FAMILY MATTERS
Kirsty and Paul Sitton balanced their desire for an elegant home with the needs of their four children
The owners of this Edwardian detached in Surrey had to balance their desire for an elegant interior with the practicalities of having four young children
For Kirsty and Paul Sitton, creating a sophisticated home that balances with the busy lives of their four children – Charlotte, 10, Toby, eight, Alice, seven, and William, five – became the challenge of their interiors decision-making. Kirsty planned out each room carefully, but as a full-time mum, understandably everything took time to put into action.
‘Our project was a gradual process as the children were young and Paul and I did everything ourselves,’ Kirsty explains. ‘The sitting room and our bedroom are my favourite spaces because they’re primarily used by us and we could go all-out with the elegant look I craved.’
Kirsty and Paul began house-hunting seven years ago. Their focus was on finding a period property in one of the market towns around London that Paul, a director for a global real estate company, could easily commute from. When this Edwardian house in central Guildford came up for sale they were delighted. ‘We walked into a wide hallway and a staircase that swept around with a lovely, grand feel to it,’ Kirsty recalls. ‘We loved that many original features were intact – the first thing Paul did when we moved in was light a fire in the sitting room!’
With the exception of the kitchen that was in desperate need of replacing, the fact that the house didn’t need any building work suited Kirsty, who at the time had three children under the age of four, with William arriving two years later. From the outset, she began making plans, sourcing reclaimed fireplaces and cast-iron
radiators on ebay. ‘It took time for the right style and sizes to come up and then Paul would drive hundreds of miles to collect our purchases,’ says Kirsty. ‘He spent months scraping off layers of paint to restore the pieces and then fitted them.’
By the time Kirsty started decorating the sitting room three years ago, she had already decided black-stained floorboards would be the foundation, running into the hallway and, eventually, the playroom. She did all the decorating herself and then moved on to the rest of the house, choosing a pale grey for the walls.
‘Paul replaced the radiator and we could see the old wallpaper underneath and so I rushed in and painted the walls in a grey that was too white,’ she says. ‘I started again with Blackened by Farrow & Ball, a cool, bluish grey that tones in with the dark floors, and that encouraged me to pick a blue sofa. Pink cushions worked so well that these two colours and the grey base unconsciously evolved into the scheme for the whole house.’
Blue-toned grey walls continue throughout the ground floor. A warm grey shade in the dining room and master bedroom is colour-matched to the new kitchen cupboards. When the kitchen was stripped out, Kirsty had a clear picture of grey shaker cupboards and a black granite worktop, a timeless style that fits in well with the age of the house and which she says is ‘almost’ her dream kitchen. ‘We plan to knock through one day and then I’ll have a big island,’ she says.
Kirsty’s room-by-room approach gained momentum as the children started school. She’s rolled-out each mood board of ideas, resulting in a mix of antique and new dark wood furniture in a colonial style. ‘I love the traditional feel of our home and I’m so glad that I didn’t jump into the latest trend,’ she says. ‘All of the rooms have their own personality in a style that will last. The sitting room was our first project, but it’s still my favourite space. It’s elegant and stylish and I think it really captures my style.’
favourite item ‘The velvet sofa fabric is gorgeous but also practical, as it has been treated so spills can be wiped away before they soak in’