THE BRIEF
A family of four in a Grade II listed townhouse with beautiful proportions and absolutely nowhere to put anything. They wanted the period features to lead, without the house feeling like a museum with children in it.

THE CHALLENGE
The sitting room had three doors, two windows and a fireplace, which left roughly one wall to work with. The kitchen was at the back of the house and got no direct light after eleven in the morning.

WHAT WE DID
We rebuilt the sitting room layout around the fireplace instead of the television, which freed the wall and made the room read as one space rather than a corridor with chairs.

In the kitchen we went darker rather than lighter. Fighting a north-facing room with white paint rarely works. Leaning into it and layering the lighting does.

Roughly a third of the furniture is secondhand, including the dining table and both bedroom chests.