT WERE THE BIGGEST PRIORITIES FOR THE HOMEOWNERS? They…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY A 1930s detached house ROOMS Living room, kitchen-diner, utility room, five bedrooms, three bathrooms LOCATION East Sussex ‘The wall panels in the living room not only look beautiful but they also help with soundproofing’ After years of visiting friends on the south coast and countless conversations about moving, Matt and Jason Mander-Anastasi finally took the plunge, selling their southwest London home and moving with their eight-year-old son and Labrador puppy to a 1930s property near the seaside. ‘It had been a dream of ours to leave the busy city and move to the coast for quite some time,’ says Matt, ‘I grew up in Malta, where you are never far from the sea, and I missed that.’ The couple had renovated their previous three-bedroom Victorian home…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY Edwardian terrace ROOMS Kitchen-diner, sitting room, family room, cloakroom, utility room, dressing room, four bedrooms, two bathrooms LOCATION West London HOW DID YOU COME TO BE INVOLVED IN THIS PROJECT AND WHAT WAS YOUR BRIEF? My client, Georgina, found me on Houzz which is how I get a lot of my work. We immediately clicked as I realised how similar she was to me, with us both sharing the same aesthetic taste and with similar personalities. While she’s very stylish, she had never prioritised her home. Living with her three sons and, with a busy lifestyle, she found the house had become disorganised and cluttered. She originally contacted me about a straightforward kitchen extension, but the job soon escalated into a full house renovation. We worked…

PROJECT DETAILS DESIGNER Stefanie Gayle of Indie Interiors (indieinteriors.co.uk) PROPERTY Edwardian detached house with five bedrooms WORK Main bedroom redesign as part of a whole house renovation LOCATION Northeast England ‘Our clients were from Canada and wanted a West Coast-inspired design with a minimalist feel,’ says interior designer Stefanie Gayle. ‘The owners were keen to enhance the original period features while also retaining a strong sense of modern style.’ 1 MAKE A PLAN ‘When embarking on a bedroom remodel, planning is key and always ensures the best results,’ says Stefanie. ‘Write down the key features you want to prioritise, browse bedroom imagery you like in magazines and on social media and be sure to record them. Set your budget and add everything to a spreadsheet, otherwise costs can soar.’ 2…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY 1960s four-storey townhouse ROOMS Sitting room, kitchen-diner/living space, utility room, wine room, study, cloakroom, snug/music room, four bedrooms, four bathrooms LOCATION Central London HOW DID YOU COME TO BE INVOLVED IN THIS PROJECT? Our clients, Silvia and Paul Baker, found us online and reached out originally for Zulufish’s architectural service. After viewing the townhouse with them in 2021, the project expanded into a full renovation and interior design package as our 360-degree approach really appealed. HOW INVOLVED WERE THE HOMEOWNERS? They were very involved throughout and we had weekly meetings to update them on the planning, design and progress all the way through to choosing materials and products. Many of our projects are a collaborative journey and clear communication from the outset is integral to our…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY A Colonial Revival house built in 1938 ROOMS Sitting room, dining room, kitchen, library, cloakroom, sunroom, four bedrooms, four bathrooms LOCATION Oakland, California WHAT DREW THE OWNERS TO THE PROPERTY? When my clients went looking for a bigger house, they instantly fell for the Colonial Revival architectural style of this property, which reminded the wife of the married couple of the neighbourhood she had grown up in, in southern USA. Although the 1930s-built house had beautiful architectural details, its small kitchen and formal finishes didn’t suit relaxed family living for the couple and their three children. HOW DID YOU COME TO BE INVOLVED? The owners decided to live in the house for a few years to work out the changes they wanted to make. At a…

PROJECT DETAILS DESIGNER Charles Elwell, design director, Kitchens by Holloways (kitchensbyholloways.com) PROPERTY Victorian house WORK Extension to create a new kitchen-diner LOCATION London With plans underway for an extension across the rear of their house to create a spacious kitchen-diner, the owners approached Kitchens by Holloways design director Charles Elwell. ‘They had been unable to find a kitchen company able to produce exactly what they wanted,’ recalls Charles. 1 THE STARTING POINT ‘The owners hadn’t liked the rather generic approach of the other kitchen suppliers they visited, instead preferring a design tailor-made to suit their space with careful attention to detail,’ explains Charles. While the owners had a strong vision for the look, they turned to Charles for help in how to include all the features required to make the…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY Woodland cabin ROOMS Living/dining area, kitchen, three bedrooms, bathroom LOCATION North Norfolk Set among verdant woodland and a stone’s throw from the white sand beaches of the North Norfolk coast, Sarah and Daniel Morton’s beautiful black timber retreat, evocatively named Blackwood, is set in illustrious grounds. ‘We’re within the woodland that formed part of the Felbrigg Hall estate before it was handed over to the National Trust,’ explains Sarah. Drawn to the area by the spectacular coastline, the couple bought a house set in two acres with outbuildings and decided to transform what was a large, unsightly garage and workshop into an annexe that would serve as a high-end holiday bolthole. ‘The first decision I made was to clad it in charred timber,’ says Sarah. ‘I…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY Single-storey property built around the shell of a prefab 1960s bungalow ROOMS Kitchen-diner and living area, snug, boot room, cloakroom, three bedrooms, two bathrooms LOCATION County Kerry, Ireland No redeeming features,’ is how Irish interior designer Ryan Rankin describes the bungalow that was his starting point for a client’s new weekend retreat in County Kerry. The setting, however, is ‘fabulous’, he adds. ‘The house is anchored by dominant natural architecture’ – a lough, mountains and a rich palette. It was those views that set the new aesthetic tone and to optimise them, Ryan installed some vast picture windows (even in the bedrooms, they’re two metres long). ‘It’s like looking out at a painting,’ he says. Then, in order to maximise those views, Ryan wanted a simple…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY Cottage, built about 1900, with extension ROOMS Sitting room, kitchen-diner, library, playroom, laundry room, three bedrooms, four bathrooms LOCATION County Limerick, Ireland It was nine years ago when interior designer Geri O’Toole and husband Cathal Glynn, who runs a construction company, bought an almost derelict stone cottage in the Limerick countryside. ‘It was completely overgrown and in a fairly desperate state,’ recalls Geri, ‘but we loved the location and could see the potential of the one-acre site.’ At this point, their son, Finley, was a baby, so they set about renovating the cottage to make it enjoyable for life as a small family, opening up the ground floor and adding two bedrooms upstairs. ‘We always knew that we were going to outgrow the cottage at some…