characterful extension

Character & personality are in abundance on this lovely project. Both my kitchen designer and architect were already involved and introduced me to the client to work on the interior. My input was primarily for the new family room (kitchen/dining/living) and family bathroom. I sat down with the clients and it was immediately apparent it would be a project full of character. They wanted the spaces to reflect their love of travel, colour and pattern. No clinical or stark rooms. Instead, a family-friendly feeling, welcoming and relaxing.

Francesca from Helium worked closely with the clients on an eclectic and playful kitchen design including the fabulous green Everhot cooker. I built on this for the rest of this open-plan area, including the patterned vintage style wall tiles. This room would be created by the new rear extension and so be light-filled and open on to the garden. We worked collaboratively to introduce colours and finishes which would reflect the couple’s personality and also to include personal items from their time living in Africa. A dark green wall in the sofa area is a great backdrop for a gallery wall. The lighting offers lots of flexibility for different times of the day and night, this makes a massive difference to the feel of the room.

Upstairs, we created a practical family bathroom for their young children but with a fun & quirky twist. Imaginative wallpaper is teamed with classic Metro tiles, plenty of storage, black fixtures and a copper towel radiator.

The final spaces are just lovely – a super relaxing and welcoming home brimming with personal touches. The clients thanked me for ‘capturing their spirit’ which is just a wonderful thing to hear.

“We were admittedly hesitant at first about using an interior designer for our kitchen/living space extension and bathroom. We thought it would be beyond our affordability and we also had quite set ideas about how we wanted the spaces to look. However, we struggled with the practicalities of which of furniture and fittings would best fit in these spaces that did not yet exist.  Also, collaborating our ideas was proving a little overwhelming. It was becoming apparent that, despite being very clear about what we didn’t want, we weren’t so good at deciding what we did want!
Lucy immediately put our doubts to rest; she was both personable and professional. Also, importantly for us, she was entirely transparent from our first meeting about the very reasonable costs of her service. She had a real skill for understanding our somewhat garbled vision. As such, she selected ideas that were very ‘us’ and we could easily choose from. Her efficiency and attention to detail meant we felt confident about the decisions we were making. Rather than quash our hopes for a bold use of colour, she encouraged us to make this work. Thanks to Lucy we now have a dream living space. It is entirely suited to us both in terms of practicalities and aesthetics and which we are delighted to call home.”