FULL SPEED AHEAD
Designer Emma Carlow and her husband Graham renovated their Victorian end-of-terrace property from top to bottom in just six weeks
Emma Carlow was living in a rented house with her husband Graham and son Finn, now 17, when they spotted their current home on the same street. ‘This house was almost a mirror image of the one we were living in four doors down,’ says Emma, who is a wallpaper designer. ‘So I thought we’d know exactly what to do when it came to renovating it, but in the end we didn’t do anything we had planned to.’
The couple lived in the house for a year before starting what turned out to be a very speedy renovation. The family moved out while a team of builders headed up by Emma’s dad – a retired builder himself – moved in. Emma and her dad project-managed and in six weeks the team fitted a new staircase, replaced the roof – fitting a dormer to create space for an en suite for Finn, built
storage for Graham’s photography equipment, replaced the family bathroom and extended the kitchen into the side return.
The first job was the main staircase. ‘We wanted new stairs, because the original ones were too steep,’ says Emma, ‘but altering the staircase meant re-planning the bathroom to create the necessary space.’ Next, a dormer in the roof created room for Finn’s en suite. ‘We let Finn have that room, so when he has friends over he takes them up there and we’ve still got the rest of the house,’ she laughs. Emma’s dad advised them to add insulation to the external walls. This necessitated paddle stairs up to Finn’s room, but does mean they hardly ever have to heat the upstairs of the house.
The final project was the kitchen. ‘We inherited a tiny kitchen,’ says Emma. ‘You could stand in the middle and touch two opposite
walls at the same time.’ By extending into the side return and using extensive glazing, they created a spacious, light-filled space.
While the work was going on, Graham was working in New York and Emma stayed in a local holiday cottage with Finn, so she was able to keep an eye on progress. ‘I loved seeing everything stripped bare,’ she says, ‘but my favourite moment was Graham’s reaction when he got back – I think he was quite impressed!’
Inspired by a love of colour and mid-century design, the interior came together quite naturally. ‘Graham and I have always been quite flamboyant with colour. We both went to art school, so perhaps we’ve been inspired by the artists we admire. I am a massive Alexander Calder fan and he uses a lot of primary colours.’ Predominantly white walls provide a backdrop for mid-century furniture and a colourful collection of art and personal objects. The couple’s existing dining table provided a starting point, soon enhanced by the Sixties teak display unit – a lucky find on ebay at just £400 that turned out to be the Danish PS System.
For the kitchen, Emma bought basic cabinets and commissioned a local carpenter to make the doors, which she then painted bright yellow. ‘The kitchen floor stayed concrete for ages, because we didn’t know what to do with it,’ says Emma. ‘But my neighbour encouraged us to go for teal, so teal lino it was!’
Now that the whirlwind renovation is complete, what does the family make of their colourful home? ‘What I love about our house is that it is incredibly welcoming,’ says Emma. ‘It’s just a really friendly place to be.’ Not bad for six weeks’ work.