25 Beautiful Homes

EDITOR’S LETTER This is our BOLD and BRIGHT issue. So many of us relish the UPLIFTING effects of vibrant shades, but when it comes to making decisions about using that zingy yellow or lush green, the art of compromise is all-important. Zoe Boyle and Benedict Spence had their own views on the best way to refurbish their Victorian terrace, yet they have managed to use a KALEIDOSCOPE of hues to cleverly blend the old parts of their property with the new additions (p28). Megan Robson employed colour to zone the different areas of her Scottish home BEAUTIFULLY (p40). ‘I have used patterned fabrics everywhere and I try to use colour freely,’ she says. On a separate note, we’ve been delighted with the response to the shopping page we introduced…

A house with open-plan areas and lots of storage was what Julie de Lattre and her husband Jules wanted when they bought their London terrace in 2019. ‘The house needed refreshment as the decor wasn’t to our taste,’ says Julie. But she and Jules knew they could transform it into the perfect family home for themselves and their three children – Louis, 10, Madeleine, eight, and Rose, four. They called in Charlotte Lilford, a French architect and interior designer, who had worked on their previous home, to help them with the layout and decoration. ‘She’s extremely creative and talented,’ says Julie. ‘She thinks outside the box.’ Once planning permission for the work was granted, the year-long renovation began and the family rented a house nearby while it was carried out.…

When Sicilian-born Veronica Zimbaro viewed the Milan apartment that’s now her home, she immediately knew it was ‘the one’. ‘I was searching for somewhere welcoming and cosy,’ says Veronica. ‘I also wanted somewhere with a sense of familiarity. When I came across this place, I was struck by the quality of the light. Despite being in the city it reminded me of southern Italy, where I was born.’ With its enviable location in the heart of the city, the apartment is on one of Milan’s historic piazzas, famed for its architecture and all the artists associated with it. ‘We live in Piazza Santa Maria della Grazie, one step away from Leonardo da Vinci’s Cenacolo Museum,’ says Veronica. ‘It’s a wonderful place to immerse yourself in Milan’s history.’ While Veronica was…

Actress Zoe Boyle and her cinematographer husband Benedict Spence had very different ideas when it came to choosing the design of their dilapidated home in Dalston, London, which had been unofficially divided into two – a basement flat and a maisonette split over three floors above. While Ben favoured an open-plan vibe, Zoe preferred a sympathetic period restoration. ‘There was a real push-and-pull between us,’ says Zoe. ‘Ben likes modern design and wanted to rip out the walls and create one huge space, like the warehouse apartment we’d been renting. Whereas I didn’t want to change the bones of the Victorian house.’ Working with Zoe’s friend, architect George Bradley of Bradley Van Der Straeten, they came up with the perfect compromise. An open-plan, light-filled kitchen, dining and living space on…

HOW DID YOU COME TO BE INVOLVED IN THIS PROJECT? After finding out about the BBC series Interior Design Masters, I took a leap of faith – I won the contract with Beach Retreats to redesign Winnow as a result of winning the show in April 2022. WHAT WERE THE BIGGEST PRIORITIES FOR YOU AND THE OWNERS? Winnow is an architecturally designed house that is planted naturally into the landscape, oriented towards a fabulous view; the owners wanted the design to reflect the spectacular location, therefore the biggest priority was to achieve this, while incorporating character. There is always a practical and accessible element to interior design in a holiday let, but the end result needed to stand out in a competitive marketplace. WHAT WAS YOUR INSPIRATION FOR THE SCHEME?…

Once they had two young children, Megan Robson and her husband Philip were certain that life in Edinburgh’s city centre was no longer for them, so they started their search for a family home on the outskirts of the city. ‘We found a development of very spacious new-build homes in a beautiful coastal village and we both felt they were an ideal solution while the children were growing up,’ says Megan. Willow, six, and Kit, four, both love their new seaside home and the property has made a delightful blank canvas for Megan to hone her interior design skills. ‘I had a definite idea of what I wanted from the start as I had renovated our previous home and I was bringing a lot of furniture and accessories with me,’…