Strawberry Hill

Teddington, London. TW10.

This grand, three storey Victorian detached house in Teddington was the ideal family home for our
clients and their two children, except for one problem: it didn’t quite feel like it was “theirs”.

They didn’t want to move but they also wanted to live in a home that fully reflected their tastes and was
shaped around their lifestyles so that it felt like a natural extension of their family, while also providing all
the benefits of a contemporary home.

After discussing their options with us, they decided to finally take the plunge: they put their belongings in
storage, rented a house and hired us to renovate and extend their home, along with a complete interior
design service.

As both a Building of Townscape Merit and a home within a Conservation Area, we were strictly forbidden
from altering the front of the house, so all our work was focused on demolishing the existing, outdated
conservatory-style extension for a larger, flat-roofed replacement.

The other challenge was melding our clients’ tastes for bright, colourful, poppy interiors with the building’s
more austere existing period features, while also tastefully solving the main problem every family faces: storage.

Finally, as our clients were renting a property, we’d have to complete everything and make sure the house
was 100% liveable before their lease expired and they moved back in. This was a deadline that left no room
for error.

Luckily, all that remained when our clients returned to their home was minor decoration works, letting them
get straight to making the most of a home that – despite looking identical from the street – was completely
transformed on the inside into an exciting contemporary home bursting with colour.

The most dramatic change is the new open plan living and kitchen space provided by the new extension, which
enjoys floor-to-ceiling views of the garden through acid-etched Crittall doors, underfloor heating beneath
new oak parquet floors, a bespoke Plain English kitchen and sun day-round through three roof lights.

Flanking the wall opposite the kitchen is one of the most impressive pieces of joinery we’ve ever installed.
This single unit contains a bar with a neon sign, antique Dominic Schuster mirror and its own fridge; a
complete, ventilated AV system; a fold-out study; book cases and display shelves; and even a cat flap which
leads out the side of the house.

Joining the open plan space is a powder-blue pantry (which our client has organised immaculately), while
elsewhere on the first floor is a WC with a warm gold Dominic Schuster mirror and a living room
featuring original and restored period details. Pocket doors throughout the floor allow you to flow
smoothly from room to room.

Up on the first floor is a utility room constructed from moth-repelling cedar wood in the same dazzling
blue as the pantry, two children’s bedrooms – each with their own unique feature wallpaper – and a
monochromatic family bathroom with white brick tiles lined with black grout, a Crittall shower screen
and another antique Dominic Schuster mirror.

We could list details all day, but what’s most important is that, no matter where you go in the house, it
is clearly our clients’ (and their cat’s) home – as perfectly suited to them as if they had built it from the
ground up.