Surrey Homes | SH43 | May 2018 | Restoration & New Build supplement inside

the inevitable chaos that living with the builders creates.
“We couldn’t unpack, so we carved a single path through
the boxes and learned how to barbecue everything.”
The ironic thing was that once they had finished
refurbishing the house from top to toe, they moved to
New York for five years, before returning and employing
more builders to dig out a basement. This time it was
the builders, from Portugal, who did the barbecuing,
cooking sardines on a makeshift griddle on top of a
wheelbarrow. “It smelled delicious,” Sara remembers.
They employed interior architect Nick Coombs during
both projects at first to help them bring the house into a
brighter, bolder light than the shy, north-facing art studio had
bathed in. They installed the large picture window opposite
the original window; bright sunshine instantly flooded
the room and revealed the fabulous landscape outside.
Sara is keenly aware of light and its effects and through her
blogging has developed a photographer’s eye for it. “I look
at how the light is coming in, how the muted neutral tones
in the background are working - the walls, sofas, floors. I’m
drawn to colour, but it needs a backdrop,” she explains.
With the help of her interior stylist Spyros Hambis
Clockwise from above left: The curtain fabric is by Designers
Guild. Sara changes the cushion covers, which are supplied by
Spyros Hambis - Studio Interiors, seasonally. The painting was
bought while travelling
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