A NEW DIRECTION
The townhouse Sarah and James Dand found after moving back to the UK provided a beautiful blank canvas to try out a different look
How one family created a cosy home in London after living in Amsterdam for over a decade
When work commitments meant a move to the Netherlands for James and Sarah Dand, they initially thought they’d be there for six months. ‘We first moved to the centre of the city, which was great, and with the rest of Europe on our doorstep we travelled most weekends,’ says Sarah. Eleven years later they were still enjoying the Dutch lifestyle. ‘We had just got our black Labrador, Jeda, and needed more green space so moved out to a village on the outskirts of Amsterdam and we certainly didn’t have any plans to move.’
It was a complete surprise when James was offered a relocation back to the UK. ‘We’d just enrolled our eldest son Oliver, now six, into a British school and I was pregnant with my son Isaac, now four, but it was an exciting opportunity,’ says Sarah.
Both originally from Yorkshire, Sarah and James have always liked to live somewhere with more of a villagey feel, so finding the ideal family home in London was going to be quite a challenge. ‘There just didn’t seem to be many realistic options for us. We spent an afternoon strolling around Kew Gardens and I thought the area may have what we were looking for,’ explains Sarah. The couple decided to rent a house just round the corner from their current property to get to know the area. ‘After nine months we did find a few
houses we liked and actually put offers in, but nothing stuck.’ Sarah started to think they would never find anything, until she walked into this impressive threestorey property. ‘We knew it had amazing potential – the rooms were big, it felt very welcoming and we could visualise creating a cosy family home here.’
With their offer accepted, they didn’t hang around as the revamp took just four weeks before they were able to move in. ‘We really wanted to make the most of the view onto the green. It’s one of the things that makes this house so special,’ says Sarah.
To achieve this, they removed the existing wall between the kitchen-diner and sitting room, incorporating easy open bifold doors and retained the original side of the kitchen and built a stunning feature island for the family to relax and socialise around.
The interior wasn’t to their style though, so they enlisted the help of Alex and Ali from Otta Design to help them maximise the potential of the house. ‘They created mood boards which challenged our initial ideas,’ says Sarah. ‘They definitely gave us the confidence to be much braver with our colour choices.’ Every room now makes its own decorative statement using vibrant rich tones. ‘Although part of us will always be in the Netherlands, this house definitely feels like home and all of us feel very fortunate to live in this special place.’
future plans ‘I can’t wait to redesign the bathrooms and fit a standalone bath in the en suite’