Project journal
Be inspired by the stories behind two DIY home renovations
Be inspired by these stunning home renovations
Green and pleasant
Victoria Miller explains how she and husband Dene returned the character to their dilapidated flat with a stunning kitchen renovation
Tell us about the property It is a split-level, top-floor flat in a Victorian house in Maida Vale, London. Dene found it online and booked a viewing. I hadn’t seen the photos before I turned up so it was a total surprise. It was in appalling condition and needed completely gutting, but I instantly loved it. The more dilapidated a property is, the easier it is to see its potential. What really sold it to us was the large private roof terrace on the top floor.
Did you purchase it with the aim of it being a project?
Yes, there is no way we could have lived in it as it was. As soon as we got home from the viewing, I printed off the floorplans and started to move things around to see if it could work for us. Our contractors started the day after we got the keys.
What was the kitchen like before the renovation? It was a tiny room, with a large 1970s hatch on one wall, white laminate cupboards and a black laminate worktop; there was never a question of it staying. We were gutting and remodelling the entire property, so it was one of the first things to go. We removed, or moved, all of the walls on the top level of the flat in order to create a large, open-plan kitchen-living space, perfect for entertaining.
When did you design the kitchen? We chose bespoke kitchen brand Devol, and as soon as we had paid the deposit on the flat, we sat down with the designers to plan the kitchen. However, we didn’t have it installed until a year after we moved in as we spent a long time finalising the details.
What were your plans for the space? Since the kitchen and lounge are open plan, we wanted the kitchen to be a striking feature, but we needed to ‘zone’ it so that it didn’t feel like you were sitting in the kitchen when relaxing on the sofa. I agonised over the appliances – I knew that I did not want an extractor fan on the wall, or handles on the ovens,
as I felt that both of those things would distract the eye from the features we wanted to highlight, like the marble splashbacks.
What drew you to Shaker-style cabinetry? We wanted a timeless design that would look as good in ten years’ time as it does today, and Shaker-style was the answer. Originally, we planned to have black cabinets, but once we had lived in the property for a while we knew it wasn’t the right choice as it would be too dark. That is when we settled on green. Although it seems like a bold choice, green is reasonably neutral. It can be paired with almost any colour and works well with warm metallics and natural materials such as marble and wood.
What was the biggest decision? It sounds silly, but the colour. We tested 25 different greens before we came to a decision on this shade, which Devol mixed for us. It’s based on Farrow & Ball’s Duck Green.
How did you overcome the challenge of the small space?
The whole flat is only about 900 square feet so it was all about maximising the space. I took a Tipp-ex pen to the floorplan and removed all the walls in the kitchen and living room to see what the space would be like if it was completely open plan. Having done that on paper, we decided to bring it to life. We removed the old hot water tank and airing cupboard, and also got rid of the doorways to create a much larger open-plan living area. To further maximise storage options, we used the smaller leg of the ‘L’ to house a slimline dishwasher, sink and integrated bins. This means that, aside from the ovens and the fridge, the remainder of the space is available for storage.
Tell us a bit about the kitchen flooring? It is a lovely engineered oak herringbone. This was a real splurge but it is one of my favourite things.
How much did your home’s heritage influence your design?
It heavily influenced our design choices. Sadly, over the years, all of the original features had been stripped out. We are lucky to have a wonderful neighbour who owns the house next door and was kind enough to show us around. This meant we saw all of the original features that should have been in our property. We have sought to reinstate as many as possible, such as the coving and woodwork.
Were there any must-have purchases? The sockets and switches were really important to me. I wanted the Forbes & Lomax unlacquered brass design, but Dene thought it was an extravagance. I managed to twist his arm and – reluctantly on his part – we went for them throughout the property. When we invited the estate agent back (who had sold the property to us) the first thing he mentioned was the beautiful switches and sockets!
What’s next for your renovation? A nursery! We are expecting our first baby – a little boy – so we are going all out with a jungle theme.
Reclaimed beauty
Jessica Mckenzie reveals how she and husband Adam created a stunning front entrance while renovating their Victorian terrace
Tell us about your home It is a soon-to-be three-bed Victorian terrace in south-west London. Back in 2019, we were looking for our next project in this area and we knew we would have to take on a doer-upper to afford the jump in house prices from Surrey. After our usual Saturday evening Zoopla scroll, we found this gem.
Did you have reservations? This is our third renovation but we still had concerns. The price was already very close to the top of our budget without even thinking about renovation costs. However, we had already taken on two projects before, so had the right mix of Dutch courage and naivety to go for it.
Did your home’s heritage influence your design? The last thing we wanted to do was remove the character – we’ve always loved period properties. Opting for reclaimed pieces over new is an affordable way to add personality back into the house.
How did you transform the front door? We knew we needed to change the door as it almost hit the bottom of the stairs when opened. Even though the new frame is bigger than before, we have centralised the door and brought it forwards to be in line with the house’s exterior brickwork, which gave it more space to open. We found our new door on Ebay; it had been part of an old gate house and had a lot of broken glass, but we just loved the style.
What next? We started by cleaning up the new door, sanding it, filling, and then priming it. We decided to paint it once it was in situ as we needed to rehang the door to open on the correct side, which would involve more filling. Adam and one of the builders carried the door through the house and lined it so we could start marking out the new frame. Then we removed the old door. As we took our eyes off the new door, a big gust of wind and bad luck pushed it onto the concrete and smashed around 65 per cent of the existing glass! It was absolutely heartbreaking. By this point it was 3pm on a Saturday afternoon, so we decided to fit the new door in its broken state and I desperately tried to find someone who could fix it.
How did you fix it? Thankfully, someone from a local company came out around 5pm and saved the day. He chipped out the entire pane, boarded it up for safety and took the glass away. This is how it stayed for the next six weeks. Then he brought the glass back and the door was completely restored using the shattered glass along with glass they had saved from previous projects. A lick or two of paint and it was all behind us.
See more of Jessica’s project @inside_the_doghouse