Marrying beautiful traditional details

with bold designs in even bolder colours is no mean feat. But with a background in fashion and project management, it’s no surprise that Laura Higgs has used the pops of red, orange, yellow, green and blue found in her wardrobe to such great effect in the Victorian house she shares with husband Chris and their two daughters.

The couple found the west London property six years ago – ‘a 1970s relic in a Victorian shell, with peach-coloured bathrooms and old newspapers behind the walls,’ recalls Laura. ‘Chris’ parents had given us some money towards it on the condition that we knocked everything through to give them a mini flat space for when they visit. And although the garden isn’t huge, the house is double-fronted, rare for the area, which meant we could create great spaces for lateral living.’

However, things didn’t exactly go to plan. ‘I thought after buying it we’d be here three months, get planning, move out, do it up and be back in within six months,’ says Laura. In fact, it took three years to get planning approval and then build. The family rented locally while Laura project managed the renovation, liaising daily with the builder Ned Fitzpatrick. ‘Often we decided things on the hoof, literally drawing new plans on the walls. But it really suited how I like to work,’ she says.

It proved a gargantuan job and included removing floors, ceilings and the entire back wall of the house, leaving only the traditional facade intact. A curving central staircase – ‘the spine of the house,’ says Laura – was repositioned further back to help create a more ‘left/right even feel’. And a ‘shedload of steel’, as Laura puts it, was also installed to allow for the double-height, all-glass extension on the back. On the third floor (there are five floors), the ceiling was lowered to create a roomier top floor and loft space, which is now a playroom for the girls and an office for Laura.

While the new-build back and lower-ground floor’s modern architectural look was intentional, Laura wanted the upper floors to retain as much of the house’s late-victorian feel as possible. She photographed everything, measuring the high skirtings and elegant cornicing so ‘where we couldn’t keep the old, the new would be in similar proportion to the original’.

Towards the end, Laura admits she slightly lost her mojo. ‘I’d overseen construction, I’d chosen all the colours and most of the furniture, but it had stopped being fun,’ she says. With her 40th birthday looming, she turned to Kitesgrove design team, overseen by Sophie Coller, to help push her past the finishing line. ‘It was really nice to have people to talk to and bounce ideas around with,’ she says. ‘They encouraged me to work with designers like Sebastian Cox and challenged my instinct for colour even further. They brought back the fun.’

The result is a home perfect for entertaining, no matter what time of year. ‘Upstairs is more of a winter space and in the summer, it’s so nice to throw the doors open wide downstairs,’ says Laura. ‘Chris and I both love to host!’ she enthuses. ‘Nothing beats dancing to our favourite songs with our friends around us.’

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