Consult by FD Renovate a Family Town House

In the Spring of 2021, amidst the global pandemic, Consult by FD were appointed to support the renovation of a two-storey town house for a growing young family.

This project was our lockdown project baby. We were able to strike up a great rapport with our lovely clients, Ben and Georgie over early morning weekend calls and socially distanced site visits. FUN FACT: Due to covid rules and restrictions, we didn’t meet our, now trusted builders face to face until the project was complete and we were launching into project number two with them across the other side of Town. As we always harp on – through drawings and thorough documentation, our communication was clear and the design intention was executed perfectly even though meetings were distant and group site visits were non existent.

So, I guess we’ll start at the very beginning… A classic Victorian terrace entrance straight into the main living area and without the luxury of a hallway, this growing family had a very understandable gripe with what they were often welcomed with on arriving at home. A young toddler and another on the way meant that there was always an evolving collection of shoes; coats and bags and this was only going to become more apparent with the inevitable pushchair addition. This was one of the first things on our design solution radar and we couldn’t wait to get our teeth stuck in.

We designed and specified full height built in storage with a closed cupboard deep enough to store shoes and the slimline push chair the family were acquiring ahead of their newest arrival. By taking the structure all the way to the ceiling but leaving some full height open shelves, it brought the right balance of partition and openness that was needed for it to not feel misplaced or imposing on what would become the cosy family living room.

The main Living area now had sufficient separation from the entrance and with further zoning throughout the ground floor living area, we were able to distinguish clear spaces for family time socialising and an evolving multipurpose space for the whole family to enjoy. An abundant wall of open shelving and closed storage provided the perfect dual purpose space – displaying a beautiful collection of things that represented the family, whilst generous wall to wall cupboard space allowed for accumulated items to be placed behind closed doors and as the younger members of the family grow, there is space for their things too. Having the option to tidy things away and close the door proved to be another storage hit for this growing family.

When we first spoke with Ben and Georgie about how they used this space, they had told us that originally the sofa was on the other half of the room whilst the window side was more of a play area for their little one. They were not really using the full length of the room due to inadequate seating and feeling like there wasn’t any real purpose to the other half of the room. Quite quickly we were able to identify their personal challenge with the living space and decided we needed to create clear purpose for the two spaces. Whilst the window side would be the relaxed, more evening social space the other side of the room – where the storage for the kid’s items would be going – would become the multipurpose play area and an extension of the other half of the room when needed. Bringing the play area closer to the kitchen, they would be able to get on with tasks in the kitchen or even enjoy a meal for two whilst being in earshot of their little one playing.

To differentiate the spaces within the living area we added another modern
architectural feature in the form of an extruded fireplace surround so that there was a nice shelf that could house more personal treasures; the tv sound bar and also framing the wall mounted Art TV so it wasn’t just floating on a mass of white wall. This worked a treat and our builders did an amazing job seamlessly adding in this feature by following the skirting all the way around the new fireplace.

Now there are two very distinct areas for the family to enjoy for different settings and needs as the household dynamic evolves. We did not and had no intention of touching the original shutters – they were already so beautiful and we are not designers that change things for the sake of change-sake. Ben and Georgie really loved how this half of the room now felt much more purposeful and intentional and the shutters as they were, now had a new lease of life.

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