25 Beautiful Homes – July 2019

25bh | period renovation

C

arolineandChristianKent

haveanintuitiveestateagentto

thankforthehousetheynow

ca l lhome.‘ We wa nted tolive

inan areawithlocalprimaryschools for our

twindaughters,noweight,sowe’dbegun

propertyhunting,’saysCaroline.‘Onone

viewing,theagentlistenedtoourthoughts

andrequirementsandsaidheknewof the

perfectplaceforusjustaroundthecorner.’

Intrigued,thecouplewenttolookat

theEdwardianterracedhouseand,once

Carolinewalkedthroughthedoor,there

wasnogoingback.‘Itwassomewherewe

couldmoveintowithouthavingtodoany

immediatework,’shesays.And,after

purchasingit,thatis justwhattheydid.

AlthoughCarolinehadvisionsof

redesigningthedownstairslayout,thepair

decidedtoprioritisethebathrooms,which

becamethefirstproject.Overthenext

fouryears,Caroline,whohasherown

business,CarolineKentDesigns,hadbeen

makingdecoratingdecisionsonpaperonly.

Oncethetimecametoimplementthem,

shedidn’tholdback.‘Wereplacedvirtually

everything,includingthedoors, windows

andflooring,’shesays.

Thefamilymovedoutwhilethe

builders,CapitalHouseProjects,movedin

and,duringa four-monthrenovation,the

downstairsroomswerereconfigured.‘I

realisedknockingdownwallsandcreating

newoneswouldbeexpensive,soI achieved

moreorlessthesameeffectbychanging

thepositionsofthedoors,’saysCaroline.

Oneofthemainrequirementswas

apracticalkitchen.Caroline’sissuewith

thisareawasthe lowceiling,relativeto the

otherrooms.‘Theexistingextensionhad

anexpanseofceilingthatfeltoppressive,’

shesays.‘Addinga largeskylightanda

newpaintcolour transformedthespace.’

Whenit cametothedecor,Caroline

decidedtocreatea lookpurelyforher

family,ratherthanfuturebuyers.Partof

thisinvolveddividinga doublereception

spacetocreatea separatesittingroom.In

themasterbedroom,theunderstatedlook

owesmuchtothewell-plannedchoiceof

paintcolours.‘I chosethecolourscheme

forthehouseasone,’saysCaroline.

Allthisplanninghasproduceda home

witha feelingofindividualityandunity

throughout.‘I’msopleasedwithhowwe’ve

createdthreedistinctzonesdownstairs,

linkedbynewoakflooringrunningfront

toback,’shesays.‘Itgivesusallour own

spaces, so everyone is happy.’

96 | 25bhjuLy 2019