Surrey Homes | SH107 | December 2023 | Christmas Supplement inside

This page: Despite its narrow proportions, the kitchen has ample storage. The built-in cupboard unit is painted in Hopper by Little Greene
The paint colour they chose,
a favourite of Hannah’s, is Little
Greene’s Portland Stone, a warm,
grey neutral that seems to change
in different lights, taking on hints
of green, grey or brown depending
on the time of day and the weather.
It’s an ideal shade to use in a coastal
property – and this house is only two
streets away from the sea. They have
used either Portland Stone, or its
close neighbour Portland Stone Light,
throughout the house. The colour
works perfectly to enable Hannah to
create a serene canvas for living in.
A key part of the renovation process
was choosing the right flooring – it
needed to be hard-wearing, warm and
reflect the original building’s charm
and elegance. They have installed wide,
reclaimed floorboards throughout
most of the ground floor, which are in
keeping with the age of the house and,
once sanded and sealed, bring a natural
warmth. They needed a practical
flooring solution for the kitchen, and
Hannah was keen to keep a pared
back natural feel in this room too.
“We decided to go with cork in the
kitchen – and went light on sealant,
as I loved the texture. We should have
done a thicker layer of varnish, but
it makes it much darker,” she adds,
“but it’s easy to clean – like wood
you can sand it, so periodically you
can do this and get it back as good
as new.” This is the great thing about
using good quality natural materials
– they are forgiving and restorable.
The large Georgian sash windows
are single glazed and painted the
same colour as the walls, but in
eggshell. “The windows are of such
good proportions,” says Hannah,
“and the front of the house faces east,
while the back is to the west, so the
light bounces around the house in
the morning and the afternoon.
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