SPACE & LIGHT in a Victorian terraced family home
It’s taken Careen and Nigel Green 16 years to transform their home into the stylish, modern property it is today. ‘We moved in as a young family and didn’t have enough money to do everything we wanted right away. Neither of us is DIY-savvy, so we needed to hire tradespeople to do all the work, which was expensive, and we both had busy full-time jobs, so had to take our time and save money for each project.’
Back in 2002, Careen and Nigel were looking for a lifestyle change and relocated from London to the south coast. ‘We have family in Lewes so I was able to base myself with them while house hunting in the area. Every day I’d get the train to Brighton and Hove with my backpack filled with refreshments and spend hours exploring to get a feel for the place and a sense of the different areas,’ explains Careen.
Originally the couple were looking in Brighton, but when this house came onto the market in nearby Hove, Careen jumped at the chance to buy it. ‘Nigel and I realised Hove would be a better location for us, as it is much quieter than Brighton, especially in summer when lots of visitors arrive, but we thought it would be out of our budget. Then, by a stroke of luck, this house came up for sale in the perfect area and in our price bracket,’ she says.
‘I put in an offer within 15 minutes of the viewing – before my husband had even seen it! I was confident he’d love it as much as I did.’
The Victorian property, built just before 1900 for the South Coast Railway Company, was a shell when they purchased it. ‘Although with larger proportions, it was an identical layout to our former London home, so I had a good understanding of what we could do with the space. There was a dated green carpet on the staircase, the kitchen was too rustic, the bathrooms needed updating and the previous owners had stripped back the house to the bones and it felt too bare for us,’ explains Careen.
In their first year, the couple painted the house from top to bottom in Calico by Dulux and had natural seagrass flooring fitted up the stairs and in the hallway. ‘Some friends helped paint the sitting room in a warm beige by Fired Earth, which instantly made the large room feel cosier,’ says Careen. They also made the garden a priority. A local gardener was hired to transform their patch of concrete into a private urban space, with slate paving and raised beds full of green and white planting.
‘With a baby on the way, and no cash to spare,
I had to find creative ways to decorate the house,’ Careen says. ‘So I furnished it with buys from Brighton’s many vintage markets and junk shops. Nothing in our home is brand new. It’s all
secondhand or hand-me-downs. I’ve salvaged a lot of things that people have thrown out on the street. It was the only way we could furnish a house this big,’ explains Careen.
Other furniture came from friends and family: ‘My linen sofa was a cast-off from a friend. I spent £70 on fabric dye and got a sofa that looks as good as new,’ she says. ‘I take pleasure in being frugal when it comes to decorating. We love mid-century furniture and fabrics, and enjoy bringing our finds back to life,’ she explains. Their home is filled with quirky touches, such as the wooden ironing board used as a console table, and the large cable wheel repurposed as a coffee table.
‘We waited five years before we could afford to rip out the bathroom. The wooden cladding remained and was painted white, but everything else was replaced,’ Careen says. ‘I couldn’t afford the Moroccan-style tiles I wanted but found wall stickers from Not on the High Street that give a similar effect at a fraction of the cost.’
In 2014, the family finally had enough savings to renovate the kitchen. The existing design was a run of narrow wooden units with a small sun room at the back, too small to fit a standard dining table. Their plan was to turn these two rooms into one open-plan space. ‘We couldn’t increase the footprint of our house but we could be clever with the existing layout,’ explains Careen. To begin, their builders knocked down the internal walls and installed large bifold doors, then the kitchen area was levelled and underfloor heating installed. ‘The space immediately felt bigger and lighter,’ she says.
Careen was then able to plan the fittings. ‘After waiting 12 years, I knew exactly what I wanted;
I’m a complete interior magazines addict. I draw inspiration from expensive interior design ideas and then work out how to recreate the same look in my home for half the price,’ she says. ‘I sourced everything myself, from the tiles to the Howdens’ units to the Neptune handles, all with the intention of getting a designer look on a shoestring.’
Once the house was complete, and to earn extra money to pay for family holidays, in early 2015 Careen had the idea of putting her home on the rental site Airbnb. ‘Our guests started giving us feedback saying how much they loved how our home was decorated, which gave me the confidence to think I could make a career of this. I signed up for a two-year interior design course and plans are in the pipeline to set up an agency that will help others style their living spaces,’ she says. ‘Although it’s taken us years to renovate our home, I’ve learned so much that I’m now bringing to my new career.’