The Victorian townhouse in London’s Primrose Hill had been “nailed by contractors,” says mission supervisor Emily Girling. This was not meant as a praise. Girling is a member of the small workforce at Mark Lewis Inside Design, and grand resuscitations with a historic bent are Lewis’s specialty: see, for example, A “Trendy Victorian Loft” in Hoxton Sq. and Mark Lewis’s Impressed Reinvention of His Household’s North London Row Home.
This four-floor renovation for a pair with youngsters and canine (he’s the CEO of an promoting company) turned the agency’s pandemic mission. “Only a few unique particulars remained, so it was a case of reinstating options, corresponding to fireplaces, cornices, and parquet flooring,” continued Girling. And of rethinking the format: “The decrease flooring was a rabbit warren of rooms. We constructed a small extension on the rear and opened up the area into an enormous open-plan kitchen-living space.”
To see the home now’s to return in time to an period of brick hearths and beneficiant Aga stoves—and ahead to our personal century’s sunny, free-flowing interiors and “American-size” fridges. Scroll to the tip to see Earlier than and After flooring plans.
Pictures courtesy of Mark Lewis Inside Design.
Backyard Stage Kitchen
Above: The backyard stage of the home was “fully opened up” says Mark, of the brand new extension with Crittal home windows and a raised ceiling. The house owners requested the agency so as to add particulars that really feel unique to the home, and to create a way of “calm, consolation, and group.”
The French oak parquet flooring was sourced from UK salvage specialists Lassco. The white paint used all through is Linen Wash from Little Inexperienced (emulsion on the partitions, eggshell on the woodwork). The brand new again stair has a painted runner (Useless Salmon from Farrow & Ball) and tongue-and-groove-paneled under-the-stair storage plus a WC.
Above: The massive island was requested by the purchasers. It’s not the standard Mark Lewis kitchen characteristic, but it surely incorporates his signature design particulars, corresponding to ventilated produce drawers impressed by apple crates (every drawer is three slats deep). The cupboards are a brand new end that the agency developed for the mission: it’s hand-painted wooden with an aged-waxed end. The counter tops are oak and Carrara marble.
Above: The blush pink ER7 collection 100 Aga is electrical with a fuel “hob module” on the facet. The encompassing fireplace was constructed from salvaged “white Suffolk brick,” which reappears in a number of different rooms. The Encaustic Tiles used because the backsplash are from Milagros, a London retailer that sells handmade Mexican merchandise.
Above: Brass taps from Ashton Matthews are paired with a Shaws Edgworth double sink. The sink-side ceramic pots are from the Mark Lewis Dwelling Retailer, a group of hard-to-find design particulars that Lewis has began manufacturing and providing by way of his web site.
Above: The waxed end on the wooden cupboards appears to be like like patinated steel. The cast-bronze Moray Cabinet Pull Handles had been designed for the kitchen and are a brand new addition to the Mark Lewis Dwelling Retailer. The island’s Avery Bar Stools are from Pinch in leather-based from Howe.
Above: The Moray Dishwasher Pull is one other new cast-bronze design created for the home.
Backyard-Stage Dwelling-Eating Room
Above: The kitchen flows right into a dining-living space. The pine desk was the purchasers’ personal: “we simply sanded and refinished it with a transparent oil end,” says Girling. The Avery Eating Chairs by Pinch are a companion design to the bar stools. The Ledbury Skinny Ribbed Glass Up to date Wall Lights, used right here and in nearly each different room, are by Fritz Fryer. The pendants are Fritz Fryer’s Skinny Wye Valley Railroad Lights.
Above: The room’s re-created hearth has a encompass of reclaimed Suffolk brick, a fire of reclaimed York stone, and a Charnwood range. “Ceilings within the decrease floor flooring didn’t permit area for a cornice, so the floor-to-ceiling paneling provides a contact of grandeur,” notes Girling. (There’s a tv tucked behind the double doorways).
Above: The Delft-style fireplace tiles, in inexperienced moderately than the standard blue, are the work of The Douglas Watson Studio and embody portraits of the household’s two canine: Gimble, proven right here, is a Brussels Griffin.
Above: A window seat is upholstered in a Robert Kime velvet.
Parlor Flooring
Above: The design workforce reconfigured the ground to create one lengthy entrance corridor, so there’s a view from the entrance door to the again backyard. The marbled encaustic tiles got here out of a palace in Seville; they had been sourced, Lewis tells us, from “a brilliant cool man referred to as Chris who runs Mailtland & Poate,” a London firm specializing in vintage cement tiles.
The stair has a brand new Victorian-style hand rail product of sapele, a hardwood that resembles mahogany. The jute runner is from Tim Web page Carpets.
Above: A newly painted vintage bench by the entrance door supplies a spot to take off footwear and retailer them. For extra concepts, see 10 Simple Items: Storage Benches.
Entrance Room
Above: The mix front room/research is extra formal than the downstairs dwelling area. The velvet couch is a George Smith.
Above: The lounge is split from the research by a semi-glazed partition with a door,
Above: A built-in bookshelf and fireplace for storing firewood within the research.
Most important Bed room
Above: The second flooring is the dad and mom’ quarters and the youngsters’ rooms are on the highest flooring. The velvet headboard is a customized design with a border of bronze studs. “The ground,” notes Girling, “is among the solely finishes in the home that we didn’t set up ourselves.”
Above: The brand new hearth consists of outdated brick and salvaged encaustic tile.
Above: The customized cupboard, in Farrow & Ball’s De Nimes blue, homes a TV. The slipper chair is a side-of-the-road rescue reupholstered in a Kate Forman “duck egg” velvet. The curtains are product of Robert Kime’s, Avebury linen, a sample impressed by a nineteenth century French scarf.
Most important Bathtub
Above: A chimney breast was opened as much as match the double sink from Aston Matthews, UK specialists in traditional lavatory fittings.
Above: Reclaimed Spanish tiles cowl the bathe space from flooring to ceiling.
Above: A paneled divider units off a clawfoot bathtub from Drummonds, one other UK firm that sells conventional lavatory designs (Drummonds has an NYC showroom). Examine wooden paneling in Reworking 101: The Final Information to Shiplap, Beadboard, and V-Groove Paneling.
Above: The bathe has a Carrara marble step and cabinets. The brass bathe fixture is from Aston Matthews.
Above: Mark Lewis is a stickler for particulars.
Above: A brass Sizzling-Water Towel Hotter from Aston Matthews.
Earlier than and After Flooring Plans
Above: The lower-ground flooring —the backyard stage of the home—had been divided into small rooms. The design workforce inserted a structural metal column that enabled the creation of a mix dwelling space and kitchen; the latter is positioned the place the “TV cosy” as soon as was. Be aware the brand new yoga room extension with a view of the backyard.
Above: The bottom flooring was reconfigured “so you possibly can see proper to the tip of the home from the entrance door,” says Lewis. These sight strains had been made doable by new home windows and the glazed partition that divides the research from the lounge.
Above: The primary bed room has a reinstated hearth. The walk-in closet was lowered to make room for the brand new lavatory with walk-in bathe and bathtub.
Above: The kids’s quarters on the highest flooring had been redecorated however in any other case largely preserved as was.
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