{"id":14959,"date":"2022-09-24T09:30:44","date_gmt":"2022-09-24T07:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homesandantiques.com\/?p=35154"},"modified":"2022-09-24T09:45:11","modified_gmt":"2022-09-24T07:45:11","slug":"a-victorian-townhouse-in-brighton","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/rss_feed\/a-victorian-townhouse-in-brighton\/","title":{"rendered":"A Victorian townhouse in Brighton"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Sophie Hannam\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Saturday, 24 September 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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For fashion stylist and designer Sadie Kohler, a home should be practical as well as stylish, and her three-storey Victorian townhouse in Brighton is testament to this philosophy. From the old French bakery counter that serves as a kitchen worktop as well as storage, to the elegant armoire in the bedroom (a lucky street find), everything is attractive and useful and, where possible, serves a dual purpose.<\/p>\n

The overall effect is one of relaxed family living and, with four children aged from seven to 18, \u2018the house is certainly lived in\u2019, she laughs, drawing attention to the football boots and skateboard abandoned in the hallway. \u2018I never wanted a show home.\u2019 Sadie and her husband Alex stumbled upon their house during a family day trip to the coast 13 years ago. \u2018I fell in love with Brighton from that first visit,\u2019 she recalls. \u2018It was close enough to London for my husband\u2019s commute, and I adored all of the quirky shops along The Lanes.\u2019<\/p>\n

They were smitten with the house too, despite the fact that it needed renovating. However, Sadie was keen to stay true to the existing period details. \u2018We unblocked a Victorian fireplace in the living room and chose to repair, rather than replace, the sash windows,\u2019 she says. They also managed to restore many other original features, including the banisters and cornices.<\/p>\n

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\u2018When we moved in I painted everything white,\u2019 she explains. \u2018But gradually I redecorated using more dramatic colours.\u2019 Today, the house is filled with the dark, cocooning shades of grey and blue that have become something of her signature style. And such is Sadie\u2019s passion for home makeovers, she has recently set up a decorating business with a friend. \u2018We\u2019re an all-female painting and decorating crew,\u2019 she smiles.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s not only wall colours that are subject to transformation. \u2018I\u2019m always painting furniture one colour and then going over it with another when I want a change!\u2019 she laughs. The farmhouse-style dining table made by Alex\u2019s father \u2013 a keen amateur carpenter \u2013 has been newly decorated with splendid metallic legs, and the antique shutters in the master bedroom are now adorned with slate-grey paint to match the walls.<\/p>\n

\u2018The shutters were left on the pavement by one of my neighbours, with a note asking for someone to take them,\u2019 explains Sadie. These \u2018Street Treats\u2019, as she likes to call them, came from another Victorian house, so they fitted her windows almost perfectly. The most precious pieces in Sadie\u2019s home are those sourced from her extensive travels to Spain, Morocco and South America. Shelves are laden with handmade pottery and glass from Europe and South America, and exotic Moroccan Berber rugs bring warmth to the exposed wooden flooring.<\/p>\n

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\u2018I\u2019ve never shipped anything back; it always comes home in my hand luggage,\u2019 she says. The patterned tiles on her kitchen floor are also a homage to her passion for Mediterranean design. \u2018They have a Moorish feel, which I love,\u2019 she says. When she\u2019s not travelling, the wealth of Brighton\u2019s vintage shops and the odd visit to Ardingly antiques fair feed Sadie\u2019s appetite for antiques hunting.<\/p>\n

\u2018I rarely go out looking for anything in particular but, when I spot something, I try to think of fun ways I can incorporate it into my home,\u2019 she explains. Sadie has eclectic taste and her home is proof that antiques from any era can happily sit side by side: from an 18th-century Venetian mirror and a vintage armoire in the bedroom, to her ever-expanding collection of 1970s rattan.<\/p>\n

For Sadie in particular, this home is a place of immense sentimental importance: \u2018My youngest children were born here,\u2019 she explains. \u2018I\u2019m very emotionally attached to our home and everything about it works for us as a family \u2013 it has a good energy \u2013 nothing is too precious.\u2019<\/p>\n