Welcome to my home

Interior designer Paula Gowar lives here with her husband Matthew, a creative director, and their children Farrah and Caspar.

THE PROPERTY

A four-bedroom, five-storey

Plate Victorian house in north London.

THE VALUE

Similar properties in the area cost around £1.35 million.

“I approached this house like a fashion designer taking a classic little black dress, deconstructing it, then adding killer satin heels”

aula and Matthew Gowar embarked on a labourof-love restoration when they moved into their home a decade ago. It hadn’t been touched for 40 years: ‘Every room was a 1970s throwback of patterned carpets, woodchip and flowery wallpaper. We installed central heating and moved in three days before Christmas. Caspar arrived two weeks later,’ says Paula.

‘I drew up the plans for six separate stages of planning applications, including a glass side-return extension.’ Growing up, she had seen her father run his construction company and developed a passion for spatial planning. She now works as an interior designer (balancedesign. co.uk) and Matthew is the founder of Range Left Graphic Design Studio, so the couple had plenty of ideas. However, when the extension’s shell was finished, they hit a cashflow crisis: ‘We continued to live in the rest of the house, doing work as and when funds permitted. I remember all four of us living in one room while the rest of the house was plastered. We had a two-ring hob and I cooked all over the house. I even made a cake in the hallway once!’

Further structural work followed, including underpinning the basement and redoing the roof. ‘We had a few dramas during the following wet summer when the top floor became waterlogged and the ceiling of Caspar’s bedroom caved in.’ Their renovation story will enliven dinner parties for years to come. ‘I was able to tackle lots of work myself,’ says Paula, ‘from repairing cornicing to creating period-style panelling and laying a parquet floor salvaged from Matthew’s mother’s house.’

Now the house is done, they love to go all-out for Christmas: ‘I like opulence with lashings of indulgence,’ says Paula. ‘I’m a bit of a magpie and love shiny things. I love scattering glass votives in the bay window and admiring the twinkling light.’