Rehab Diary, Part 4: A Small House Overhaul in London, Lessons Learned - Remodelista
Isabel and George Blunden are now happily ensconced with their three-month-old daughter in their fully remodeled Victorian railway cottage in southwest London. Photography by Jonathan Gooch for Remodelista. On Tuesday, in Rehab Diary, Part 2, she chronicled the construction process, and yesterday, in Rehab Diary, Part 3, she unveiled the finished results. 1. Hire an architect or interior designer. We didn’t, but, in hindsight, we should have. There’s the impression that calling in a pro is always expensive, but I now realize that having someone’s wisdom and guidance could have actually saved us money–and certainly would have reduced stress. 2. Look to your heritage. Our inspiration for our furnishings came not only from what we had seen in magazines and online but also from what we knew. My mother made the cushions on our sofa from offcuts of her own curtain fabric. Prioritize the luxuries that you don’t want to give up on, and work your budget around them. In the kitchen we splurged on a Perrin & Rowe gold tap and marble countertop but went with affordable cupboards. 3. Spend here, save there. Our two luxuries, the tap and the countertop, do much to heighten our enjoyment of daily chores, not to mention the overall look of our kitchen. Sometimes plans don’t turn out as expected, which isn’t always a bad thing. Of course, some changes can be expensive and time-consuming, so be aware of cost and schedule implications. 4. Be open-minded along the way. The guest room is just wide enough for a double bed, but it feels light and airy thanks to the brightness of the Dulux Primer. 5. Don’t postpone parts of the remodel. As time-consuming and expensive as some of your plans may be, it’s better to get them done while your house is under construction than it is to wait. The thought of calling the builders back in, with the accompanying upheaval and mess, means that this bathroom will probably not get redone. With the debris removed, our bathroom is OK as is. Things like hardware add personality and can really color a space. 6. Small details can have a great impact. We jazzed up the blank kitchen with flashes of gold, courtesy of a few £3.50 ($5) cup-pull handles purchased on sale at Graham & Green. The new carpentry in the sitting room is dressed up with blue-and-white French porcelain cupboard handles from my mother’s house. We used the same porcelain knobs on our cupboard doors upstairs. 7. Beg, borrow, and steal furniture–especially from family members. As detailed in my last post, our furnishings include shelving that had once been in George’s grandfather’s garage, a lamp from my uncle’s house, and a chest of drawers discovered in a storage room. The curtain across our new back door came from George’s parents’ old sitting room. The newly repainted pine chest under the stairs was in George’s childhood bedroom. Though we’re first-time remodelers, we learned along the way that there’s a good deal of work we can tackle ourselves– and if we can, you can. We painted the cupboard doors and staircase ourselves over the course of a weekend or two. George cleared the garden, put in new plants, and resurfaced the brick and concrete pavers. 9. The character of your house comes from you, your things, and your stories. By installing white walls and neutral flooring, we created a blank canvas, so that anything textured or patterned or colored stands out and bears our imprint. When the 2004 tsunami hit, George was one of the first to volunteer his services and flew to Sri Lanka to work in the Galle and Tangalle areas, where I joined him a month later. This framed poster of Amy Winehouse’s famous lyrics was a present from George. There’s never the space or budget to do it all; some ideas you’ll have to save for next time. 10. There will always be too many good ideas. We were lucky to find space in the kitchen for a washing machine and dryer, but I still dream of a utility room.