A Period Home
Well furnished, not yet
a home.
A characterful two-bedroom house over three levels, with high ceilings, bay windows and a generous garden. It belonged to a young professional who had just bought their first home.
The major pieces were already in place, and most of them were good. What the house lacked was cohesion, warmth and the personal touches that make rooms feel intentional rather than furnished. It also had its kitchen in the wrong place.
Make it feel like theirs,
then move the kitchen.
The starting brief was to pull an already furnished house together: work with the existing furniture, bring in the colour, texture and character the client loved, and make every corner feel lived in.
The bigger decision came during the consultancy. The kitchen sat between the living and dining rooms, disconnected from both and from the garden. The client chose to move it next to the garden, where cooking and entertaining could spill outside, and to turn the old kitchen into an office. Neither room made the swap easy: the old kitchen was narrow with a slanted ceiling, and the new one was narrower still, with an angled wall.
Small moves first,
then the big one.
We started with the client’s tastes, their love of particular colours, textures and styles, and treated the existing furniture as the foundation rather than something to replace.
- A living and dining room with a focal point. High ceilings and elegant bay windows, given a bold pop of colour through accent pieces and a layered mix of textures and materials, so the room balances comfort with character.
- A staircase with depth. The balustrade was painted a deep navy, a single change that adds drama to the stairwell without taking any of its light.
- A kitchen by the garden. Planned into the narrower former office, working around the angled wall, so it now opens towards the garden and becomes the hub for cooking and entertaining.
- An office in the old kitchen. The narrow room with the slanted ceiling was turned into a compact, functional workspace that sits comfortably with the rest of the house.
Moving a kitchen is a big decision to take on instinct. Taking it after ten hours of working through the house together meant the client was not guessing, and the two awkward rooms were planned properly before anything was built.
How this project ran.
It began with ten hours of interior design consultancy: small, high-impact changes to the existing rooms, with a detailed shopping list and advice so the client could decide for themselves. Encouraged by the results, they added two Premium room makeovers for the new kitchen and the office, with a measured site visit, detailed floor plans and 2D elevations.
If your home is furnished but does not feel finished, an hour or two of consultancy is often the right place to start. Book a free fifteen minute call and we will tell you whether you need more than that.
Book a discovery call