Innehållsförteckning för June 2024 från 25 Beautiful Homes

no. 3 HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY Detached one-storey house, built in 1958 and set in half an acre ROOMS Sitting room, kitchen-diner/living area, family room/study, office, laundry room, cloakroom, boot room, five bedrooms, three bathrooms LOCATION California ‘One whole wall opens up to the outside deck, which blurs the boundaries between inside and out’ HOW DID YOU COME TO BE INVOLVED IN THIS PROJECT? The client works in real estate and has remodelled houses to sell in the past, then she decided to work on her own home. She realised that taking on a 1,000 square foot extension alongside remodelling her own home was a different type of project and decided to hire an interior designer. What began as just wanting to change the floors soon turned into a whole…

no. 6SITTING ROOM FOCUS PROJECT DETAILS DESIGNER Mary Jo Fiorella of Fiorella Design (fiorelladesign.com; @fiorelladesign) PROPERTY Transitional-style modern farmhouse WORK Sitting room design LOCATION California Mary Jo Fiorella of Fiorella Design was invited to help create a modern family home for a couple in Silicon Valley. While the home was under construction, the pair sought out Mary Jo’s creative eye for the interior scheme, to create something practical and beautiful for their busy family. 1 WARM UP Although brand new, the home was not yet designed inside so it was the perfect time for the team to jump in and create an aesthetic that was personal to the family. ‘We selected all the materials from the hardwood floors to the furniture and accessories,’ says Mary Jo. ‘We wanted to keep…

after living and travelling abroad for five years, Russell Jarvis was keen to return home to settle. ‘I was moving most of the time, living out of a bag, exploring, sailing, riding motorbikes, etc,’ he says. ‘Although this lifestyle is fantastic, it’s rootless and I wanted a place to call home.’ Russell was dreaming of owning a house in a special corner of the UK and when he came across a pair of rundown adjoining buildings near Exmoor, the area more than exceeded his expectations. ‘It has wildness, peace and natural beauty, with spectacular sea views and access to the coast,’ he says. Rockton Mews is one part of the renovation. ‘I now live in the neighbouring property, Rockton, and split my time between here, Bath and travelling,’ Russell says.…

PROJECT DETAILS OWNERS Nigel and Julia Fox PROPERTY Barn conversion WORK A kitchen/snug/dining room renovation LOCATION Wiltshire After buying a stone barn, dating back to the mid-1700s, retired couple Nigel and Julia Fox set about a programme of refurbishment. ‘The kitchen felt dark and cramped, so we decided to remove three internal walls to create a larger, lighter kitchen/snug/dining room, with a walk-in utility area,’ explains Nigel. 1 GETTING STARTED Before the building work began, the couple went to visit Beswick Stone in Cirencester to choose the flooring, coming across Hush Kitchens in the same showroom. ‘We admired the Shaker style of the furniture, which we felt would suit the age of our home, and as it is bespoke, we knew that it could be made to fit the dimensions…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY A Grade II-listed Georgian property, believed to have originally been built for a naval officer ROOMS Sitting room, dining room, kitchen, two bedrooms, bathroom LOCATION Southeast London Would you buy a house without viewing it? For many, finding the right home is all about a feeling – stepping inside and knowing instinctively that it’s the one. However, when Emily and Hugh Backhouse bought their first home together in 2020, they hadn’t even set foot through the door. Due to the pandemic, the couple were unable to view the two-bedroom Georgian property in southeast London. ‘We’d only seen the house from the outside, but we knew the area as I grew up here,’ explains Emily. ‘We got a good idea of the interior from the pictures. We…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY Late-Victorian house ROOMS Sitting room, dining room, two studies, kitchen, utility room, cloakroom, four bedrooms, two bathrooms LOCATION Southwest London not many people seek out their interior designer before they’ve even bought a house, but Clara and Max Arifin had their hearts set on Chelsea Dixon of Vada Collective long ago. ‘I’d seen Chelsea’s home in a newspaper years before and I remember saying to my husband that if we ever moved, I wanted to have a house like that,’ says Clara. ‘We loved how she managed to blend the classic style with an architectural French touch – it was clean, minimalist and bright.’ Clara and Max had previously owned a two-bedroom apartment nearby. However, once their daughter Isabella was born in 2018, it became clear…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY Townhouse built between 1930 and 1950 ROOMS Kitchen-diner/living area, utility room, playroom, cloakroom, five bedrooms, three bathrooms LOCATION West London WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO THIS PROJECT? Having been recommended to the clients by a London property advisor, it was exciting to be involved from the beginning, alongside architects Studio McLeod, and to inform all the elements of the interior design and architecture of this townhouse. Kitesgrove was tasked with reconfiguring the first floor to include a main bedroom suite, two children’s bedrooms and a family bathroom. We also added a second floor with two bedrooms and a bathroom, as well as a playroom, cloakroom, side hall and utility room on the ground floor. WHAT WERE THE CLIENT’S MAIN PRIORITIES? Crucially the living spaces had to flow…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY A detached Victorian house ROOMS Sitting room, dining room, kitchen, breakfast room, orangery, cinema room, playroom, utility room, boot room, study, five bedrooms, four bathrooms, dressing room LOCATION Berkshire HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED IN THIS PROJECT? My clients, a professional couple with a young family, bought this period home in 2021 as it was near to family and they loved the countryside location, easy transport links into London and good schools. While browsing Instagram, they came across my interior design business, JWJ Interiors, and liked my style. WHAT WAS THE BRIEF AND WHAT WERE THE HOMEOWNERS’ PRIORITIES? They wanted a modern classic look with colour and pattern that would enhance the period features and be in keeping with the property’s era. The tones of the…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY Detached house, built in 1986 ROOMS Sitting room, family room, dining room, kitchen, breakfast room, study, bar, scullery, utility room, games room, gym, four bedrooms, four bathrooms LOCATION Texas, USA HOW DID YOU COME TO BE INVOLVED IN THIS PROJECT? These are special clients. My mother, Tami Owen, who is the founder of our company, Owen Group Interiors, has been their designer for over 20 years and this is our fourth project with them. They asked me to take the lead on this home, to bring a fresh perspective to the project. The house was built in the 1980s and it is traditional in style; our goal was to make the home feel a little more contemporary while respecting its bones. HOW INVOLVED WERE THE HOMEOWNERS IN…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY 1920s terrace ROOMS Sitting room, snug, kitchen-diner, utility room, cloakroom, four bedrooms, three bathrooms LOCATION North London Melissa Murray-Serter put mood at the heart of the interiors in her house renovation, driven by the character of the marble surfaces in the kitchen. ‘I’m not a white walls kind of person but it’s not necessarily about colour either, it’s about making decoration interesting to create the right atmosphere,’ she says. ‘That might be a fun nursery wallpaper, dark cosy ceilings, or pattern, like the movement and vibrancy of the marble in our kitchen space.’ Melissa and her husband, Daniel, decided to buy a long-term family home not long before Margot, now two, was born. They fell for this 1920s terrace, which already had a loft conversion and…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY Scandinavian-inspired detached new build ROOMS Sitting room/dining area/kitchen, upstairs living area, utility room, office, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, dressing room LOCATION Shropshire WHAT DID YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE WITH THIS HOUSE? We bought a 1980s bungalow seven years ago, then knocked it down and rebuilt the house of our dreams. Its realisation – from knock down, to rebuild, to decoration – has gripped our lives for four years and the journey to where we are today is a culmination of years of researching, learning and living. The decoration is ongoing as we add things organically – we buy as finances allow. HOW DID YOU PLAN THE NEW DESIGN? I think it is important to live in an environment to understand how you’re going to use the…

PROJECT DETAILS OWNER Rachel Grimmer PROPERTY Grade II-listed farmhouse, parts of which were built in the 16th century PROJECT Creating a new kitchen in an adjoining outbuilding LOCATION Suffolk Rachel Grimmer’s family likes to socialise together and it was with this in mind that she set about planning a new kitchen, to be located in an outbuilding next to her listed home. ‘I wanted a light-filled, spacious kitchen that would act as a hub for all of us to spend time in,’ she explains. 1 FINDING A BALANCE The objective was to harmonise the traditional charm of the farmhouse with more contemporary design elements, to achieve a timeless and modern look. Set within two acres of picturesque landscape, the project presented a unique canvas for Rachel’s kitchen designers, Ray Munn…

PROJECT DETAILS DESIGNER Alex Young (alexandrayoungdesign.co.uk) PROPERTY Victorian family home WORK Teenage bedroom renovation LOCATION Kent ‘My clients invited me to renovate several rooms in their family home, including their youngest daughter’s bedroom,’ says designer Alex Young. The idea was to update and future-proof the space, creating a more age-appropriate scheme and layout. 1 BLANK CANVAS ‘The room was previously nondescript grey with abundant soft toys, including an oversized bright pink Peppa Pig,’ says Alex. ‘No structural work was involved, but the furniture and soft furnishings were replaced and the decor completely restyled. ‘The daughter’s older sisters both had double beds already and she wanted one too, so we banished the cabin bunk bed and chose a bespoke double bed with useful storage underneath.’ 2 A CLEAR PLAN ‘The teen…

HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY Mews house ROOMS Sitting room, kitchen-diner, utility room, three bedrooms, three bathrooms, indoor terrace LOCATION West London ‘IN THE SITTING ROOM, WE USED TEXTURED WALLPAPER AND WALL CLADDING TO BRING DEPTH AND INTEREST TO THE SPACE’ HOW DID YOU COME TO BE INVOLVED IN THIS PROJECT? We’re an interior design firm based in London and the Cotswolds, not far from where our clients used to be based. They bought the architect-designed house to use as a London bolthole when visiting their two adult children in the city. HOW INVOLVED WERE THE HOMEOWNERS? They were very involved, more so than many of our other clients. The wife is an artist and has a great appreciation of colour and a keen eye for what she likes. WHAT WERE…