The Italian job
Real Homes|August 2022
Memories of the palazzo where they married inspired David and Andrew's 'bella' new kitchen
ALISON JONES
The Italian job

When it comes to life’s more stressful events, arranging a wedding and buying a house are up there. But David and Andrew Harrison-Colley did both in the space of a few weeks, with a spur-of-the-moment offer on their flat just before they flew off to get married.

However, their happy ever after in their new home came under threat when planning restrictions and Covid clampdowns impacted their grand plans for the space. But some creative thinking, a bit of luck and design touches inspired by their wedding venue have given them a beautiful home that is perfect for post-lockdown entertaining – and which they’re already filling with memories. David reveals how they did it…

STEP ONE

1 IMPULSE BUY

‘We were thinking about moving and saw the flat on Rightmove – it was just around the corner. We took a look and, 15 minutes later, we had put an offer in on it. We thought, “What are we doing?” We were getting married the next month and we had so much going on!

‘We bought it in December 2019 and went into the pandemic not long after. Our previous place was a studio – there’s no way we could have survived both working from home in that space.

‘The flat is the ground floor of a Victorian end terrace. We saw the potential and had quite grand ideas of what we thought we’d be able to do with it, turning it into two bedrooms and adding value to the property.’

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