Inside story How to have a happy, healthy home. By Jessica Doyle

This pared-back house in north London not only looks elegant, but has been designed to promote both mental and physical well-being. Jessica Doyle finds out how. Photography by Helenio Barbetta

As you walk through the door of Louisa Grey’s north London house, there is an instant sense of serenity and calm. And that is very much the point. Everything about the house, from the soothing palette of off-whites and greys, to the layout of the rooms and the materials used to decorate them, is designed to inspire a sense of contentment in anyone who enters.

The process of renovating the house almost six years ago wasn’t quite so calm, however. It had belonged to the same family for 50 years and was in a state of disrepair when Grey and her partner Carl, a photographer, bought it. On top of that, they decided to dig down at basement level and extend out at the back. It took about eight months to complete the full renovation.

‘When the work started, our son, Huxley, had just been born,’ says Grey. ‘We decided to Airbnb it while the work was being done, and that year we moved house five times. We didn’t even have a sofa to begin with. We’ve built it all up over time.’

Grey, 44, was a freelance stylist, with a background in weaving, before setting up her design studio and gallery, House of Grey, in 2013, and she has since gained a name for creating quiet, restrained interiors much like this one. Patterned wallpapers and bold paint colours are not her thing: ‘I have an appreciation for maximalist style,’ she says, ‘but it’s not what I want to live with day-to-day. I’d find it a little bit stressful.’

Her home couldn’t be more relaxing – so much so that, as well as hiring it out for photographic shoots, she holds yoga workshops and wellness retreats in the gallery-like living room on the first floor.

That’s not to say that Grey lives a strictly minimalist lifestyle. ‘I love a car-boot sale, and I have lots of stuff,’ she says, ‘I just don’t want to see it.’ The kitchen, with its pale Douglasfir units and wall panelling, is streamlined and easy on the eye,

‘I like it when things get worn and have more of a story’

but pull back one of the fulllength sliding doors that line one side, and the usual family clutter is revealed.

Part of Grey’s philosophy for creating a sense of happiness at home is an acceptance that things don’t have to be perfect. When the concrete flooring in the kitchen cracked, she had it filled in with a coloured resin, to make a feature of the flaw rather than trying to cover it up. And she may have classic Hans Wegner chairs surrounding her dining table, but she also has a five-yearold son, so their paper-cord seats are covered with sheepskins. ‘I didn’t want to be too precious about anything,’ she says. ‘It has to work as a family house, and I like it when things get worn and have more of a story.’

When it comes to the furnishings, natural materials abound, such as the dining table made from wooden boards (left over from the kitchen), the curtains made from panels of linen, hessian and wool, and the floorboards, which have been stripped and treated with a water-based, natural oil.

Grey’s approach is centred on physical health, as well as mental well-being. She believes in improving the quality of the air inside a home by avoiding paints, glues and varnishes that emit VOCS (volatile organic compounds, potentially harmful chemicals). As she puts it, ‘It’s not just about putting a plant in the corner. People spend so much money on a house renovation. Why would you choose something that is going to emit nasty toxins into the air?’

Perhaps this is partly what gives the house its unique character and allows it to be both pared-back and inviting. ‘Your home should make you feel good,’ says Grey. ‘I want people to come into the interiors I design and think, “I really like it here,” even if they don’t know why. It’s a sense of contentment, and a feeling that you just don’t want to be anywhere else.’ houseofgrey.co.uk

Above Chairs by Hans Wegner for Carl Hansen surround the dining table. A fiddle-leaf fig, known for its air-purifying properties, stands in the corner. Left Neutral kitchen accessories

From top The curtains in the sitting room, designed by Grey, are made from linen, wool, hessian and velvet by Nest Design (nestdesign.co.uk); the kitchen includes an energy-saving Aga, controlled by a touch screen

Above A vintage daybed, re-covered in linen grain sacks, in the sitting room. From left The spacious bathroom, with plants and a chair by Faye Toogood (fayetoogood. com), opens into the bedroom, which has comforting textures and minimal distractions. The wooden shutters are designed to enhance sleep