Doris and Jon’s Vintage-Contemporary Victorian

published May 24, 2015

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Name: Doris Lee, husband Jon and son Jak
Location: West London, UK
Size: 1,245 square feet
Years lived in: 5 years

This high-ceilinged Victorian terrace on a quiet road in West London is home to interior designer and blogger Doris Lee, husband Jon and their five-year-old son Jak. Before they purchased the house five years ago, the previous owners had carried out extensive renovations: a side-return extension housing the galley kitchen, a new open-plan arrangement with areas for living, working, eating and playing, and new flooring throughout. With the refurbishments already done—and an ideal space for Doris’ new interior design business, too—it felt like the perfect home for this young family.

The entry opens out into the living area. (Image credit: Cathy Pyle)

(Image credit: Cathy Pyle)

With her skills and passion for interior design, of course it wasn’t long before Doris set about transforming the house to make it feel like a stylish and very personal family home and work space. The first priority was to repaint the magnolia walls in fresh, brilliant white, with a softer white and deep black in the bedrooms, to create a clean, contemporary feel. The red kitchen cabinets were also resprayed in black to fit in with the scheme. This monochrome scheme is the perfect backdrop for all of the family’s treasured paintings, photographs, textiles and vintage items that are displayed throughout the house.

Doris and her husband also removed the fitted storage from the living and studio areas; in their place, they have installed a feature brick wall with capacious storage for Jon’s audio-visual equipment, complete with a new, bespoke concrete top that is Doris’ favorite feature in the house. The brick and concrete add texture and lend a rustic, industrial feel to the space.

The studio area, which sits between the living area and kitchen, has a vintage, eclectic look, and it’s from here that Doris runs her interior design business. She has brought in a repurposed industrial bench as a desk and, for storage, a freestanding wardrobe, along with freestanding shelves made from scaffolding boards. A white-painted wall is the perfect space for creating mood-boards for her clients.

(Image credit: Doris Lee)

Apartment Therapy Survey:

Our Style: I love to mix rustic and industrial elements against a contemporary backdrop. Then I add variety by combining vintage with high end and high street furnishings.

Inspiration: Happy memories and places we’ve travelled to.

Favorite Element: The concrete worktop and media unit because it’s a combination of my husband’s requirement to house his amplifier, sub-woofer, Blue Ray Player and TV while meeting my requirements to have an aesthetically pleasing exterior. We got the best of both worlds!

Also all the works of art in our home are treasures we have brought back from our travels and always bring us happy memories.

Biggest Challenge: Finding a place for the rug we purchased in Marrakech. It has been all over the house and has finally settled on our wall in the bedroom.

What Friends Say: It’s a light bright space that feels welcoming, homely and lived in.

Biggest Embarrassment: The inherited yellow vinyl walls of the downstairs toilet and family bathroom

Proudest DIY: The gallery wall took us an entire day to put together but it was worth is in the end

Biggest Indulgence: The concrete worktop on top of the media centre and having our previously red kitchen cabinets re-sprayed to black when we first moved into the property.

Best Advice: Fill your home with things that give you happy memories only; plants will always add life to your home; and the simple act of removing unused and no longer loved items from your home will always make it feel new and shiny again.

Dream Sources: Sunbury Antiques Market, The Old Cinema, The Peanut Vendor

Resources

(Image credit: Cathy Pyle)

PAINT & COLORS

All Bedrooms: Dulux Jasmine White

Jak’s Bedroom – Black Feature Wall – Little Greene Company – Jack Black

All other walls and woodwork in the house in Dulux Trade White

(Image credit: Cathy Pyle)

ENTRY

Side board used as a shoe cabinet – Marks & Spencer Conran Collection
Mirror – Loaf.com
Wallpaper – Cole and Son Birch Tree
Rattan Bench – Bloomingville
Fish Hook – Anthropologie

(Image credit: Cathy Pyle)

LIVING ROOM

Sofa – Contempo
Rattan Round Chair – Bloomingville
Vintage Marble Coffee Table – The Peanut Vendor
Light Fitting – Vitra Akari Paper Pendant – Heals

(Image credit: Cathy Pyle)

STUDIO

Industrial wench table – used as a desk – Ines Cole from The Old Cinema
Industrial style desk lamp – The Old Cinema
Large London Map Print – Kristjana Williams
Shelves made from reclaimed scaffold boards and hair pin table legs from Ebay. Can be separated to become 2 low tables or used as shelves
Extra tall book stand – Chest of Drawers
Bee Hooks on Gallery Wall – Anthropologie
Wardrobe – Made.com, Door handles – Anthropologie
Hanging Crystal Pendant Bulb in Alcove – Lee Broom
Vintage Red Clock – Sunbury Antiques Market