Transforming a Run Down London Terrace into a Warm Personal Home Behind The Design

This is an exclusive. I've never talked about this before, but actually. Hi, Interior Design Show. My name is Emily Penn, and this is Behind the Design. I actually wanted to become a singer. I wanted to become an artist, a painter. I've always been very into the creative arts as a child, and interiors was something that I kind of took on board in high school and through university. So I went to university for interior architecture. So it was just a natural lean, and I guess I was really good at it in school. So being good at it probably propelled me into loving it as well. So when I finished university, I found myself leaning further into it in the commercial space, and now I do it for people's homes. I think my foundation and my learned experience through university and just having trained in the craft has been able to give me the ability to really think about a problem and think about an opportunity in a very deep way. I personally walk into spaces and I know very quickly when things have been considered versus not. So I guess having been trained at it is giving me the ability to kind of extrapolate, but also dive in really deep in a really focused way. My daily non-negotiable is exercise. I have to move my body in some way, but not in like a calm way. My exercise needs to be quite intense. So a painful workout is my non-compromise. If there was a fire in the house, I would save my dog, obviously. I think it would be really sad if that wasn't the answer. I would save him. He's my first thing to go with me. Religiously cult-like breakfast item is always oats. Oats with oat milk and a really super riped banana. That's my breakfast of choice. My friend would describe me as unhinged, and they would describe me as open, and then hopefully they would describe me as loving. My core design principle or philosophy, me right now, is being able to put people in the core and the center of what I do is something that I really treasure and that I really, really protect in my work. I think design can have many fonts. It can have many different ways of iterating and looking and being, but really down to it, it's about the people who are inhabiting the space that I do. And if they don't love it, and if they don't resonate with it, I think that's kind of when the design breaks and when creativity becomes quite fluffy and superficial and there's no depth to it. So I think that's my core. I'm obsessed with watching how people interact in spaces or interact with each other. There's something about the psychology of human brain that's really fascinating to me. And I think I've always been very creative and perhaps interior architecture, interior design is just something that kind of found its way in my fascination with humans and my love for creating things. And it feels like it marries those two parts of myself into something that I can do as my job, as my day-to-day. I think the more time I spend with a client, the more I get to know what they truly are and who they really are and what they value in their life, what they don't. I also talk about money a lot. I talk about a lot of the pragmatic, practical things that have to do with designing homes. I think we can shoot for the gold star, but we need to bring it down to earth and see what's actually achievable. I don't think it's necessarily about having an unlimited amount of money to kind of get what you want, but there will be elements that people really love about a certain thing. Is it the timber that they really like? Is it about a memory that they had from their childhood home? So yeah, understanding those, just natural curiosity of humans again, just knowing what kind of moves them in certain directions really helped me guide conversations. I think spend on plumbing. Plumbing items are so critical to the longevity of your bathroom, the longevity of your kitchen. I think saving on furniture, being able to, anything that you can buy secondhand really, whether that be appliance, as long as it's got a certification that it's been refurbished well, stools, chairs, yeah, any furniture item. I think social media, Instagram has changed everything. I think, especially in homes, we are getting a glimpse into how people live now, which is so fascinating and in the best of times connects us all. I really, really love that. There's so much of my work that's about connection and being able to bring connection to humans, connection to people, and social media has allowed us to connect with people through their homes. And how beautiful is that? It's so amazing. I think I take a lot of inspiration from traveling. I like to expose myself with how other people live in their day-to-day. I think just being able to integrate myself in the normalcy of living a very content and beautiful life for everybody, that's kind of how I bring myself into my work. What drew me to the house was its potential It was really run down and it wasn't loved or cared for. And I am in the business for seeing potential. So the fact that it wasn't really looked after or taken care of, it filled something in me and I guess it stirred a natural curiosity for me to be able to put some life back into it. One of the things that we knew we wanted to change, honestly, I think the question should be, what didn't we want to change? There was so much about the house that needed attention and needed love and care. I think over the last couple of years, we're just happy that it's a home that has its own life and its own ecosystem. I think homes are a living, breathing thing. I know it sounds so woo-woo, but I think because it facilitates and houses humans, I really wanted to give it a new, fresh chance at living. So the house was covered in purple dash when we bought it. So one of the first things that we wanted to do was resurface the brickwork. It was really tired looking from the outside. And we also changed the windows simultaneously from new PVC to timber. I mean, the hallway was completely refurbed. We ripped up old carpets from the floor to find rotten timber floorboards and staircase that we had was very creaky. So we re-bolted everything, re-secured everything to the stringer, to the treads and risers itself. It also was painted. We put down a new carpet runner that I sourced from Etsy. Storage under the staircase and painted the stair in this glossy paint color called Tuscan Red. So we extended the kitchen out into the rear garden by, I think, a couple of meters. I can't remember off the top of my head and into the side. So we have a much wider and deeper space into the kitchen dining area. We obviously demolished most, if not all of the existing kitchen. We also had an outside toilet that had to go. So it's a full redesign of storage, island, kitchen run, dining space and into our garden. So the shelving unit in the kitchen is painted also in Tuscan Red and it's glossy in finish. It acts as a little bit of a display case for our bowls and plates. And I love eating my oats in the morning because I get to choose. I feel like I get to choose my Pokemon every day to use in the morning. So natural lighting is something that's really important to me and I'm sure to a lot of people. I wanted to be able to light the space based on different functionalities as well. There's task lighting, there's ambient lighting. I think kitchens especially, to be able to holistically design the space and not just one in isolation to another because lighting will have an effect on what's happening on the floor, what's happening vertically on the surfaces. Sometimes I feel like I don't have enough space and sometimes people integrate lighting into their upper cabinets for shelving. I didn't wanna do that. So we have arms that kind of shine on the work surfaces. So now whenever we prep food or cook, that acts as our task lighting. And then we had Risa's spots that light the kitchen quite evenly throughout the space. They're very purposely placed in different areas so that they're not evenly spaced on the ceiling, but very much looking on what's happening on the floor and then placed accordingly. And then we have two can lights above the island. Initially I was looking at pendants, but again, I think it would have obscured the view to the shelving item. And then we have the wall lights that are coned and they wash the walls on the side extension. So it acts as a little bit of an accent lighting. So our middle room is our office. So we have a sit-stand desk there at the moment, which is quite nice with some shelving units at the back. And then we have pocket doors that pocket into the wall before we go into the living space because sometimes our living room is quite loud because we have a surround sound system in the living room for movies. So the doors can be shut and it can be a bit noisy. It's acoustically isolated to the rest of the house, which is something that I really love too. So the guest bedroom was one of the first rooms that we did when we moved in. It's a very simple space. We wanted adequate storage. So we had a bed with storage underneath the bed frame so people can come and store all their bits. It's very muted and neutral. We wanted it to be quite relaxing and wanted it to be for friends and family when we moved into it. Our main bedroom space is where we sleep. We have a bed canopy that we DIYed. It's very calming to us. We love waking up in that space. We retain some of the design features original to the house, like the fireplace and the base of the hearth. We have storage underneath the bed, same as the guest bedroom. We built IKEA PAX wardrobes into the chimney nooks and niches. We refinished the windows to timber sash windows. We have these long, beautiful, luscious curtains. It feels like a hotel room whenever we wake up in it. The most time I spend, it will be probably the kitchen or the living space. They both have very, very different functions throughout my day. I work at home. I sit in the kitchen and I work here because I want light and bright and focus time. But sometimes throughout the day, I get a little bit lethargic. So I need to work, but I just want to be a little bit more chilled. And then I will step into the living room and kind of cocoon myself in blankets in the fire. You gotta have different work function spaces. One of the aspects and restriction of creativity can sometimes be such a blessing in being able to push the fold and push boundaries. In this house, we had to go into planning permission with a rear extension. Initially, my architect, Marilena, wanted to do a box extension with a flat roof. Oftentimes, planning permission will look at what's kind of acceptable and accepted within the area. And they had come back and said that our side extension needed to be pitched. So it was one of those opportunities that could allow us to think a little bit more creatively and just think outside the box, perhaps. Pun, because it was a box extension. It was no longer a box. So think a little bit outside the box. And I think, again, it's brought in an element and a feature with our ceiling that everybody loves now. It's a timber baffle system that kind of acts as sun shading, but also warmth and adds rhythm to the kitchen and kind of brings, I guess, as an anchor that kind of unifies the space. There's a lot of timber throughout, so I feel that it was very aptly used. I like to be able to have one element be the wow factor or something that really draws people in. So in the kitchen, it would be the floor. In the living space, it would be the fact that it's all drenched in one color. In the bedroom, it would be the canopy that kind of looks above the bed. Just having one talking point that kind of anchors all the little elements around it is something that I would preach about. I'm gonna plug my business. If you're renovating right now, give me a call. If you're thinking about renovating, it's so daunting. There's so much information to learn. There's like five bazillion choices that you're gonna be making in the next month to two years' time. There is literally so much value in taking time on making those decisions. If it's a choice between not having enough money versus not having enough time, I would much rather advise my clients not having enough money because having the time gives you so much more freedom and so much more autonomy and agency in making the right decision for yourself. I think I have a whole series on Instagram after renovating the house on reflecting and mulling over the things that I am really, really glad in making the choices were and some of the things perhaps I would have and should have thought more about. I don't see them as misses or rather than opportunities. So hopefully if we have the luck and the right timing to buy another house after this, it's probably gonna be a continuous iterative process, creating the beauty about creativities that there's no end. It's always an iterative process and that's what I love about it. I am the most proud of the house itself. There's no single element that I would choose. I'm a person who really values the process and I'm a person who really values the experience of doing stuff. So designing and renovating the house for me, I knew it was gonna be a huge undertaking, but I didn't quite know how pivotal it would be in my life. So I am very, very proud to have embarked on it, have had the opportunity to do so and have the resources to do so and have such a support system that kind of uplifted me when I did it. And the fact that it resonates with so many people outside of my immediate circle is something that I'm very, very grateful for. I am a very detail-oriented, very organized person. So even the unexpected things were very much expected, but I guess for others, when they come into our home, the most unexpected thing is probably the reclaimed quarry towels on the floor. They're often an item that probably is retained in old homes and old buildings, but being able to bring in something reclaimed as a new item into our kitchen and into our home, perhaps most people walk in here and they wouldn't expect it. Most of the times reclaimed items or secondhand bits are cheaper than new. There's life to it. There's where, there's history. There's a story behind the item. I really like thinking where its origin is from or an origin story for the item that I purchased from somebody's dingy garage or basement. I really love that. So being able to craft and give another life to it, perhaps in a very different way, is something quite magical, I think. Original features in the house, we kept some of the timber floors upstairs in the first floor. We kept the fireplaces. Unfortunately, so many elements were kind of taken away through the process of different purchases prior to us buying it and moving in. So we've tried to reinstate some of the original features. You'll see that there's timber sash windows in the front. There's stained glass front door. We've tried to keep as many of what we could into the scheme. Yeah, so you'll see flagstones in the front being, I believe, quite original to the house. I knew that I was very much set on a timber kitchen because the floor was where all the fun bits were happening. So I wanted the timber to be a space where I can rest a little bit. So we have these oak veneered fronts with J-groove handles. So no handles that protrude out, no ironmongery that detracts from the simplistic fronts of the timber. The direction of the grain is very intentional where the vertical panels are all straight running from floor to ceiling. And then the run is left to right to kind of elongate the space a little bit more. Open shelving, not for everybody, I'll have to say. It does get dusty and we have to clean it every month. So if that's not for you, that's completely fine. I wanted open shelving just so that we could help balance the cost a little bit, but also to keep the space looking bigger and more spacious. It's an opportunity for us to also showcase them for a little bit. We have kitchen books. All of our glassware plates and bowls are all exposed. I want all and everybody to come into our home and my home and feel like they know where everything is. And I really like that about the kitchen. So the window seat was designed for Harold, our dog. He's not here today, but he sometimes sits there and watches cats from our neighbors come out and he very longingly wants to fight them. But it's a moment that acts as a view port from all the way our living space. You can see all the way into the garden. It was an opportunity for us to also think very carefully about the garden and the rear extension leading into the landscaping. I was very, very adamant and I held a lot of thought for doing the bench seating internally, but also being able to think quite considerately about the outdoor seating. So you'll see that it kind of wraps around and forms this really lovely planter. So the view of the window seat frames that planter as well. This is an exclusive. I've never talked about this before, but actually the timber beams in the ceiling and the roof is actually two separate timbers. Our contractor had ordered eucalyptus instead of oak for the cladding and had tried to convince us that it was oak. It was very much not oak. So we painfully stained it and dyed it to make it a bit more closer to the oak timbers that we had, but it's an element that has brought us a lot of pain, but also a lot of joy. I think we look at it, it's not super polished. It's not very perfect. There's knots and the timbers are a little bit warped in some edges, but I think we've grown to love it. I think oftentimes people have an expectation of homes being perfect, but again, we're fighting entropy, guys, so. I think color is quite personal. It's a very, very personal thing for everybody. Sometimes it's kind of like clothes, really. I find that when I sit down with clients and I see what they gravitate towards, it very much quickly reflects on who they are and on their inner workings. So I guess it's a process of discovery with them and seeing whether or not they might like something at the beginning and what happens at the end is very, very different because they would have lived a whole life through the design process and through the build process and they might come out being somebody else. So my approach with color and texture really is just in step with my clients and I think things can look good, but ultimately, yeah, it's about being able to reflect who the user is and the people in it. I am a huge advocate for eBay. eBay, if you're watching this, sponsor me. I love an eBay dive. I used to buy lots of new furniture from various different brands, but I have found that being able to exercise that resistance and feeling like you've made a win on a bid, that thrill is fascinating. I love it. I think Next for me, I have loved launching my business. It's been so unexpected. I have always worked in the commercial space for really, really big businesses, for really big companies and brands and launching my business and now having direct access to my end user in such an intimate way, crafting their homes and they're gonna live in it for a really long time. I see so much value and I'm always so, so, so grateful for people kind of opening their doors to me. It's such a vulnerable way to bring people in. So that's it for me, just putting a foot in front of the other. What's my dream style and home? I would love to design a home that was just pure bed. Every single surface was just... I actually don't. I think when I get asked questions like that, I feel like I would be putting myself in a box. I think, again, there's no dream space for me. My dream project is every single client that I get to work with now. Honestly, it sounds like I'm such a teacher's pet when I say that, but there is no dream project for me. I really, really just enjoy the process so much that it doesn't matter what the end result looks like. I'm just happy that I was a part of the ride. What am I most grateful for? I'm really grateful of my friends. I am so warmed to know that I have such a support system around me who might not necessarily talk to me every day, like even friends and people that I'm not in their pockets all the time and seeing them and being able to be seen by them and heard by them in such a way that really touches me to my core. I'm really, really grateful of the people around me. Thanks for watching. If you want to see the full tour, you can click here. Hi, Interior Design Show. My name is Emily. This is my home in London. Come on in.