As we all know buying a one-bed or even a studio in London can be a pricey business, and a two-bed? Extortionate. Today we’re delighted to share Interior Designer, Greg Miller’s recent project where he took a simple one bedroomed flat and converted it to a stunning two bed family home with bags of personality and style.

The Property

When my wife suggested we upsize, back in 2011, I have to admit that I expected to be gaining more space from the move. However, not wanting to move out of SW18, I soon became realistic about what we could get for our £300,000 budget. We saw a one bedroom Victorian conversion flat in Wandsworth where the sale had just fallen through. Being an interior designer, I could see the “potential” although the garden was shared with the upstairs neighbour, so we would have to convince them to sell their share in order to be able to extend. Still not entirely convinced that this move was a good idea, I called my wife to discuss the sense in moving to another property of the same size. Never one to hang around, she told me it was too late and she had made an offer. So, we ended up trading our 589 sq ft one bedroom flat for this 622 sq ft one bedroom flat.

What a bargain, £55,000 for an extra 33 sq ft! Plus the 3% stamp duty we generously gave to the government.

Three months later we moved in and I set to work making the best out of what we had on our non-existent budget. Job number one was to remove the vile coral coloured, high gloss laminate covering from the kitchen units in the hope that the wood underneath could be painted and we could make do without changing the kitchen immediately. We started saving for the renovations and the possibility of extending to make two bedrooms. Six months after moving in, we broached the garden question with our neighbours. Needless to say, every previous owner of the ground floor flat had had the same idea and they had resisted every single offer. Anyway, we persisted and eventually agreed a price only for our neighbours to pull out after solicitors were instructed. Back to the drawing board then. Fortunately, I’d got a plan B, which was to maximise the space and value by flipping the entire layout around and creating another bedroom.

Finally in Spring 2013 we set about consulting with builders, structural engineers, building control and Wandsworth Council (our freeholders). The plans were drawn and we were ready to go. The builders had quoted £35,000 to reconfigure our flat into two bedrooms, bathroom and an open kitchen/reception room. This involved totally flipping the accommodation.
Our kitchen and living room which had previously been at the front, would now be to the rear of the flat with French doors leading onto the garden. The front half of the flat would be two bedrooms, with an internal bathroom in between. Having saved hard for 18 months, we nearly had all the money in the bank and were ready to go.

In August 2013, the works started. It was impossible for us to live in the flat as the builders were knocking down virtually every internal wall and rebuilding it in a different place! Luckily, there was a spare room in a rental flat my father-in-law owns in Parsons Green, so we moved in rent-free to live like students again. It is worth noting at this point that my wife was four months pregnant, so I was under huge pressure to finish before we had even started! Possibly the most stressful three and a half months of my life ensued – naturally the project took two whole months longer as the floors and ceilings needed replacing throughout. C’est la vie…

The Interior Design Process

The starting point for the interior design for the property, was the house itself. A Victorian property which had been stripped of all of its period charm and features, I was adamant that I wanted to put all this back, whilst still achieving a light, bright living space and elegant, relaxing bedrooms. Not being one to play safe, I chose a palate of grey as a base, with splashes and blocks of jewel-like blues, greens and oranges was decided upon. Much to the concern of my wife…

With this in mind, I set about working out how to spend the budget. The kitchen was small, but I wanted it to feel high-end and a bit luxe, so I decided to put the majority of the allocated kitchen money into the work top. By choosing marble with a detailed profile edge, it looked the part and made a fairly standard kitchen look really special. Other touches like bib taps, Belfast sink and separately sourced pewter and ceramic door handles also helped.

Another big decision was the floor. Over the years, the flat had been knocked around so much, none of the original boards had survived. I have always had a fondness for parquet flooring as it’s so versatile and can make a small space seem larger. The texture it offers too is really stunning. With all flooring, it’s important to think about your scheme and to tailor the finish to it. I decided on a tumbled oak, which gave the impression it had always been there as the edges were a little roughed up.

Replacing the dado, skirting, picture rails and coving also make a real difference – especially in the hallway where a bold colour made for a real statement entrance. Clever use of a mirror here helped to disguise the upstairs stair well, and gave the impression that the chandeliers went on, and on, and on…

The bathroom too was a bold scheme, with stunning, period style fittings soured from the excellent Glass Trends bathroom specialists, dark wood and chrome being highlighted beautifully by a rich, opulent green.

I wanted a real feeling of luxury in the main bedroom, so a deep, rich grey on the walls was offset with pure white detailing and splashes of deep orange. Thick carpet, also in a dark grey helped the overall feel, and was so nice underfoot!

The flat was such a lovely place to live, and practical too. As we had completely gutted the place, we had the opportunity to really think about what we needed (and wanted) regarding storage. Everything was built in, so we had virtually no free standing pieces which could clutter up an already pretty small space.

All in all, we have enjoyed living there a huge amount. Now, though, it’s time to move on. Our little boy is now nearly two and he needs more space – inside and out! We moved into our new house in Roehampton three weeks ago, and works started last Tuesday to make this four bed house a lovely, light, bright more contemporary home.
Here we go again…

{STEAL THE STYLE}

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