{"id":13427,"date":"2022-08-11T11:00:13","date_gmt":"2022-08-11T09:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homesandantiques.com\/?p=33579"},"modified":"2022-08-11T11:14:11","modified_gmt":"2022-08-11T09:14:11","slug":"a-stylists-victorian-terrace-filled-with-heirlooms","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/rss_feed\/a-stylists-victorian-terrace-filled-with-heirlooms\/","title":{"rendered":"A stylist\u2019s Victorian terrace filled with heirlooms"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Molly Malsom\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 11 August 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

We\u2019d been looking for a house for about a year and had narrowed down the search to a part of east London known as Walthamstow Village,\u2019 recalls freelance interiors stylist Marisa Daly. She and her partner, literary agent Jonathan Conway, had been living together in his flat in St John\u2019s Wood for a couple of years, but the time had come to move on.<\/p>\n

\u2018As lovely as it was having Regent\u2019s Park on the doorstep, space became limited once I\u2019d moved in with all my stuff,\u2019 she laughs. \u2018I needed somewhere other than the tiny second bedroom to store the vases<\/a>, plates, bedlinen, cushions, textiles, books<\/a>, paintings, glasses<\/a> and cutlery that I need for shoots. Furnishing an entire house from my prop store wouldn\u2019t have been a problem, but it would have been a chaotic jumble. I love to be surrounded by colour and pattern, but less is more, and a sense of balance is important.\u2019<\/p>\n

The couple eventually found a three-bedroom Victorian terrace in a quiet street with the added bonus of a leafy garden and a cellar. \u2018The house had been rented for years and it felt pretty unloved, but it was sound and the cellar was a fabulous extra as far as I was concerned \u2013 at last, a designated storage space for my props! I would lie awake at night mentally organising everything onto imaginary shelves.\u2019<\/p>\n

Using a local architect, Marisa drew up plans to update and extend the house, adapting it to their needs. \u2018The intention was to nudge the interior into a more contemporary look without obliterating the Victorian character,\u2019 she explains. Combining styles and finishes to add character and interest to an interior is very much part of Marisa\u2019s design ethos.<\/p>\n

The Victorian architectural details that were still in situ were retained and she even reinstated one or two, such as the fire surround in the rear reception room. However, the old fireplace in the kitchen had to go. \u2018It wasn\u2019t decorative or practical and keeping it would have reduced the work surface, so out it went.\u2019 Marisa\u2019s props had their place in the cellar, but Jonathan\u2019s ever-increasing library also required house room. The solution was floor-to-ceiling shelves that bridge the space between the fireplaces in the sitting and dining rooms. \u2018Each shelf is deep enough for a double row of books \u2013 there must be at least a thousand volumes up there \u2013 but a room without books is unthinkable.\u2019<\/p>\n

When it comes to the decorative scheme, shades of green provide a subtle link between the various rooms. \u2018We look out on mature trees in the garden so they were my inspiration for the colour of the kitchen cupboards.\u2019 The wallpapers for the bedrooms<\/a> had long been in Marisa\u2019s \u2018favourites\u2019 file and the blind fabric in her daughter\u2019s bedroom was recycled from a shower curtain she had made 10 years ago.<\/p>\n

Much of the furniture came from auctions, fairs<\/a> and family. The pair of mirrored marquetry cabinets in the dining room came from Marisa\u2019s maternal grandfather, who bought them on one of his regular visits to the antiques shops<\/a> of Diss, Sudbury and Woodbridge. \u2018Pattern and colour were in his DNA, and I guess they\u2019re in mine too,\u2019 she says. \u2018My mother remembers as a child being taken on an outing to choose wallpaper at Cole & Son when the showroom was in Mortimer Street. In due course, rolls of the chosen design were delivered and she watched, transfixed as it was hung and the room was transformed.\u2019<\/p>\n

Marisa\u2019s prop-buying excursions to antiques fairs in and around London have given her plenty of opportunity to add to her varied collections, which range from glass and china to paintings and prints. \u2018Glass adds sparkle when used in a shoot, so I can always persuade myself I need another example. My grandmother had lovely Moser wine glasses that she\u2019d inherited from her parents. I thought they were exquisite \u2013 quite unlike the glasses that were in everyday use in their house. I liked to imagine the parties where they\u2019d have been used during the 1920s and 1930s. Contemporary Moser is just as magical, the faceted vases glowing with jewel-like colour, adding instant glamour to any room.\u2019<\/p>\n

Some of the paintings and prints Jonathan and Marisa have bought together, while others have been picked up on prop-buying trips. \u2018I always try to visit Battersea Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair, but it\u2019s best without children. Ardingly is more relaxed, especially on a fine day \u2013 I can rummage through the stands while Jonathan takes the children to the RHS garden at nearby Wakehurst for lunch and a session in the \u2018mud kitchen\u2019 for Phoebe. It\u2019s a perfect day, especially when I\u2019ve added a decorative piece or two to my collection.\u2019<\/p>\n