This incredible house in Kensal Rise, North London is the family home of Melissa and Daniel, their daughter Margot and their two very fluffy cats. The couple bought the property back in 2021 and finished the renovation in summer 2023. Head to our YouTube channel to watch our home tour and interview with Melissa, where she opens up about how she made her design decisions, the budget breakdown and more.
What was important for you getting into this project?
The thing that was really important for me in this project is that we would end up with a space that we knew we'd be able to use authentically as a family. We love hosting, we have a toddler, but we still like things to look good. So we wanted a space that has the ability to change in ways that would allow us to have more people over, but also have an intimate dinner and have toys everywhere, so that was the most important thing.
What do you like to do around the house, and did this inspire any design choices?
We really like to host in our home, and everywhere else we’ve lived before has always been too small to do that in a way that didn’t give us anxiety. So one of the big design choices that we made was to make sure we still had separate spaces, we didn’t want to open up the entire ground floor so there wouldn’t be pockets of quiet that we could access, especially as the family grows. So in the back of the house we opened up slightly whilst keeping a little snug nook that we could close off as our daughter gets older, so she’ll have her own tv room for her and her friends near the kitchen for snacks, and near the garden. And then we’ve kept a more formal living room at the front of the property.
What was the house like before?
The house before was really dated, and it had been lived in by a family for a long time, and then they ended up renting it out as a multi-let. So a lot of the rooms that would have originally been living and dining rooms, we now use as bedrooms. And when we first had access to the property, it had been repurposed in different ways with extra bathrooms in places and the closing up of chimney breasts so you could fit more wardrobe space in. In terms of the history, we don’t know a lot about it, we know it was built in the art deco period around 1920, but that’s pretty much it.
How did you come across Resi, and why did you choose us for your project?
We came across Resi because we actually know the founder, and that was one of the main reasons that we decided to go to Resi. But more than that as well was actually the ability to combine a lot of the processes under one roof. I also had a really clear vision of how I wanted the property to look, and so I didn’t feel like I needed to go to a super expensive design-led studio, and so it was much better for us to be able to go and work alongside a team that was multi-disciplinary and had the access to all these other benefits under one roof.
What are some of your favourite elements to the design?
Some of my favourite elements of the design are probably the skylights in the rear ground floor extension. This part of the house is south-facing, so it gets loads of sun, but we actually positioned the skylights to control where the sunlight was directed into the ground floor, so that we could get as much light as possible but keep the heat out, as it gets pretty hot back here. And alongside that, designing in more of the functional elements like the air conditioning for the climate control so it always stays as a liveable space when we have heat waves.
The one non-negotiable I had in terms of the ground floor was I wanted no internal steps. I wanted the space to function for the long term, so when life throws a curveball where you have an injury or can’t use stairs, or might need to use a wheelchair, or having guests over that need wheelchair access and things like that, I wanted it to have that lasting use. And because of that, one of the suggestions that Resi made was that we would have to have a pitch roof, whereas originally I didn’t want a pitch roof on the rear extension. But I’m super happy that we have it now.
What is your favourite room in the house?
My favourite room of the house is my daughter’s bedroom, which is in the loft. It’s a space that always existed in the property but it had never been utilised, and that’s because the original loft extension didn’t include the front gable. And so it gives it a very dramatic angle where my daughter’s bed is, and then we’ve accentuated that by using some highly patterned wallpaper.
Do you have any tips for first time renovators?
The best tips that I can give any first time renovators is that if you are not naturally organised, hire somebody to help you to project manage. And bake in as many of those support roles as you can into your overall budget, because they’re super important and actually end up saving you money later on. They help you to make more professional decisions, and help you be able to navigate the very confusing relationship between client and contractor. So I’d say that’s the biggest one. And the one that everyone always tells every renovator which is triple your budget, it’s gonna go over!
Photography by Matt Gamble.
