Real Home
Pops of colour and a touch of gold have transformed Anna and Dilwyn’s period property from servants’ quarters to luxury home
See how Anna and Dilwyn turned a period property’s servants quarters into a luxury home
adistinct lack of period features didn’t stop Anna and Dilwyn from falling for the olde-worlde feel of their first home. ‘The décor was really tired and chintzy,’ says
Anna. ‘The house was effectively the servants’ quarters of a brewery, and when the split took place in the 1960s, it hadn’t been done at all sympathetically. But it had a lovely feel. The high ceilings and windows were really the only period fixtures in the property, however, we had a vision of how they’d work when we reinstated the elements we had in mind.’
As soon as the couple got the keys to their new home, they applied for planning permission and started to work up plans with an architect to maximise the space. ‘The house was Grade II listed, so everything had to have conservation sign-off, which took a lot of toing and froing,’ says Anna.
‘We had to move the stairs to create the new layout for the upstairs rooms and there were concerns that we were removing period features. The frustrating part was that these “features” weren’t even original – they’d been put in at the time of conversion in the 1960s.’
After seeing the planning process through, the couple were itching to get started. ‘We moved every single wall,’ Anna says. The couple opened up the hallway into an open-plan hall, kitchen and dining room – the hall space being defined by the new stair position. They also converted the garage, which the previous owners used as a dining room, into a studio and office, raising the floors to retain the flow throughout the whole of the downstairs. Upstairs, they transformed the previously cramped layout into a space with three double bedrooms and a family-sized bathroom.
Anna and Dilwyn were sympathetic to the age of the house and reinstated most of the fixtures and fittings. ‘The stairs were modelled on the staircase in our neighbours’ entrance hall, which still had tons of original features,’ says Anna. ‘We installed coving to give the rooms a sympathetic period finish and replaced the standard modern woodwork with a design that was reminiscent of the period of the house.’ Full-height living room doors and Victorian glass windows are in keeping with the style and proportion of the property.
Despite their reintroduction of period features, the couple opted for modern décor throughout the house, combining inherited, reclaimed and new pieces in an eclectic mix. ‘For me the interior design was about being bolder and braver,’ Anna says. ‘I do like strong colours and I wanted to use them to create something quite cocooning. As the house has evolved, I have found something I loved for each room and that inspired the scheme in it.’ In the living room, the defining item is the sofa fabric. ‘It was the perfect combination of traditional and modern,’ Anna explains. ‘The pattern is traditional but the bright colourway brings it bang up to date. I picked out the deep teal, my favourite colour, for the walls.’
In the kitchen, the multipurpose open-plan layout was key to Anna’s design. ‘We made the decision to have pocket doors so we could shut everything out and use the room differently when not using the kitchen,’ she explains. ‘Once we knew we were going for a streamlined look, I didn’t want it to be too cold so went for a cashmere shade for the walls and units. I inherited the gold sequin panel from my mum and I decided to link the gold throughout: I love the patina that develops over time, as well as the effect of mixed metallics. I wanted to bring a luxe feel to the space.’
While the layout is cleverly zoned, the defined areas still need to work together to create cohesion. ‘I think the hall wallpaper sets the scene for the whole house in the way that it’s classic – almost distressed – in crisp, contemporary colours.’ says Anna. ‘In the film The King’s Speech, the speech therapist, Lionel Logue, has a distressed teal wall – it inspired me and it’s something I’d always wanted to emulate in my own home. I really like the distressed glamour look – something beautiful that’s really a bit of a mess!’
Upstairs, the ‘distressed elegance’ that Anna loves continues, with wallpaper in the bedroom and large-scale marble tiles in the bathroom. Anna’s favourite buy is a famous Esquire magazine cover that hangs in the bathroom. ‘I never want to look at something on a wall and think,
“Oh, I just bought that to fill the space.”,’ she says. ‘It’s really important to me, in my house and when I’m designing for others, that the space feels like yours and is a collection of items that bring back great memories or create strong feelings of home. After all the hard work, it’s those finishing touches that make the house feel complete.’