CLASSIC Combination
A mix of traditional and contemporary styles lends a fresh look to this period home in Huddersfield
It took Suzi Ellis just five minutes to seal the deal on her Victorian home – before calling her husband to tell him she had just bought a house. ‘I instinctively knew that it was right,’ she says. ‘Richard had faith in me and, fortunately, loved it, too.’
The couple had been searching for a solid period house for over a year and this one ticked all the boxes. It had original features, a rural location and a beautiful garden. It also had room for improvement inside. ‘The decor was very dated and the layout was all wrong,’ says Suzi, founder of The English Cabinet Company. ‘The dining room was as far away from the kitchen as it could be and there were more sitting areas than anyone could ever need. It all seemed very dark and disjointed.’
But the feature which sealed it for Suzi was the kitchen – the existing cabinetry was from her husband’s family furniture firm, JT Ellis. ‘It was serendipity,’ she says. They moved in while Suzi was expecting their second daughter, agreeing to live there for a year before starting to make changes. ‘I think that lasted 24 hours,’ says Suzi. ‘Richard was having a bath when he shrieked: “It’s no good, I can’t live with this.” We called the builders the very next day.’
At first they rewired, replumbed and decorated throughout. But a few years later, they realised they could do much more to improve the property. ‘We wanted to take the house back to its original layout as much as possible, while keeping it up-to-date,’ says
Suzi. This included opening up the kitchen and breakfast room into a single space with the chimney breast as the focal point. They had a new kitchen and bathroom fitted and redesigned the master bedroom to include an en suite shower and dressing room.
Richard is a traditionalist, whereas Suzi prefers a modern edge, so they combined the two looks to create a relaxed, informal home. But it was Suzi’s quest to find furniture for the rooms of daughters, Bella, now 21, and Tara, 16, that inspired her to launch her own furniture company. ‘I couldn’t find what I was looking for, which was sustainable, British, solid wood furniture that didn’t cost an arm and a leg,’ she says. ‘In the end I asked Richard’s company to make bespoke pieces to my design, and then decided to launch The English Cabinet Company to create the kind of furniture I wanted.’
The furniture is painted to match the colour scheme of the house. Suzi has chosen muted shades of taupe, blue and pale cream, which are brought to life with a mix of antiques, modern accessories and paintings. She loves textures and layers, and has created a comfortable, welcoming style that will withstand the demands of family life.
As a result the house is personal, homely and eclectic – and that is exactly how Suzi likes it. ‘ We never wanted it to look like a showhome,’ she concludes.