Surrey Homes | SH61 | November 2019 | Gift supplement inside

Above left: Kate has carefully preserved many of the house’s original features, bringing it into the
21st century with contemporary touches such as this turquoise velvet chair and graphic cushion
Above right: The bathroom features pale pink tiles which give it a 1950s mood
of Ensor Interiors, whose lovely shop is just along the
street (and whose house has also been featured in this
magazine) – insisted they sorted out the basics.
“He said first insulate the house, get it warm, so we did
all that boring, unsexy stuff, which is essential if you want
a comfortable house and we put in new floorboards and
underfloor heating. Luckily, I do know what’s involved with
a house like this, because my parents have always lived in
period properties. My father always said, ‘It’s like the Forth
Bridge, you have to keep on top of it and know that upkeep
always needs doing.’”
Once all that was done, Kate could get on to the more fun
stuff like the beautiful cabinetry throughout the house. Kate
designed the kitchen, with Shaker doors and a bespoke pantry.
The outside of the cupboards are painted in Fired Earth
Wild Olive and, to great effect, the inside of them and the
bookshelves on the end of each run are in a lovely contrasting
pale blue, called Blue Grass by Fired Earth. The finishing
touch is a brass tap by Lefroy Brookes and brass handles
from Hardware by Armac Martin. The huge Rangemaster
stove was a lucky leave-behind by the previous owners.
The same carpentry – combined with Kate’s trained
mastery of proportions – is to show with great effect
in her dressing room, built upstairs in the equivalent
corridor area as the utility room, and leading on to
her bedroom, which sits over the kitchen. This creates
a kind of ‘Kate Wing’ that she can disappear into,
closing the door, when she has weekend visitors.
The dressing room is a joy of girlie chic, with velvety
cream carpet, two slipper chairs and the sublime cupboards,
with their lower panels at exactly the right height. They
are finished with cast iron ‘twig’ handles by Ashley
Hicks, providing the perfect place for everything.
With a lovely double aspect, one window looking out onto
the garden, both are finished with curtains in a Christopher
Farr fabric, which are double lined with blackout and
61 surrey-homes.co.uk