Converted In Colour

Tor Vivian’s barn conversion has been brought to life with a mix of vintage, modern and antique furniture – and lots of colourful artwork

- Elizabeth Hutton

Few homeowners can say that they bought their home by accident, but that’s exactly what happened to interior designer Tor Vivian. ‘We hadn’t been planning to move house at all, when I bumped into a friend in a local shop,’ says Tor. ‘My friend told me she was selling her home – a 200-year old converted barn – but hadn’t had much interest, so she suggested I take a look. Out of curiosity, I went to view it with my husband Tom. We fell in love with it, despite the fact that it was badly in need of renovation. It had been rented out for 15 years and didn’t even have a proper kitchen, but it had lots of potential.’

As soon as the purchase was completed, Tor drew up a schedule of building work. ‘When we moved in, we had an issue with the layout,’ she says. ‘There was always going to be one room that people would need to walk through, so I decided to turn it into an open-plan kitchen-diner. Happily, we didn’t need to knock down many walls.’ The couple also converted the garage into a self-contained suite for guests.