Family matters

Award-winning garden designer Matt Keightley transformed the small, narrow space behind his 1930s London home into a lush, leafy glade that all the family can enjoy

- ZIA ALLAWAY

When designer Matt Keightley and his wife Kate moved into their 1930s house in London three years ago, t the narrow garden offered exactly what they were looking for. With a large lawn and a few plants held hostage in tiny beds next to the boundaries, it provided the blank canvas Matt needed to create his dream family garden. "I had a vision of a tree-lined glade that would give my girls space to explore, with room for a kitchen and seating area where Kate and I could relax and entertain." 

The first step was to build an extension on to the back of the house. "We designed it so that as you walk into the kitchen, all the attention is focused on the garden, drawing you to venture outside or, on a cold winter's day, enjoy it from indoors," says Matt.

Having mapped out the design in his head, rather than drawing a formal plan, Matt and his brother simply marked it up in situ with landscape paint. "I created a journey through the garden, with trees and plants blurring the boundaries and a series of stepping stones and terraces that shift the focus from one side to the other, rather than revealing everything at once.