Surrey Homes | SH22 | August 2016 | Wedding supplement inside

Above: The whole back wall of the kitchen is made up of bi-fold glass doors which open up entirely, letting on to the terraced walled
garden which has a planting scheme by Tony Howard of Harborough Nurseries. The slabs are Westmorland Green slate, originally
from the roof terrace of St Thomas’ Hospital, via Retrouvius
design, although she modestly describes architect Jason Wren
as “the design genius of the project. He had the imagination
to completely remodel the house and I trusted his vision, even
when I didn’t entirely understand it.”
She’s also keen to share the glory of the wonderful
paint colours used throughout the house with Patrick
O’Donnell, chief colour consultant at Farrow & Ball:
“I was used to living in places which were various
shades of white and grey, although I have always liked
splashes of colour and yellow in particular. But I was
a little bit nervous about using them because, colours
don’t always come out as you expect.”
In the spacious open-plan kitchen and dining room, the units
are painted in striking Farrow & Ball Hague Blue, with the
insides of cupboards painted in contrasting or complementary
colours. Moroccan pottery in fiery shades from the Industrial
Zone of Marrakech, is set off perfectly by this background and
natural light, flooding in through bi-fold doors, brings the
whole scene to life.
“You could be someone who is utterly hapless with
colour, doesn’t have a clue, and this service would
really help,” says Ginny. “I’m not that person. I have
quite firm ideas about what I like so, in a way, I wanted
a bit of hand-holding, to take me into the ‘dark side’.”
Farrow & Ball provided nearly all of the interior paint -
except for the bright yellow which is a feature in several rooms.
She clearly knew what she wanted: “In the end a technician at
Dulux said: ‘This is the purest yellow, with no hints of green’. I
think I tried about eight different yellows before I got there.”
The kitchen-dining area is not a room to hurry through.
Along one wall runs a huge refectory table in walnut – originally
from the old British Library Reading Room - and Prussian Blue
leather chairs, all sourced through Retrouvius, a reclamation
company based on the Harrow Road in northwest London.
Over the table is a ‘feature wall’ like no other.
“The wallpaper is by Witch and Watchman and the designer
Helen ZB Wilson,” says Ginny. In amongst the foliage, as well
as magpies and crows, is a hand-painted bird. “It’s an Australian
“I care very much about aesthetics, but I also care that things work and are
comfortable and practical,” says Ginny. “If the house is beautiful, that’s fine by me, but
it’s got to work. Some houses are so over-designed they make you feel anxious”
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