Reclaimed Beauty - Feature Home

interior design ideas, contemporary design, reclaimed feature home



This elegant home is testimony to the owners’ belief in resurrecting true craftsmanship and lovingly restoring old features. 

It artfully merges optimism for the future with a respect for history and tradition.  A real tour de force!

The house was a derelict, fairly standard 1930’s semi but the artist owners knocked through several of the downstairs reception rooms to create one airy, open-plan living area which is flooded with light from reclaimed French windows front and back.

The oak parquet floor was reclaimed from an old Scout hall, sanded, bleached  and finished with a matt rather than a shiny varnish to create a soft, chalky appearance – the perfect canvas for a subtle pastel colour scheme .   The delicately curved furniture has a distinct, if stylised, French feel and contemporary items have been cleverly combined with period ones to create an effortlessly harmonious blend.  The artists’ own canvasses create statement pieces on newly-enlarged wall surfaces.

Restored cabinetry  from the original 1930’s kitchen has been painstakingly restored and set into a new dividing wall between the sitting area and kitchen.

A bespoke free-standing island with a solid oak top has been painted to match the original kitchen and inset with a reproduction period brass sink and taps.  The original plate rail has been restored and replaced and large double doors installed to give access to a bright conservatory-style dining room.  The reclaimed and restored terracotta floor tiles were rescued from an old dairy.


In the master bedroom, a reclaimed 1930’s oak door leads through to a sunny room that’s been lined with reclaimed clapboards in a 1930’s New England style. 

The original floorboards have been finished with a shiny jet floor paint .  A black-painted reproduction sleigh bed creates a striking focal point.  Plush textured bedding and a bound seagrass rug inject some softness and warmth.



The generously sized master bathroom features another reclaimed oak floor finished with an ebony stain.   The tongue-and-groove panelling  from the original, much smaller, bathroom was restored then supplemented with additional panelling from a local reclamation yard.  The refinished period bathroom fittings were sourced from the same yard.  An old ladder, stripped and stained, makes a great towel rail and an antique milking stool is home to all manner of pampering lotions and potions.  Additional storage is provided by an old-fashioned picnic hamper.