‘This House Makes Me Feel Very Calm'

With a house full of children, a lively dog and busy jobs, Sophie and Jim planned spaces that work hard to give them a smooth-running life

Kitchen-diner

‘It’s wonderful being able to open the doors to make the garden an extension of the ground floor,’ says Sophie. ‘The boys spend nearly all their free time outside now.’ BUY THE KEY PIECES Losange chair, £1,098, Anthropologie. Antique Pewter task light is similar, £29, Beautiful Halo. Carlie light blue flatwoven rug, £39.99, Wayfair

Five years ago, Sophie Klatt and Jim Ryan were renting a property in Parsons Green, west London, but they needed a larger house where they could put down roots, with enough space for Jim’s three teenage children to come and stay. ‘When I saw this house, I loved the fact that it was spacious and that the layout had much more potential than our previous home,’ says Sophie. ‘A lot of Victorian houses are very “up and down”, and often narrow and dark. But here, we would be able to create an open-plan living space and spend time together without feeling cramped. We wanted it to feel contemporary and homely.’