A colourful existence

For former Vogue fashion director Lucinda Chambers, there's nothing better than a project, and her home is forever in flux

When Lucinda Chambers says 'nothing makes me happier than a decorating project' she really means it. For the former Vogue fashion director, and founder of fashion label Colville and online shopping platform Collagerie, her home of almost three decades is a colourful, 'organic" collage of texture, pattern and colour. It remains in a joyously, decorative 'state of flux', which both suits and reflects her inventive nature.

A house doesn't have to be a homogenous whole; it's much more interesting if it evolves gradually,' Lucinda says. And the evolution of her Victorian semi has also included 'incremental, organic tweaks' to the layout to suit the needs of her three sons: once outgrown, the white-walled playroom became a colourful sitting room; the glazed verandah was adopted as 'the teenage smoking room and the decorative office-shed was built for her husband, Simon Crow, a tutor who specialises in ADHD.

The kitchen at the back, lit by a skylight, was an early addition. From the hallway, the view unfurls like a country house', drawing the eye through the French windows to the lawn. The lipstick-red Aga, the cushion-strewn window seat or the cocoa-and-cream chequerboard tiles haven't dated. Lucinda designed the extension herself 'I drew it up on aeroplanes,' she says, 'working out where the plugs would go and choosing the handles, so we wouldn't waste the builder's time.'