RENOVATED TOWNHOUSE
Inherited art and antiques, together with accessories from favourite design shops, bring a warm, personal style to this classically decorated Victorian family home
Designer buys and inherited antiques bring a personal touch to this inviting home’s classic interiors.
“There is a fantastic German word that my late grandmother used to describe a person or a place that feels comforting and cosy, ‘gemütlich’. That is how I wanted this house to feel,” says Joanna Sharron, who lives in this five-bedroom Victorian terraced house in west London with her husband and their two daughters.
With 30 years’ experience of searching for prime residential properties to buy on behalf of private clients, Joanna, who runs her own property finding company, knows what she likes when it comes to interiors. “I see many beautiful houses as part of my job, but I’ve grown tired of the often cold, clinical feel of the decoration,” she says. “A warm family home was my aim; something chic but welcoming.”
Previously, the family lived in Bayswater, in a house built in the aftermath of the Second World War. “It was nothing special from the outside,” says Joanna, “but it was big and the layout was very practical.” However, once the children reached their late teens, the family’s priorities shifted. It was time for a change.
Joanna and her husband hunted for an area with a village feel, offering local shops and outdoor spaces nearby in which to walk their dogs. “It is incredibly dog-friendly here, which I love,” says Joanna.
The house they chose to buy is in one of a group of sought-after streets and near the area’s largest common. “After viewing many properties, I saw this house and it immediately gave me a positive feeling,” says Joanna. “I particularly liked the large
garden, which isn’t overlooked. We like to eat out there whenever we can.”
Although the house, on first inspection, appeared to be in reasonable condition, it actually needed a major overhaul. “We ended up gutting it,” says Joanna. The most significant part of the work was rebuilding the poorly conceived kitchen extension. “It had so many beams and fussy lines, it gave us a headache,” she explains. Today, it blends perfectly with the bespoke Shaker-style kitchen that Joanna designed with cabinet maker Luke Mchardy.
Many of the rooms are painted in Dulux’s Jasmine White, which provides a cohesive and versatile backdrop for the decoration. “As Dulux is so a≠ordable it makes it easy to refresh the walls whenever you need to,” says Joanna, who has chosen a neutral palette of caramels, taupes, silvers and creams for the fabrics. “Downstairs, I have opted for predominately warm colours, whereas upstairs I’ve gone for slightly cooler shades,” she says.
Apart from a handful of treasured inherited items, such as the wing-back armchair in the sitting room, the furnishings come from a small number of favoured sources, including Oka and Neptune. The effect is exactly as Joanna intended: stylish yet unpretentious with a wonderfully convivial atmosphere. “This is a brilliant house for entertaining,” she says, “so we’ve had a lot more guests since we moved, making this a really joyous home.”