Designers Sarah Vanrenen and Laura Hanbury transformed the interior of a former vicarage in south London, introducing bold colors and reworking the layout to suit the needs of a family with grown-up children.
Built around the turn of the 20th century, this London house stands out for its generous proportions and unusual position at an angle to the street. A wall screens the property from view, and the approach to the house leads through a garden filled with roses and olive trees. The surrounding greenery creates a welcome sense of privacy.
The owners have lived here for more than a decade and decided it was time for an update as their children grew older. What began as a plan to add a new bathroom soon developed into a much larger renovation and redesign. The trusting relationship between the homeowners and designers Sarah Vanrenen and Laura Hanbury gave the team the confidence to experiment with color and texture.
The small entrance hall was painted a rich green, setting the tone for the rest of the house. The long hallway was covered in boldly patterned wallpaper. The owners liked the idea but initially wondered whether they would feel comfortable living with such a strong pattern every day. The designers reassured them that the house’s distinctive architecture could carry it off. Today, the wallpaper is one of their favorite features.
The living room at the front of the house had previously been barely used. The designers chose dark, patterned wallpaper to give the space more depth and balance its generous proportions. Accents of cobalt blue—including the window frames and striped sofas—bring a relaxed, playful feel to the room.
The living room is now a comfortable place for both family time and entertaining. The curtains were kept plain so that the owners’ artwork could take center stage. Their existing art collection proved to be a real asset, with the pieces complementing the newly designed interiors beautifully.
The heart of the ground floor is an open-plan kitchen and dining area, designed for cooking, eating, and relaxing together. One unusual decision was to arrange the upholstered furniture in the middle of the room, with a sofa and two armchairs grouped around an ottoman. The dining table sits in the brightest spot, beside tall windows overlooking the garden.
Placing a seating area in the middle of a kitchen may seem unconventional, but the arrangement works particularly well. With the dining space positioned by the windows, the room feels brighter and more closely connected to the garden.
One of the project’s cleverest solutions was a false fireplace surround that addressed a practical problem: pipes ran through the middle of the room. Rather than trying to disguise them with a simple cover, the designers enlarged the structure to create a proper chimney breast. This also provided a neat place to incorporate the television instead of mounting it on the wall. Sliding panels covered in colorful wallpaper conceal the screen when it is not in use and slide open whenever the owners want to watch something.
The changes upstairs were even more substantial. The entrance to the primary bedroom had been uncomfortably close to the guest bedroom door, making movement around the floor awkward. The designers moved the doorway farther down the hallway, creating a small entrance area that now connects the bedroom, bathroom, and dressing room.
The main bathroom has become one of the defining features of the renovation. It now forms part of a newly connected suite of rooms and occupies almost twice the space it had before.
Previously, the bathroom could only be reached through a small dressing room. By reworking the layout and relocating the doors, the designers opened up the entire area and created a much more practical flow between the rooms. The bathroom walls were finished in soft pink plaster, giving the space a light, calm atmosphere.
Photo: Dean Hearne
