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 [Property](/home/property)

 /  14 July 2025  

#  From Downsizing To Relocating – How To Follow Your Midlife Dream  


Founder of award-winning blog Mad About The House, interiors journalist, podcaster and bestselling author Kate Watson-Smyth and her husband sold their family home two years ago to move to a smaller property and fulfil a long-held dream – to buy a house in Italy. From downsizing to decorating, Kate tells us how she navigated the move…  


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  Photography: Rachael Smith | Carole Poirot | KWS 

 

 

 

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## On Selling The Family Home… 



  

“We have lived in Crouch End, north London, since 1998 in five different houses within the N8 postcode. Two years ago, we sold our large family home to move to a smaller property a few streets away – and that enabled us to buy a house in Italy.

“The decision to sell came around slightly unexpectedly, so it was easier than I thought as we were excited about the possibility of buying in Italy. We had always dreamed of owning a property there and had vague plans to look into it when our sons (now 21 and 24) finished their studies. Then, in 2021, via a series of Chinese whispers, our builder told our architect (they both live locally) that we were moving to Italy imminently, when in fact the plan was more that we would move ‘one day’. One Saturday evening, the architect texted me to say that he was in the pub with friends who were desperate to buy on our road – they had missed out on the last two houses that had come up and would we consider selling to them?

“The boys were still in education (the younger one won’t finish until 2026) but we thought, why not? Maybe this is a sign that we should do it now. The slight complication was that we had originally planned to downsize to a two-bedroom flat once the boys had moved but, of course, as they were both still students, we needed a new place that still had room for them. The sale all hinged on us getting the right house to move to in London as we knew we would have time to find the right place in Italy. In the end, we found a three-bedroom, terraced cottage with a loft conversion and a tiny courtyard garden nearby that was perfect – so we left our four-storey (there was a cellar), five-bedroom, three-bathroom, kitchen-diner and 80ft-garden family home behind, with barely a backward glance.

“That said, I do miss that house. It was where I really cut my design teeth and where my career took off. My books were based around its décor and what I learned from renovating it. In terms of family memories, of course there were lots but I’m less emotional about that. I lived in so many houses growing up and I also went to boarding school, so I very much believe it’s about the people and the memories rather than feeling sentimental about a pile of bricks.

“I also feel very strongly that the longer you stay the harder it is to move. I didn’t want to be left in a big house, walking past empty rooms and waiting for my children to visit when they had time. I felt (and my husband felt the same) that if the house was no longer serving us then it was time to go. I would have felt sadder being in that large house with the ghosts of childhood in every corner than moving to a new place which we can call our new home together.

“The boys were also excited by the idea of a house in Italy. My mother-in-law used to have a tiny apartment in a village near Carrara, so they have been visiting since they were babies. My elder son stipulated that wherever we bought had to be within walking distance of a pint of milk and a beer, which seemed only reasonable. And, of course, we haven’t actually moved abroad, thanks to the rules of Brexit. We can only be there for 90 days out of every 180 at the moment.”

 

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## On Designing For Downsizing... 



  

“I didn’t want to live in a flat that was converted from a Victorian house as I felt I would be constantly mourning the fact that I used to live in a whole Victorian house! For a while we looked at new builds, which I’m not against at all, but the ones we saw all had rules that you can’t park a car and, as we drive to Italy, that wouldn’t work for us. In the end, we found a Victorian worker’s cottage a few streets from our old house. It needed a lot of work (more than we thought when we first saw it) but we were ready to take it on.

“Although I have a style – vintage furniture and tonal décor – I never know how I will want to decorate until I am in a room or building. The previous house had high ceilings and good plasterwork, so it was more architectural in feel with strong colours, minimal pattern and simple blinds as window dressings. This house is smaller with cosier proportions so required a totally different touch. It’s how I imagine Richard Curtis would do a Victorian worker’s cottage.

“At this stage of my life, I’m definitely more about comfort. Our last house was all floorboards and blinds. Here I have gone for sisal in the bedrooms with velvet curtains and wallpaper. We replaced all the laminate floors with dark wood boards and used reclaimed terracotta tiles in the kitchen. There are no modern spotlights anywhere; instead, we kept the wiring inside painted steel tubes on the ceiling with ceramic bulb holders. The colours are all soft pinks and terracottas, and [William Morris](https://www.wmorrisandco.com/uk/) wallpaper in the bathroom. It’s cosy and pretty and has far too much stuff in it!

“I can imagine it’s really hard if you have lived somewhere for 20 years or more – we were only 12 in the last house – but you carry your memories with you. Your life and that of your children won’t be broken if you take your memories to a new place – and of course make new ones. I think the hardest part is the decluttering and getting rid of stuff and I can’t really speak about that as I haven’t done it. For me, the fear of rattling round a deserted house with only memories of how it used to be is stronger than the fear of moving on to the next chapter.”

 

 

 

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## On Buying &amp; Renovating in Italy… 



  

“It has been a dream to buy a home in Italy ever since I met my husband in 1995 when he took me to the tiny flat his parents owned on the fourth floor of a building that was 68 hairpin bends up a mountain with a view of the sea. For a long time, we thought we would buy a holiday home but, in the end, we bought a second home – the difference is subtle but means that we go with our laptops ready to work and also we run design retreats from the house. We have both worked from home for many years, but now we might go to the village trattoria for Friday lunch rather than picking up a sandwich from the local supermarket in Crouch End.

“For me the reality has turned out better than the expectation. The pandemic was hard for small businesses and self-employed people, and we both had difficulties. Buying a house that was far too big in another country gave us the opportunity to set up a new business at a time when our lives in London were more precarious. It was enormously lucky and quite terrifying.

“We couldn’t have taken on this renovation abroad without our brilliant architect Sarah Fronduti, of [AV FR Architetti](https://www.avfr-architetti.it/sciolze) in Turin, who project-managed the whole thing for us. Without her I think the paperwork and bureaucracy would have been overwhelming. She found the builders (via a school dad) and they have since gone on to work on several other projects together. Last Christmas, we threw a drinks party to thank them and they all came to the house with their partners and children; and then we all went out for dinner in the village. That memory makes me tearful with gratitude.

“I think that if you are going to do a project remotely, you have to be quite visual. I can see past a pile of rubble to what the finished room will look like and therefore make a judgment about where I want the tiles – but not everyone can do that. We had a lot of WhatsApp exchanges where Sarah would photograph something and draw on it asking things like ‘do you want the pink paint to finish here, or here?’

“We got 99 per cent of it right. We were trying to save money, so we mostly replaced electrical switches and sockets in situ rather than adding new ones – there’s a dark spot in the top-floor sitting room that’s about 15m from the nearest socket! We have found the new generation of rechargeable battery lights to be invaluable. The tap is at the wrong end of one of the bathtubs and one of the ceiling lights is hung too high. None of it’s a disaster.”

 

 

 



  [ ![](https://media.sheerluxe.com/smefCADkUCELMiQvQMWwa_Lkto0=/800x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fsheerluxe.com%2Fsites%2Fsheerluxe%2Ffiles%2Farticles%2F2025%2F07%2F4-kate-watson-smyth-image-1.jpg?itok=_aUl6XsG)

 

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  [ ![](https://media.sheerluxe.com/RRX4s_j5x8WNcKHffAoVzaqkd2Q=/800x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fsheerluxe.com%2Fsites%2Fsheerluxe%2Ffiles%2Farticles%2F2025%2F07%2F5-kate-watson-smyth-image-1.jpg?itok=K4mW2MJD)

 

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## On The Italian Influence… 



  

“Italian architecture has really influenced me. Recently, I created a set of 12 paint colours with the sustainable brand [Graphenstone](https://graphenstone.com), all based around scraps of original colours we found in the house – from the frescoes on the ceilings to the hydrangeas in the garden. The colours work well in all climates. There are several pinks, a lavender and three greens as well as two blues. I felt it was a real nod to Italian style, but a couple of visitors have said how lovely it is to see such English style transported to Italy! I guess the house and climate has influenced me to use more colour than I would do in England, but my style remains broadly the same.

“We tried very hard to retain the spirit of this house – parts of which are 300 years old – when we redecorated. We also wanted to remember that it had been a family home since the 1960s, so we approached it with the idea of moving all that forward. In our bedroom, which was an upstairs sitting room for the previous owner, now in her 80s, we chose a [Colefax &amp; Flower](https://www.colefax.com) [ ](https://www.colefax.com)wallpaper with a wisteria design as there is a 100-year-old wisteria in the garden that she loved. Decisions like that informed all the colours we chose, but we also tried to mix in comfortable sofas rather than the more upright antiques that were there.

“We had to re-wire and re-plumb the whole house, so we took out the small bathtubs and replaced them with big showers or free-standing baths with retro-style taps from [Perrin &amp; Rowe](https://houseofrohl.design/en-gb/) and [Burlington](https://www.burlingtonbathrooms.com). A fitted kitchen didn’t feel right, so the builders created a series of half walls that were far enough apart for appliances and we covered it all with Carrara marble worktops. We used appliances by [Smeg](https://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=74372&awinaffid=69421&platform=dl&ued=https%3A%2F%2Fshop.smeguk.com%2F), as that’s an Italian brand.

“It’s perfectly possibly to mix very contemporary fixtures and fittings with old houses and that contrast can work, but you can’t do it in every room or you will lose some of the character. It’s about the tension between the two – either it’s a super-sleek kitchen in a room with an ancient fresco on the ceiling or it’s about a super-efficient set of appliances that look a little retro in style.

“One of our first visitors to the house when we had finished said she (and, I suspect, the whole village) was worried we would have painted everything white and added lots of marble. When she had looked round, she said (a huge compliment) that it didn’t look as if we had done anything much. Clearly, nothing is the same anywhere, but she felt that the essence of the house hadn’t changed, which is what we had aimed for.

 

 

 

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“We took a lot of our London furniture over and visitors love recognising various pieces like the palm tree lamp and the pink library chairs. Having familiar things around us also makes it feel more instantly like home. We have also bought some new things, and we tend to go to the vintage markets at the weekend for art and accessories.

“Which is my favourite room? Every time I sit in the downstairs sitting room with the fresco ceiling, I think it’s my favourite place on earth. Then I go upstairs to the green one with all the windows (my son calls it the tree house) and I change my mind. Last time we were there I painted my study and now it’s that room. When people use to ask me that question about our old London house, I used to say it was the room I had most recently decorated and I think it’s still the same now.”

 

## On Creating A Dream Home… 



  

“I think the idea of a dream home will inevitably change according to what your dreams are at the time. As a young mother, my dream home involved a playroom (never had one) and proximity to a good school. Later on, it was about space for a home office (got that one) and being able to walk to the shops and see people I know to chat to on the way. For many years, I fantasised about having a kitchen big enough for a sofa (never had that either) but now I find I would really discourage anyone from that dream. As soon as you have a sofa in the kitchen you inevitably stop using the sitting room! These days I would use that space for a really great pantry instead of more seating. Then I would work hard to create the sitting room of dreams that works for everyone who wants to use it.

“For a house to feel like a home, the elements must tell the story of the people that live there. It might be based around colours they wear or furniture they have had for many years or taken from their parents’ house. It’s not just about family photos but perhaps about a framed menu from the restaurant they went to on their first date. A house is a place, a home is a feeling and to create that feeling involves layers of things built up over many years. Also, good lighting – by which I mean lamps, not a series of rooms with big lights in the middle of the ceilings.

“For our dream home in Italy, the non-negotiable was location. We are city people, and this house is in a village about 30 minutes from the centre of Turin. The village has two restaurants, a bar/shop, a pharmacy and a post office. Those were all important elements for us.

 

 

 

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“Inside a house, if you like the bones of it, you can pretty much – unless it’s listed – create whatever you want. I’m a big believer in moving rooms to where you need them to be if you have the budget to do it. Not everyone wants the kitchen at the back of the house – that was in the days when mum was washing up at the sink and needed to see the kids in the garden. Now you might want to open up the back and put some chairs or the dining table there so you can enjoy the view and tuck the kitchen away towards the middle of the house. We have tended to use the smallest bedroom as a home office but, again, who wants to spend all day in the smallest, darkest room?

“If you’re looking for your dream home, don’t spend too long searching for perfection as you’ll never find it and so will never move on – but time will. Every house purchase is a compromise: the garden is tiny but it’s in the school catchment area; the garden is gorgeous but the third bedroom is too small; or (as in in our case), it’s the perfect location and ticks all our boxes, but it has 24 rooms so it’s far too big – yet that allows you to start the next adventure of running design retreats.

“I have always loved helping people find their own interior style and make the best of their homes. During lockdown, I created an online course with [Create Academy](https://www.createacademy.com/online-courses/interior-design/kate-watson-smyth/how-to-be-mad-about-your-house?srsltid=AfmBOooYTyUjA5sRs3IY0DvfZjqzP6MYTUJ1lVHBANJ6ov5ldyhBtTsg) and this house has allowed me to turn that teaching into a real-life experience. We run three long weekends a year, based around interior design and shopping at vintage markets. Guests stay at a design-led hotel in Turin and spend their days at the house exploring and attending workshops on colour and styling as well as planning their own renovations, from single rooms to entire houses. We also go to the huge weekend vintage market, which winds around lots of streets and where you can find everything from old copper jelly moulds and 60s art to mid-century furniture and Murano lighting. Previous guests have all stayed in touch and see each other when they can, so it’s a real opportunity to meet like-minded people and make new friends. This year, as well as the Italian retreats, I am hosting a one-day workshop at Henry’s House in London where we will be focusing on renovating period properties, mixing old and new and sourcing vintage furniture.”

*Visit* [*KWSDesignRetreats.com*](https://kwsdesignretreats.com/) *and* [*MadAboutTheHouse.com*](https://madaboutthehouse.com/) *for more details. Listen to podcast* [*The Great Indoors*](https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-great-indoors/id1437834171) *which Kate presents with TV journalist and designer Sophie Robinson.*

*On Friday 14th November, Kate will be hosting an intimate interior design workshop for individuals or groups in the beautiful, Georgian-inspired setting of Henry’s Townhouse. Book via* [*caroline@thecollinscollection.co.uk*](mailto:caroline@thecollinscollection.co.uk) *or visit* [*HenrysTownHouse.co.uk*](https://henrystownhouse.co.uk/) *for more details.*

*Images by Rachael Smith, Carole Poirot and KWS*

 

 

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