Surrey Homes | SH23 | September 2016 | Education supplement inside

Left: The fire truck was Charlie’s first birthday present and the
family brought it back from Australia, along with his cowboy
print tipi by Mocka. Above: Rather than hit the shops with
a toddler, Jenna sourced practically everything for the house
online. The cushions were found on the H&M homewares site
Jenna’s parents, who are experienced property developers,
found the house and immediately saw its potential. “We
actually put in a few offers on a house a few doors up, which
had been renovated. Then my mum discovered this one. She
emailed: ‘I’ve found this one, much lower price bracket...
Do you fancy a project?’ and we thought, ‘Why not?’”
Many people might have been put off by the scale of
work involved, but Jenna, who runs the event management
company Chapel Lane, and Andrew, who is a quantity
surveyor, had just the skills needed for such an ambitious
renovation project. “Andrew managed budgets and so on –
and my parents’ advice was invaluable. My dad was really
good at motivating the team too. He was one of four men
who slept in the house on blow-up mattresses, for the last
eight weeks of the project.” The couple started work on the
house in January of this year, so it’s an impressive turnaround.
So, what was their vision? “I wanted to design a home that
I could happily spend lots of time in,” says Jenna. “I used
to go out to work every day, but since having Charlie and
starting my own business, I’ve been working from home. I’ve
never spent so much time in the home environment before!”
Chapel Lane, named after the road on which Jenna
was born, came about almost organically, when friends
and associates started to ask Jenna to organise events
and parties for them. “I wanted a business that sounded
approachable and friendly and quintessentially English;
which would represent me and my approach,” says Jenna.
Likewise, developing their Hersham home seemed like the
perfect project for someone who is used to co-ordinating
skilled teams and working to budgets and deadlines.
“It seemed like a natural progression from my years
of event styling. It was with this mentality that I
approached this project – considering how the space
flowed as a whole, defining and highlighting particular
spaces with their function in mind.” She also spent a
lot of time considering lighting, with different types of
light – wall, lamp, pendant and spot lights – at different
levels throughout the open-plan living space, so that
the couple could redefine specific areas, as required.
While the house is distinctly light and open-
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