INSPIRED by Paris

When it came to renovating their London flat, classic design and statement pieces were at the top of Lucy and Adrian’s lust list

- STEPHANIE SMITH

After years living in rentals in Paris and London, Lucy and Adrian were more than ready to buy somewhere they could really make their own. They were keen to stay in the same area of North London where they were already living, but were disappointed in the flats in their price range that had already been done up.

The apartment they finally bought really appealed because of it’s terrible state – which gave them the chance to really make some changes. ‘It’d been rented out to students for around 20 years, so you can imagine how scruffy it was,’ says Lucy. ‘But it had two bedrooms and was arranged over two floors, which we really liked. We were seduced by it’s quirky charm and enormous potential. Plus, it had a small roof garden, which was the icing on the cake.’

After moving in, the couple spent time thinking about the layout and what they’d tackle first. The previous tenants had used the room at the top as a living room, with the roof terrace leading off it. ‘We decided we’d rather have it as our bedroom. It’s really quiet and private up there, without neighbours on either side, and you have lovely views out over North London,’ says Lucy. The room was big enough to put storage along one wall and a walk-in en suite behind a door in the same block. This meant they could now call it a two-bed, two-bathroom flat. They also removed the wall between the kitchen and new living room downstairs to make it open plan.