The Househunter 13/11/15

Why do the good houses have to be so expensive? The housing market in London is clearly completely mental and this is not the place to get into the why (oh whys) and wherefores of that, but while I never miss an opportunity to poke my nose around someone else’s house and while we can’t all afford the location of our dreams, we can do a lot with the spaces we have.

So, rather than lamenting the cost of this fabulous five bedroom apartment in Kensington (Domus Nova £2,795,000) let’s see what they’ve got that we can, shamelessly, rip off, copy and adapt for our own homes. Sound like a plan?

First up what do we have here? Vintage chairs round a rustic table sitting on exposed floorboards. So far so simple. If you don’t have, or don’t want, wooden floors in the kitchen there are some really great faux wood tiles around at the moment. They’re done by photographing the design so they look so real you basically have to touch to find out. Also, underfloor heating works better with a tiled floor.

Dark grey on the cupboards and no overhead cupboards to block the light and bang your head on. Yes, this is a big room, but there’s nothing here that couldn’t be adapted to a smaller space. And that is a fabulous fish picture over the sink but you could have a couple of open shelves for more storage. And while we’re at it, I’d lower the lamp over the table. You can always put a ceiling hook nearby so that if you move the table or your fantastically tall friend comes round you can move it out of the way.

Next up, yes big room again but actually quite long and thin #firstworldproblems. Those Berber rugs are everywhere now and you can pay a lot or a little depending on your budget. A dark grey sofa will always go with everything and you can change the cushion covers as often as you wish. What’s clever about this space is how the owners have broken up the walls by hanging their art in different zones and patterns. I have no idea about this kind of thing and would probably have just put three in a row over the sofa and left it at that. This is way better and demonstrates the power of being bold.

Now, yes this family appear to have two sitting rooms. And they’ve sort of created my dream scenario of a dark cosy one and a light summer one. Either way, it’s a similar sofa and you can see how the space changes with a darker rug. Lots of table and floor lamps for atmosphere rather than just one overhead one and the bright cushions on the sofa contrast with the more monochrome ones in the first room.

Then we come to this. I have been looking at this image all week. Those tiles…. Aren’t they amazing? And if they’re expensive (which they probably are) then why not just use a few as a splashback by the basin? Or in a thin strip from ceiling, behind the basin and down to the floor? Basically see what you can afford in the budget, buy what you can and work out a way to use them. According to the vendor these are Fired Earth Marrakech but I can’t find them on the site so perhaps they have been discontinued or they have misremembered. I will keep hunting…

You don’t have to do a whole wall, you don’t have to go all the way up the wall. You can basically do what you like with tiles. These ones below are pretty sexy too aren’t they? Which brings me to another point. If I were in the money, I’d have bought this house for those tiles by now. That’s what sold it to me. And yet it’s all replaceable stuff and it’s all a look that you can create yourselves in your own space whatever size it is.

Where next? What about this gorgeous one bedroom loft that’s on with The Modern House for £1,150,000.

This one is a bit of a treat for me because inside my calm and tidy house (!) there is a maximalist straining to get out. I love stuff. Yes I do. I love the idea of books spilling over onto every surface, of interesting objects to catch the eye and of every item telling a story.

However, I live with someone who is rather tidier by nature and we have adapted to each other. Well sort of. He lives in a place that’s slightly fuller and messier than he would like and I live in one that is emptier and tidier than it would be if I were left to my own devices. We have two children. One is clearly his the other is clearly mine. Obviously I get the 12-year-old whose room makeover I showed you earlier in the year which was mainly about trying to get him to tidy his room. I mean, in itself I don’t mind the mess, it’s just that I know where to find things in a mess of my own creation. He hasn’t worked that bit out yet, so it’s a hideous mess and everything is lost.

Still, enough of that, worrabout this loft? There are books on every available wall and while that may not be the classic pared back loft design we are used to, it certainly makes what could be a cavernous open plan space a little more cosy and intimate.

I like the concrete island too. We are about to get a quote for covering ours in concrete, it will be much warmer than the stainless steel we currently have although I really can’t fault that for anyone who actually likes to cook in their kitchen (strange a concept as that may seem). You can totally abuse it with water, hot pans, turmeric and tomato and it just doesn’t care.

So yes, like a lunatic I am going to replace it with concrete which I am quite sure will be more temperamental in every way. I’ll explain the rationale another time.

For now though, feast your eyes on this. Yes it has amazing space and windows but it’s been done in shades of grey, which everyone loves at the moment, the books bring personality and the plants soften the stark walls and bring colour. It’s all eminently doable in your own place.

And doesn’t that bedroom look all cosy and sumptuous? Dark walls, lots of textiles, soft rugs and a mirror to bounce the light around.

What do you think? We don’t need the millions people, we just need to learn how to make the most of what the builder, and the mortgage broker, gave us.