Restoration game

With an entire house to refurbish, Katharine Howard turned to a palette of blues layered with vivacious prints and patterns to set the tone for her family home

- SERENA FOKSCHANER

When Katharine Howard and her husband James first viewed their four-storey townhouse in south London, nine years ago, it bore very little resemblance to the beautiful family home it is today. The property had been let out to students, and was less than inviting, but training their gaze beyond the brown, cigarette-burned carpets and scuffed magnolia walls, the couple envisaged an inviting home that could capitalise on its untouched features and they subsequently put in an offer for the property, which was accepted.

‘The deep cornicing, the lovely tall windows, the marble fireplaces – it was all here,’ says Katharine, a communications consultant for leading interiors brands. Years of working with successful designers have also honed her eye for space. ‘Although the house felt large compared with the flat we previously lived in, we knew there was scope to make it much more family friendly.’

Over the years, structural tweaks have eked out every spare inch of this house. On the top floor, Katharine raised the ‘charming but hobbit-height’ ceiling to create a light-filled bedroom for her daughters, Amelie, five, and Aurelie, three, adjoined by the chic bathroom.