Look Around This Expanded Family Cottage

The property is a terraced house in Barnes, London, which was originally built for rail workers. The client lived there with her mother when she was growing up, and after her mother died the house was left to her. It was originally going to be done up to rent out, but when we discussed its potential, the client decided to extend and renovate it to live in it full time. With a rear, side and top extension we were able to change this small two-up, two-down property into a functioning family home with four bedrooms, including a large master suite.

Our brief was to create a warm and inviting family home with as much storage as possible, with every space carefully thought out. The rooms aren’t huge, but we managed to design bespoke joinery throughout. The client really wanted their personalities to shine through the design by including plenty of colour and pattern. They brought an array of artworks with them from their previous house, and we used them as starting points within the design – picking out colours and building the schemes from there.

This was designed to be the ‘adult space’ in the house. As with a lot of Victorian properties, there are two living spaces next to each other (also known as a double reception room). We proposed to close these rooms off with large sliding doors to separate the spaces but, when open, the rooms still flow to maintain the open plan feel on the ground floor.

We kept the space light and bright, opting for a neutral colour palette and introducing an internal Crittall-style window to bring light into the hallway and create a contemporary feature in the room. 

WALLS:  Slate I, Paint And Paper Library 
WOODWORK AND JOINERY: Slate III, Paint And Paper Library 
PENDANT LIGHT: Chelso Six Light Matt Black and Opal Pendant, Lights&Lamps 
MIRROR: Norman Panelled Wall Mirror, Perch and Parrow 
CURTAIN FABRIC:  Mirador Upholstery Moremi Stone, Harlequin 
COFFEE TABLE: Pershore Coffee table, D.I. Designs 
LEATHER ARMCHAIR: Humber Vintage Occasional Chair, Olivia's  
SOFA: Odette Sofa, Love Your Home 
RUG: Loscan Recycled Indoor/Outdoor Flat Woven Rug, Le Redoute

Although this room is long, we were able to maximise use of this kitchen space by building in a banquette dining area to allow for additional living space looking out onto the garden. We wanted to create a contemporary style and did so by designing irregular-width tongue and groove panels, finished off by bronze hardware. 

JOINERY: Bespoke by MagProject, painted in Slate III, Paint And Paper Library 
ZELLIGE TILES: Mosaic Factory 
PENDANT LIGHT: Pumpkin Glass Shade, Pooky 
BAR STOOLS: Cult Furniture 
CUPBOARD HANDLES: Corston 
SOFA: Byron, Love Your Home 
CUSHIONS: Meggy and Me 
RUG: Knox Reversible Dhurrie Rug in Sand, Asiatic 
OTTOMAN: George Spencer 
DINING TABLE: Bespoke
DINING CHAIRS: Cult Furniture
ARTWORK: Client’s own
WALL LIGHTS: Charcoal Grey Opal Disk Wall Light, House Of 
BANQUETTE FABRIC: Maria Flora Ash Dark Seafoam 

The property didn’t have a downstairs cloakroom, so we reconfigured the layout to fit one in. This small space needed to pack a punch, so we installed wallpaper from Barneby Gates and matched the woodwork and ceiling to the teal colour within the paper.

WALLPAPER: Indian Stripe Wallpaper in Pink and Teal, Barneby Gates 
MIRROR: Zara Home 
BASIN: Popolo Cloakroom Basin, Crosswater 
WALL LIGHT: Tacoma Twin Wall Light, Astro
WOODWORK: Teal, Paint And Paper Library

We reconfigured the layout on this floor to create a larger bedroom with a walk-through dressing area moving into a comfortable en-suite bathroom. The client loved the Moorish maze fabric we specified for the headboard which became our central feature and picked up on the pink and green theme throughout the rest of the room. We added a cornice and wrapped it in front of the windows to hide the track for the curtains. We also widened the chimney breast to allow for a super-king-sized headboard and space for the bedside tables to slot into the alcoves on either side. For added interest and pattern, we applied wallpaper to the wardrobe doors. 

HEADBOARD FABRIC: Rapture and Wright Moorish Maze 
PIPING ON HEADBOARD: Samuel and Sons Saisons Collection CT-57459  
TABLE LAMPS: Base, clients own, lampshade, Pooky 
THROW: Zara Home 
BEDSIDE TABLES: Bespoke
ARMCHAIR: Madison Chair, Love Your Home 
CURTAIN FABRIC AND BRAID: Linara, Romo 
TRIM: Zelda, Travers 
WALLPAER ON WARDROBE DOORS: Belge in Slate, Christopher Farr  
WOODWORK: Inchyra Blue, Farrow & Ball 
WALL LIGHTS: (by dressing table) Chubes, Lights & Lamps

For continuity, we've used the same paint colour for the vanity unit as in the dressing room and reflected this colour in the tiling, which is a deep green. Retro-style wall lights give appropriate task lighting while adding a dose of glamour to the space.

FLOOR TILES: Pinstripe, Artisans Of Devizes 
WALL TILES: Oasis Ceramic in Aqua, Artisans Of Devizes 
VANITY UNIT: Bespoke
WALL LIGHTS: Versailles, Astro 
MIRROR: Garden Trading

We were limited on space here, so we suggested building the bed in front of the window and wrapping joinery around the room with a built-in desk. The mural wallpaper is the star of the show, wrapping around the window wall. We picked out a green for the woodwork to make the scheme feel fun and fresh. 

WALLPAPER: Photowall  
WOODWORK: Breakfast Room Green, Farrow & Ball  
WALL LIGHTS: Oliver Bonas 
BLIND FABRIC: Savannah in Olive, Ian Sanderson

We kept the space neutral but added pops of colour and interest by choosing fun fabrics. The irregular-sized spacing of the tongue and groove panels in the bespoke wall-to-wall joinery keeps the design on the right side of contemporary and in keeping with the rest of the house. 

HEADBOARD: Fabric, Zhiri in Coral and Gold, Jane Churchill 
CUSHIONS: Meggy and Me 
TABLE LAMPS: Base, clients own, lampshade, Pooky 
BEDSIDE TABLES: D.I. Design Alton Bedside Table in Pigeon Grey, House of Isabella 
THROW: Zara Home 
ARMCHAIR: Madison Chair, Love Your Home

The multifunctional study space doubles up as another bedroom. We wanted to keep this space masculine, so we used a linen wallpaper on the walls and painted the woodwork, joinery and radiator in a complementary shade. 

WALLPAPER: Signature Canvas, Arte 
SOFA: Felix Sofabed, Love Your Home 
BLIND FABRIC: Veranda Zigzag in Indigo, Mark Alexander 
WALL LIGHT: Club Wall Light in Antiqued Brass, Jim Lawrence