Make it! SCAFFOLDING SHELVES
ON DISPLAY
‘We love the rustic look of our open scaffold-board shelves; wall cupboards would have made the kitchen feel too enclosed’ enough to rest the boards safely on.
Using a spirit level, mark the top of the brackets and mark the screw holes with a pencil, setting the height of the shelves according to the items you want to display. Drill the holes, push in wall plugs and screw the brackets to the wall.
Lay the scaffolding boards over the wall brackets and screw firmly down into place.
BALANCING ACT
‘Our builder made the chimney breast more symmetrical so we could fit in the cooker and have a cupboard on either side’
OPEN HOUSE
‘Extending the lower-ground floor has given us so much more space. The cream shade of Farrow & Ball’s Wimborne White ties in with the warm blond-wood table’
‘MID CENTURY IS A FLEXIBLE DESIGN CLASSIC THAT SITS COMFORTABLY IN OUR OLD HOUSE AND WORKS WELL WITH CONTEMPORARY SCANDI STYL ES’
CO-ORDINATED LOOK
‘We went for mid century-style sofas from Made.com and French Connection at DFS, with Scandi touches like the H&M bamboo pot and Ikea mirror’
we could to the boundary. It’s made a big difference to the dining area because we can fit in a table that seats six. Although this meant the passageway was blocked off from the garden, we don’t mind as we don’t need the access anymore. We have a storage shed out there now, useful for the bins and bikes.
Tackling the work
Our building contractor Jake Moss from Campbell Keats was as enthusiastic about our project and as keen on the interior finishes as we were. The biggest part of the process was having the lower-ground floor tanked and waterproofed because we’re below the road at the front of the house and vulnerable to water ingress. We weren’t planning to move out, but Jake found a leak in the kitchen ceiling from the bathroom so everything had to be stripped out and fixed straightaway. As I was pregnant and Élodie was a toddler at the time, we stayed with my mum and then my sister for a month, while Andrew just about managed to stay living here to keep an eye on progress!
After we moved back in, the team
‘I’D ALWAYS WANTED TO LIVE IN A PERIOD PROPERTY WITH A MODERN EXTENSION AT THE BACK’
worked around us, rigging up a temporary kitchen in the old dining room while they got on with fitting the new one. During the bathroom project, Jake suggested we remove the chimney breast so we could have a separate shower and bath, but we decided that the old fireplace was an important feature for us, as bath time is a treasured routine.
Interior finishes
While the upper floors had lovely period details, downstairs had none and I needed something to focus my design ideas on. One of our favourite pieces of furniture is the bespoke mid-century sideboard that Andrew won from a furniture designer in a raffle. We both love the clean lines of this era; it’s a flexible design classic that sits comfortably in our older house and works well with the contemporary Scandi styles we like, such as the blond-wood flooring, rattan accessories and furniture.
We kept the walls white to ensure the space is as light as possible and I brought in interest and colour with art and greenery. I’ve taken a similar approach
TILE TIE-IN
‘Flooring from Siesta Cork Tiles was a safer option than slippery porcelain and looks like the real thing’