The post Elegant ways to incorporate wood into your home appeared first on Reclaim Magazine.

The post A cute London flat refreshed with salvage appeared first on Reclaim Magazine.

Tucked away in Stanmore, Greater London, sits a quintessentially English former workman’s cottage, belonging to the co-owner of online home and lifestyle store The Cornrow, Kemi Lawson, her husband and their two daughters. The uniform exterior of the house, built in 1750, evokes thoughts of a traditional interior – beams for sure, florals maybe – but this is not the period home one might expect.

The post Inside this Grade II-listed home that celebrates the owner’s black heritage appeared first on Reclaim Magazine.

The post Inside architect Laura Jane Clark’s home appeared first on Reclaim Magazine.

Image Credit: Nicola Crosbie Photography

A series of chance events – including a property purchase falling through and a temporary move to her parents’ house – led Anne Macdonald and her husband Jonny Lyons to Newton Stewart, a market town in Dumfries and Galloway in the southwest of Scotland. It was there they stumbled upon Corvisel House, an impressive period property that overlooks the River Cree valley and across the bay to the coastline at Gatehouse of Fleet. ‘We never thought we’d end up in a house like this,’ says Anne. ‘It was always a dream but not something we ever thought could be our reality.’

The 16-room house was built in 1829, at the tail-end of the Georgian period, by Rear Admiral John McKerlie. His daughter married into the local laird’s family – the Johnston Stewarts – and Corvisel House then became one of the estate homes. The family lived there until the 1950s, when it was sold to an Edinburgh-based family who only used it occasionally.

Image Credit: Nicola Crosbie Photography

Although the house had lain empty for eight years, Anne and Jonny felt it had a real sense of warmth and knew it could be brought back to life. ‘There are so many things to love about Corvisel House,’ says Anne. ‘The walled garden and forest were most definitely an attraction, and the fact it had a massive workshop got Jonny very excited.’ Anne recalls how, when viewing the house, they overlooked the water dripping into the extension, a fly infestation, bowing floors, rising damp, lack of central heating, peeling walls and leaking skylights, and instead focused on the home’s potential. ‘All we saw was an amazing opportunity to create a wonderful family home. We definitely had rose-tinted glasses on!’

‘When we first moved in there was the thought that with a period property you should be traditional, but I thought, wait a minute… it’s our house!’

Having been fully renovated and sympathetically decorated, the home is now unrecognisable from the place they viewed in July 2017. Months of work to replace rotten joists, install heating, make the electrics safe and repair the leaking roof meant it wasn’t until Christmas Eve of that year that the family were able to move into their new home.

Anne describes her and Jonny’s interior style as preloved maximalists, with art deco and Nordic vibes thrown into the mix. ‘We’re like magpies when it comes to reclamation yards and antiques shops. Our family trinkets and heirlooms also play a big part in making our house a home. We get a lot of hand-me-downs from our extended family and love to incorporate each piece.’ With the walled garden and cutting bed in the vegetable patch offering an abundance of roses, hydrangeas, lilies and alliums, Anne enjoys seasonal styling too. ‘We spend a lot of time foraging when out in the forest and bringing back interesting branches, cones and feathers to use for tablescapes or mantel decoration,’ says Anne. ‘I’m a great believer that flowers and foliage can change the feeling and colourways in a space.’

Anne finds interior decorating a welcome release from her job as a lawyer. ‘Some folk might find renovations and project management stressful, but I find it gives me such a buzz! I’m lucky that when I met Jonny he shared a passion for creating new spaces and upcycling furniture. Our approach has always been to “shop” the house first – we’re constantly thinking how we can adapt furniture and we always try to make or build items ourselves.’

Read more inside Reclaim issue 77 – Buy issue 77 here

Words: Cassie Fairy

Follow the ongoing restoration of Corvisel House on Instagram 

The post The renovation of historic Corvisel House in Scotland appeared first on Reclaim Magazine.

End of a terrace and tucked away down a lane in Moulton, Northamptonshire, is the Victorian former alehouse home of Lara Bezzina and her husband Stuart Bruce, a musician and manager with the local authority. Having already renovated three properties, this fourth project – started in 2014 – presented the couple with a dark, damp, 1970s time warp begging for some tender love and care. ‘It needed a new roof, damp proofing and some structural work, all of which we had to get done to keep our mortgage company happy,’ explains Lara.

It was important to find a house they felt had some character to work with; crucially, it needed to be somewhere Lara could unleash her insatiable creativity and flair for interior design. ‘After the major work, we renovated and decorated the place room by room – with a near-to-nothing budget we’ve done most of this ourselves.’ The couple exposed original build elements like the brick walling in the sitting room and a small lath and plaster wall in the upstairs hallway, and discovered that several interior doors and a small bedroom fireplace had been boarded up – these they uncovered. ‘Embracing these features has added great character to the place without huge cost,’ says Lara.

Image credit: Tamsyn Morgans. Styling: Alice Roberton

Add a sense of drama and luxury to your interior by using metallics, and if it’s warmth you’re after then gold or copper are just the ticket.

Although interested in art from a young age, Lara’s love of animals led her to completing a degree in animal welfare and management – a far cry from her work nowadays. ‘I really struggled to find a direction after my degree and have finally come back to creativity,’ she says. Earlier this year she completed a diploma with the Interior Design Institute before setting up her own business (larabezzina.co.uk), where she offers a service to help people achieve their dream interiors and resolve design dilemmas. ‘It also features my gold-leaf artwork and murals, and a blog based around DIY and reimagining furniture,’ Lara reveals. ‘It’s focused on things I’m really passionate about or have implemented in my own home.’

With plenty of experience under her belt Lara has a good deal of knowledge to share. Interior-wise, the house is a wonderful riot of contrasting colours and patterns and a great mix of old, new and upcycled furnishings and decorative pieces, all tied together with a homespun golden thread. ‘I started using gold leaf in this house and my first attempt was a roll-top bath that I wanted to make look copper, as I couldn’t afford the real thing,’ Lara recalls. ‘Following a lot of trial and error, I loved the result and was hooked! After this I couldn’t stop seeing things that could be improved with a touch of gold.’ Adding gold leaf to vases, lamps and other small objects – many picked up second-hand at the local reuse centre – Lara soon graduated to larger objects and spaces. ‘As my journey with gold leaf continues, I have created murals, freestanding mural panels and mirrored gold artwork,’ she says. ‘The possibilities are endless.’

The post How to decorate with gold leaf, from fireplaces to mirrors appeared first on Reclaim Magazine.

Images & Styling Tamsyn Morgans 

Perched on a hill in the Kent seaside town of Folkstone, the handsome brick-built Harvey Manor, a former boys’ grammar school built in 1886, could easily be mistaken for an ecclesiastical building with its belltower, buttresses and large windows. Designed by Robert Wheeler – an architect noted for designing churches and chapels – it’s no surprise to see the design hallmarks of a place of worship. Split into several dwellings after its life as a school, it’s the sizeable garden flat within the headmaster’s house which caught the attention of Sarah and Ed Wealend in 2020.

Despite Sarah – a primary school teacher – being the Rightmove addict in the family, it was Ed – head of research and development for a global engineering consultancy – who spotted the place for sale. The charm of its pitched porch entrance, grand rooms, original features, and a cool vaulted ceiling in one of the back bedrooms, led to a viewing, an offer, and Sarah sending a very persuasive letter to the owner to urge them to accept their offer over another. ‘We hadn’t even listed our own flat for sale, but our hearts had been completely stolen by the character, history, scale and location of this wonderful building. As luck would have it, we managed to sell pretty quickly, and our offer was accepted,’ explains Sarah.

With a personal and professional passion for old and listed buildings, Ed has worked on some very high-profile jobs, including restoring a national horticultural treasure and the Royal Mint. He is also director and trustee of the Folkestone Leas Lift – a charity which is restoring a Grade II-listed water-balanced funicular railway. ‘Harvey Manor very much suits Ed’s weekend persona of a director of a Victorian funicular railway – it looks like the kind of house you’d emerge from wearing a top hat, waistcoat and pocket watch!’ smiles Sarah. ‘For me, it felt like the perfect space to flex my penchant for eclectic maximalist interiors, texture, pattern, deep jewel tones and indulge in my plant obsession – the amount of light and green which comes in through the windows enables plants to thrive and us to feel immersed in a botanical wonderland. It also felt like the right place to grow our family.’

Images & Styling Tamsyn Morgans 

A classic yet playful interior, it has been created using clever DIY hacks and an interesting mix of old and new treasures. It has the feel of a grown-up home which doesn’t take itself too seriously. Honouring the history of the building as they stamp their mark on the place, Sarah and Ed have made sure the interior nods towards time spent living in Shanghai. ‘We want our home to reflect our lives, both past and present, and while I appreciate and admire neutral, luxurious décor, it just wouldn’t be ours if it wasn’t bold in design with vintage and Chinese influences and plenty of art on the walls.’

The previous owners had gone against the Grade II listing and made some unfitting cosmetic changes, so Sarah and Ed made sure any works carried out were done under listed buildings consent. From reinstating a mantelpiece in the living room to exposing brickwork in the vaulted room they now use as a nursery, everything has been done by the book.

Words and styling Alice Roberton Images & Styling Tamsyn Morgans 

Read more from issue 70, available to buy here

The post Home school appeared first on Reclaim Magazine.

Image Credit: Tamsyn Morgans Photography

Making a design statement in an ordinary residential St Albans street is the late 1960s-built home of Marcus and Caroline Hoggarth, their four children – Evan, Roan, Bayley and Isla – and the family dog Joni, named after Canadian singer-songwriter and painter Joni Mitchell. Architecturally simple and unfussy, the building nods towards brutalism, showcases bare materials and structural elements over decorative design, and has the relaxed open-plan style of Californian homes.

Having completed the remodel of their Victorian home to accommodate baby number four, Marcus, a product designer and president of Native Design based in Shoreditch, London, and San Francisco, spotted the house for sale while scrolling ‘hip houses for sale’ website WowHaus. ‘Given that a mid-20th-century find like this is a rarity, we thought it was worth a look. Stepping through the front door we immediately knew we weren’t just looking; we were buying! We moved in in 2014,’ he says.

Use the original materials of your home as a cue to create a colour palette which echoes, complements and creates interior harmony

The detached property was designed and built by a retired couple who moved from a house in the street behind, and the perfect drinks-party layout and lofty double-height atrium suggest that entertaining may have been high on their agenda. ‘It’s the most fantastic party house as well as being perfect for day-to-day family life; the lack of corridors, cool half-storey levels and wide views of adjoining rooms make it feel very connected,’ says Caroline, a professional restorer and upholsterer of mid-century furniture, and owner of Hoggarth Studio. ‘The feeling of space throughout the house is a real luxury and the large windows and sliding doors create a good connection with the outside; the subterranean garden we created outside the bedroom reminds us of the Barbican Centre, where we got married,’ Marcus continues. While they loved its originality, the layout of the house wasn’t optimised in terms of bedrooms and bathrooms, so the couple made changes here along with turning the integrated garage – complete with inspection pit – into a studio for Caroline’s business. ‘We fashioned the inspection pit into a concealed cupboard which is accessed from our bedroom via a cool sliding headboard.’

Choose genuine over new for affordability, sustainability and great craftsmanship, and learn how to care for your old furniture to get longevity and preserve its beauty.

With their working life and passions centred around art, design and good craftsmanship, it’s no surprise to learn that Marcus and Caroline originally connected over their shared interests, something which has continued as they nurture their home filled with original furniture and art. Here Hans Wegner and Gio Ponti pieces sit well alongside works by Tracey Emin and Barbara Hepworth. With only two previous owners, luck would have it that no original features had been covered up – it’s this sense of authenticity which has provided an abundance of inspiration for the couple to flex their love of all things mid-century and modern.

As featured in Reclaim issue 69 – issue 69 can be purchased here

@HoggarthStudio

Words & Styling Alice Roberton. Images & Styling Tamsyn Morgans

The post Swinging sixties appeared first on Reclaim Magazine.