The Househunter 18/9/15

It’s Friday so it’s time for a spot of house porn. This week, we’re going to focus a little more on getting the look of the rooms featured as I think it’s highly unlikely any of you are actually househunting this way and also because I have just noticed that this one is around ten million quid. Yes, exactly. However, if you want to see more of the rooms (and God knows there are loads of them) then it’s on the market with John D Wood and it’s in North Kensington, London.

Now that we’ve dealt with the technical stuff, what about this kitchen then? I’m increasingly pinning black kitchens at the moment and I love the simple clean lines of this one. It isn’t dark because of the glass doors at the back and the light wooden floor.

Talking of glass doors, mine have white frames and I really want to paint them black. It isn’t quite that simple as the rubber seals are white and can’t be painted, but the company I bought the doors from (Folding Sliding Door Company since you ask) said they will send me new rubber seals in black for around £100 and they will fit them or my builder can. Then it’s easy enough to paint the frames.

I love how the black really anchors the room and frames the view outside. So much better than white. The other thing is that the frames will sort of disappear at night so you almost won’t see the doors at all. And that, if you are thinking of installing big glass doors, is my top tip for today.

Notice how the wide boards look instantly more expensive. It will cost more but it’s definitely worth considering. Especially if you buy your kitchen from Ikea or Wickes or somewhere like that and then customise the details. The vintage wooden stools also stop this kitchen looking too stark or modern. As does the exposed brick wall, although I might have painted it white. Or even black.

I love this open plan hall and dining room, which also loops round to the kitchen. The sitting room below is accessed through that opening by the front door. You can find chairs like these on ebay or also at Peppermill Antiques, which is where I bought the office chairs in the loft. They have a great selection of both vintage and reproduction so you can choose to suit your budget. There’s also a tiny bit of exposed brick by the table too, which just ties in with the kitchen but doesn’t take it too far.

This sitting room manages to look both relaxed and quite grown up. The combination of pale grey walls – try French Grey by Little Greene – is warm and not too overpowering – and looks fantastic with that vintage coffee table and the gold artwork, which warms the whole room up. I might choose something a little more modern than the chandeliers but otherwise the colour combination’s a winner.

Finally, this is a bathroom to aim for. Here in the UK we have notoriously small bathrooms, but we were able to take out a bedroom to create a large bathroom. Now admittedly not everyone can do that, but it’s worth considering if you have a spare room (literally). Also do you even need a bath in that room? Admittedly those with young families might but if you never use it, and it’s preventing you from installing a really fabulous shower, then think about removing it. I would have been tempted to put two shower heads in this one and two basins is fantastic if you can.

Travelling on to Brighton now and we have this six bedroom Georgian house which is for sale via Brand Vaughan for £2,500,000. It was originally owned by Thomas Kemp, who gave his name to Kempton, the area where it is located, and has recently been completely refurbished.

It’s another great example of keeping it simple with a colour palette very similar to the house above. The stairs are painted a mid to dark grey – try Farrow and Ball Plummet – paired with white woodwork and a stone floor.

It has been said – not by me – that every room should have a touch of black to anchor the space and define it and it’s a sentiment with which I completely agree. It also adds a little bit of edge and drama to a space. The vendors of this house have used black to great effect in this room. Those black curtains were a brave choice but they look fantastic don’t they? You can find pendant lights like these at Skinflint.

Another bold choice was this orange sofa but it really adds a punch to this room which is all neutral and could easily be a little bland. Orange might be a colour that scares you (my scary colour is yellow) but think of olive green, or teal, or something that will really bring a space to life. My current favourite orange sofa is the Pudding by Loaf.

The brass pendant light in this bedroom is a great focal point – try John Lewis, which has a large range. The AA butterfly chair is a design classic and you can find both canvas and leather versions at Bodie and Fou. The bedside table, which if you look closely, you’ll see is a bear holding a log is called the Kare Bear Table and costs around £120.

Sticking with the black in the bathroom and isn’t that radiator so much nicer than a boring old chrome one? But obviously we aren’t really noticing the radiator when there are two amazing LIME GREEN basins in the room. They are the Roto basin by Agape and come in orange, grey, green and white. Now clearly they’re earbleedingly expensive, but you could just have one, you will use it every day, more than once and it makes a great focal point in the room.

And that’s all folks. I hope it has given you some ideas to consider in your own homes. Alternatively if you have a few spare million knocking about you can just go and buy one of these….

Have a lovely day everyone.