Stuart's Story - Flippa Interiors

When Stuart first contacted our studio a few years ago, he and his wife both had demanding careers that meant there was precious little spare time to work out how to go about renovating their family house. They knew how they wanted their home to feel but weren’t sure how to bring their vision to life. "Our home has potential, and when we bought it, we loved its unusual layout and potential, but it really doesn't reflect who we are," he explained during their initial consultation. As busy professionals with children, he and his wife Claire wanted a space that would seamlessly transition between their various needs—cooking, dining, relaxing, entertaining, quality family time - without feeling disjointed or compromising on style.

Reimagining Possibilities

What began as a "relatively modest renovation" of the ground floor would evolve into a transformative journey. We immediately realised the existing layout presented an opportunity to fundamentally change their home and how it worked for them as a family. The kitchen was tucked away in a dark, north-facing room at the front of the house, shut off from the rest of the home, and away from the views of their garden. Our recommendation was bold but decisive: relocate the entire kitchen to the back of the house.

"Moving the kitchen seemed a big step." But after reviewing our plans showing how opening up the back of the house with large Crittal windows would not only frame the garden view but flood the new open plan kitchen area with natural light, they both agreed it was an “inspired creation”.

Designing for connection

For this family, the heart of their home wasn't just about cooking - it was about creating a space where they could be together while pursuing individual interests. The new footprint allowed us to design three distinct zones that flowed naturally into one another: a family kitchen, a proper dining area that could accommodate supper with friends and homework for teenagers, and a comfortable snug where they could unwind and enjoy reading and their record collection. All with views of their garden.

"We wanted to be in the same room without necessarily doing the same thing," Claire explained. "Now I can be preparing dinner while Stuart sorts through his record collection and the children are doing their homework and we're all still connected."

Personal Passions in Physical Form

Stuart’s record collection had previously been relegated to a spare room, but he was keen for us to carve out space for his passion in this new open plan living area. We designed bespoke shelving to store and celebrate his passion for. The custom unit houses both the collection and a high-end turntable.

Near the Crittall windows, we created a reading nook with two generously proportioned armchairs for the couple to be able to read and indulge in their love of literature. This layout means they can enjoy natural light during the day and well-designed ambient lighting in the evening, extending the usability of the space well into the night.

Finding Their Colour Confidence

By far the most transformative aspect of our work with Stuart and Claire was helping them to embrace colour with confidence. "We knew we liked certain colours, but we were afraid of making expensive mistakes and utterly stumped at how to put a scheme together" Stuart explained. Through our in-depth Colour Psychology and Style assessment, we not only identified colours that resonated with their personalities but that would enhance their new space and created a vibrant, warm feeling.

The resulting palette - burnt orange balanced with deep blues and softened with natural wood tone gives the room a coherence that feels both bold and entirely appropriate. "It's exactly what we wanted but could never have articulated ourselves," said Claire.

Overcoming Challenges Together

What began as a design project soon encountered its share of obstacles. "The building work was a nightmare, with all sorts of problems and challenges," Stuart shared. We helped the couple to navigate the difficulties with the construction phase through our unwavering commitment to their vision and by staying patient, whilst also offering advice and solutions to the issues that came up. Keeping communications open and transparent every step of the way helped them to have confidence during challenging moments.

"Philippa and Hannah were the only ones who never let us down," Stuart wrote in his review. When unexpected issues arose, we drew upon our extensive knowledge to find creative solutions.

A New Way of Living

What began as a "relatively modest renovation" has fundamentally changed how this family experience their home. Where once they might have retreated to separate rooms in the evenings, they now gravitate to this multi-functional heart of their home. Sunday mornings find them lingering over breakfast and coffee while vinyl tracks play in the background. Evenings might see friends gathered around the dining table catching up with each other.

"The end result is a beautiful open plan kitchen/dining room and snug which we get a huge amount of pleasure from. It has totally transformed how we live in our home," Stuart said after the project was finally completed. "We use every inch of it, every day. It's not just functional—it brings us genuine joy."

At Flippa Interiors this is the ultimate measure of successful design for us: not just creating a beautiful space, but fundamentally enhancing how people live within it.

The Professional Touch

Stuart’s engagement as the main point of contact, and his decisive nature and clear communication style allowed us to move efficiently from concept to completion, even whilst he and Claire kept up with their busy professional schedules and family life.

"Having Stuart take the lead on our side made the process remarkably smooth. I could trust that between him and Flippa Interiors the decisions being made were the not only considered, but the right ones” said Claire.

Their trust in our creative expertise was something we never took for granted. "We would never have been able to create this ourselves," said Stuart. This collaborative approach, where our expertise met their vision, facilitated by clear leadership has resulted in not just a beautiful space, but as much of an enjoyable journey as possible, even through the inevitable challenges of a renovation.

As Stuart summed up: "They are absolutely first class and I cannot recommend them enough."

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