Wealden Times | WT264 | May 2024 | Love Your Home Supplement inside

This page: The slope of the land means that the kitchen is much lower than the rest of the house. The sleek, pared-back look comes
courtesy of Corian worktops and gloss white cabinetry. Lighting under the cabinets means that it’s a great evening entertaining space, too
the rooms to suit family life needs to
be thought about at the beginning
of the process, as retrofitting can
end up being either impossible, or
expensive. Emma is an expert at
visualising the structural changes that
can transform a home. She emphasises
that, wherever possible, she likes to be
involved at the start of a project, so
that costly mistakes can be avoided.
“I knew at the very beginning what
I wanted to do here and then I knew
what I could add to it – a piecemeal
approach is not the way, you can end
up undoing things, or living with
compromise or errors. I like to be
involved at the start, collaborating
with the architects on the masterplan.
If you start by having a clear idea of
the whole thing then, whether it gets
built in stages or not, everything is
thought about. A scheme ideally needs
to start from the right point so that it’s
cohesive and it’s all one,” she pauses.
“Flow. Everything should look fully
planned, not separate. It’s about the
materials, the things you can see, the
details – don’t skimp on the details.”
Emma explains that the detailing
of windows, doors, external and
internal structural features should be
integral to the project, not separate
to the masterplan. “The architect
may not be involved with much
of the detail or know where to
look for the best taps, what mood
the colours make, how to use and
maximise the space. That’s my job.
“It’s also important to set up good
communications with everyone
involved in the build. Meetings with
trades have to happen. You need to
know where to put things, need to
think about where the bins are going
to go, the washing, the paraphernalia
of living has to be managed. You
need storage for garden furniture,
for the barbecue. It’s about lifestyle
design – and then storage to keep
the house tidy. I use all the space
I can – the study, utility, dressing
room and all the smaller areas.”
Back downstairs, past the
magnificent magnifying chandelier,
we head outside to the studio,
an architect designed building,
which turned out to be a useful
place for the family to live in.
“We did the studio first so that we
had somewhere to live while we were
doing some of the structural work in
the house,” she says. This building has
proved to be a useful investment too,
rented out for a while on Airbnb. It
has now become Emma’s light-filled
office and studio. Inside the decor
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