EDWARDIAN elegance

STICKING TO A PALETTE OF GREEN, PINK AND YELLOW, AND MIXING IN VINTAGE FURNITURE AND ART, HAS ENABLED DERYA BERBER TO ACHIEVE AN AUTHENTIC PERIOD FEEL.

After living in a series of new builds while moving around the country for her husband's job, Derya Berber took a leap into the unknown with a neglected period property that needed a major renovation.

WHAT WAS THE ATTRACTION OF THIS HOUSE?

"The location was ideal, and it had a large garden. We hadn't been particularly looking for a period property, but this house had so much potential. It originally had six bedrooms and one bathroom, but we knew this wouldn't work for us. We moved in between lockdowns, and decided to go for it and do all the work in one go, which meant eighteen months of disruption, dust and chaos."

WHAT ORDER DID YOU DO THE WORK IN?

'We completely replumbed and rewired, installed a new central heating system and replastered all the walls. That took around six months, and I was desperate to get onto the décor, but had to be sensible. We took down a wall between two small rooms on the top floor to create the guest suite. On the first floor, we sacrificed a bedroom to give us a much bigger main bathroom, plus we changed the original bathroom into an en suite for our younger son's room. We had to move around from room to room during the building work; a low point was when all four of us were sleeping in the room at the top with strips of wallpaper hanging down everywhere."

HOW DID YOU APPROACH THE DÉCOR?

"The character of our home guided my interior design choices. I believe it's important to embrace the style of a property, appreciate its unique features and enhance them. I did some research into Edwardian colours and design before I started. I like to stick to a palette of three colours, and I took my shades of green, yellow and pink from the original stained glass windows. I'd never been a fan of wallpaper before; I always worried that it would date quickly. But in this house, it just seemed right. I've surprised myself by embracing dramatic florals.