Words: Emma Howarth; Images © James Balston

Laura Clark has got a problem: ‘I fall in love with everything,’ she says. ‘I’m basically the worst property developer ever because I can never bear to sell the end result.’ The Glasgow School of Art-trained architect is talking about two of her best-known projects – the conversion of a derelict underground public loo in Crystal Palace (as seen, alongside her transformative architectural work, on Channel 4’s Ugly House to Lovely House with George Clarke) into a one-bedroom flat and her more recent renovation of a repossessed Glasgow tenement – both labours of love that no amount of brick dust or tricky planning meetings has been able to fade. ‘I enjoy the challenge of very small-scale development,’ she explains from her practice, Lamp Architects’ loft studio at Cooper’s Yard, close to the site of those transformed toilets. ‘And because they were both personal projects, I was also able to focus on making them really positive examples of regeneration. After all, that’s what ‘developing’ is meant to mean; it’s meant to be about improving things.’

This has certainly been the case in Crystal Palace, where smart limestone render on the formerly graffiti-covered public convenience has smartened up the street view, inspiring the café across the road to make some improvements of its own. ‘I loved seeing that,’ says Laura. ‘I think less focus on the bottom line, more focus on community is really important to regeneration. You’ve got to strike a balance, obviously, but developers need to make sure they do the right thing.’

‘… that’s what ‘developing’ is meant to mean; it’s meant to be about improving things.’

This sense of responsibility doesn’t just pervade the regeneration side of Laura’s work, either. She is as committed to preserving the history and character of the buildings she works with as she is to ensuring their community impact is a positive one. So a weather-worn, decades-old (the original WCs were completed in 1929) mirror from the ladies’ loos was painstakingly preserved for use as part of a drinks cabinet in the subterranean Crystal Palace flat. And when wallpaper was stripped back in the tenement regeneration to reveal the original plaster stained walls beneath, Laura knew she just had to keep them in situ: ‘They were this beautiful dark red colour with amazing filigree stencil patterns on them; the texture is just beautiful. I love the contrast with the new grey-painted walls and contemporary glossy red kitchen.’

For Laura, reclamation is not simply a case of carefully preserving historical features and adding a few vintage fittings to the end result. She loves to repurpose reclaimed materials so that their look and function becomes completely different to their original form. ‘I’m not a massive fan of the kind of upcycling that really reveals its origins,’ she says. ‘To me that’s kind of lazy. I like getting right back to what a material actually is, what it does, what its best features are, really stripping it back to basics and then completely repurposing it.’

It is indeed hard to imagine the industrial-style light in the tenement’s kitchen was once the building’s copper water tank, or that the bathroom’s slatted teak floor started life many miles away from Scotland in a Bristol gym. ‘We had this beautiful reclaimed teak floor but I didn’t want to just put it back down like decking. My idea was to strip it back, take all the old nails out and use it end-on to really express the grain,’ she says. The finished result – no joins, no seams, just beautifully finished teak set against dark-stained ply walls – is stunning. ‘Of course,’ she adds, ‘doing it this way is a lot more work.’

Fortunately, work is something Laura isn’t afraid of. That reclaimed teak was the result of a couple of days’ hard labour helping a builder friend strip out the gym floor. And when the going got tough in Crystal Palace and she couldn’t find builders willing to stay for more than a few days at a time, she put years of summer jobs labouring on building sites to good use and rolled up her sleeves herself. ‘For any architect, or property developer for that matter, understanding building sites is so important,’ Laura explains. ‘I learnt so much from those summers spent on site, skills that mean I can get stuck in myself when I need to but, more importantly, total respect for the building trade. It’s seriously hard work.’

‘For any architect, or property developer for that matter, understanding building sites is so important.’

This site experience and ability to build excellent relationships with builders enables Laura to achieve impressive, bespoke results for herself and her clients even when budgets don’t stretch to high-end materials. Anyone who witnessed her find beauty in the Ugly House to Lovely House Watford property, exposing the brick behind the fireplace and turning a pile of plywood into a beautifully stained parquet-style floor couldn’t fail to be impressed with her resourcefulness and vision. And now, on Your Home Made Perfect, Laura finds the essence of a home and its owners’ real lives to create a practical, liveable space with the ‘wow’ factor.  Indeed, the phone hasn’t stopped ringing with new clients keen to put her imagination, ethos and budget-stretching ideas into practice.

» For more information visit lamparchitects.co.uk

» Your Home Made Perfect, BBC2, Tuesdays at 8pm

Many of us – particularly citydwellers – find ourselves living in smaller spaces than we’d ideally choose, but rather than focusing on the limitations of small-space living, perhaps we should instead concentrate on the opportunities compact homes can offer. For in smaller rooms less is usually more. When there’s no space for unwanted clutter, it’s important to select furniture and decorative items that are easy to live with or that you really love, then let those carefully curated finds stand out.

Manufacturers of modern flat-pack furniture would have us believe that we need new designs in modern materials in order to maximise space in smaller homes, but look to the past for inspiration and you’ll soon find ingenious storage solutions and compact pieces of furniture that are perfectly suited to small-space living and are often much more sturdy and stylish than their contemporary equivalents.

In order to make a small home feel airy and comfortable rather than claustrophobic and cluttered, it’s essential to think creatively and make the most of every available inch where you can. From finding hidden space beneath a basin in a tiny bathroom to hanging antique folding chairs on the kitchen wall as a quirky vintage feature, the most comfortable and welcoming small-scale homes merge practicality with style. Small spaces can bring out the best in us, challenging us to edit our possessions, seek out beautiful but functional finds and solve storage problems. Plus, they’re often cosy and comfortable thanks to their modest proportions. What’s not to love?

The furniture

Look for petite vintage furniture with small dimensions – mid-century designs (by the likes of Ercol or G Plan) tend to be dainty and are therefore perfectly suited to compact homes. Tapered legs let you see the floor underneath your furniture, which creates the illusion of extra space, while curved silhouettes help items to blend into corners.

Mid-century component storage systems are also ideal for small-space living as they incorporate shelves, display cabinets and fold-down desks, and can be adapted to your changing needs thanks to moveable elements. Unfashionable drop-leaf tables should not be dismissed – their nifty folding mechanism means you have three options: a large dining table with both leaves up, a smaller half-table with one leaf up, or a narrow sideboard-style piece of furniture when both leaves are down.

Built-in furniture made of reclaimed wood is handy if space is tight. A window seat or banquette-style seat with internal storage compartments can let you squeeze a table into a tiny nook where there’s not much floor space for chairs. In a bedroom, a bespoke deep headboard minimises clutter, provides a handy shelf and – if you fit reading lights to it – means you’ll have no need for bedside tables.

To consider

• Stackable stools such as vintage Tolix, designed for use in cafés, are a good choice for small kitchens, as they can be neatly stored in a cupboard or corner
  when not in use, freeing up precious floor space.
• Little vintage sewing machine or mangle tables make
  great compact desks or dressing tables.

Sourcebook

• Scaramanga, scaramangashop.co.uk, 01334 657642: for vintage folding tables from India, stackable tubular steel and plywood chairs, and nifty mid-century pieces such as 1970s Formica-topped drop-leaf tables.
• Lovely & Co, lovelyandco.co.uk, 01273 473451: for a huge range of vintage furniture in all shapes and sizes, including a good selection of petite mid-century pieces.
• Everything but the Dog, everythingbutthedog.eu, 0208 986 1525: for mid-century furniture at affordable prices including Scandi designs and Ercol pieces.

Don’t forget to use the walls, too – folding chairs can
look chic hung on rustic vintage hooks, while coat
racks and peg rails can provide useful storage

Storage solutions

The key to successfully styling any small home is to incorporate useful but good-looking storage and find hidden space that’s easy to access. For the living room, look out for old luggage trunks or blanket boxes which make great coffee tables and double up as useful containers for clutter. If space permits, a stack of old suitcases can provide a huge amount of storage space too, and makes for an interesting feature. Find extra space low down – slide bushel boxes (vegetable and fruit crates) on castors into alcoves or tuck pull-out wooden trays under your sofa. Don’t forget to use the walls, too – folding chairs can look chic hung on rustic vintage hooks, while old coat racks and peg rails can provide useful extra storage space, especially if you hang baskets from them.

Many older items can cleverly lend themselves to new uses: wall-mounted vintage French bottle-drying racks make handy kitchen additions for mugs and utensils, while reclaimed industrial pigeonhole cabinets are useful for storing a host of small items, from DVDs in the living room to DIY kit in the garage or gloves and scarves in the hallway. Old drawers can be lined with paper or painted, and fitted to a wall to be used as cubbyholes.

In a compact kitchen, open shelving on the walls always looks much less bulky than built-in above-counter units. Source vintage shelf supports in cast iron and use reclaimed scaffolding boards for sturdy but stylish shelves. Fit slimline appliances to maximise cupboard storage space, and choose white walls and pale tiles to reflect light and create an open, airy feeling.

To consider

• For an uncluttered look, conceal storage boxes under a desk or
  worktop behind curtains made from vintage fabric.
• Fit cup hooks underneath kitchen shelves so you can hang
  mugs and small jugs, freeing up space elsewhere.

Sourcebook

• Yesterhome, yesterhome.com, 01746 710777: for traditional-style cast-iron shelf brackets made from original antique patterns.
• English Salvage, englishsalvage.co.uk, 01568 616205:
  for salvaged industrial pigeonhole units.
• Used Horticultural Machinery, usedhorticulturalmachinery.co.uk, 07831 842491:
  for old fruit and veg crates.

Finishing touches

When space is limited and a traditional door would be a tight squeeze, it can help to fit a sliding reclaimed door on barn hinges instead, or even just hang a thick curtain on a pole across a doorway. Generally speaking, the more wall surface you can see, the bigger a room looks, so limit window dressings wherever possible and opt for simple, barely there solutions where privacy or darkness is a must. Always fit one large curtain instead of two smaller ones so you can slide it to one side when not in use, meaning more wall is visible, creating the illusion of space. Or, ideally, ditch curtains altogether and go for a fuss-free blind.

Mirrors are essential in smaller rooms, to bounce light into dark areas and visually extend the existing space. Try leaning an over-sized antique mirror against the wall to instantly ‘open up’ a cramped corner or hang a cluster of vintage mirrors you’ve collected on a wall instead of artwork. Pattern can be used in small spaces, but introduce it sparingly, in small doses, so as not to create a cluttered, ‘busy’ look. It’s true that white and pale colours can ‘brighten up’ small homes, which can be prone to feeling cramped and dark, but very dark colours can also work well, as they create a feeling of infinity – akin to gazing at the night sky.

To consider

• Don’t overwhelm a small home with too many different colours. Stick to
  a limited palette and repeat the same colours in all your rooms
  for a cohesive feel and to visually extend your space.
• If you’re changing the floors in your home, consider using the same
  flooring throughout, which can create an airy feeling.

Sourcebook

• Rough Old Glass, rougholdglass.co.uk, 0345 548 8586:
  for restored original English and continental antique mirrors.
• Divinely Vintage, divinelyvintage.co.uk, 07976 94569:
  for pre-loved curtains in a huge range of styles and sizes.
• Made by the Forge, madebytheforge.co.uk, 01473 487118:
  for hand-forged traditional curtain poles.

Words and styling: Alice Roberton; Images and styling: Tamsyn Morgans

Shades of pale

Despite white’s often cold appearance, a wonderful feeling of warmth can be created when you move away from the colour in all its brilliance and towards the tints and shades of timeworn objects, and even more so if you add textural layers and candlelight. The tones found in old papers, porcelain, lace, crochet and cotton are easy on the eye and evoke a feeling of calm, whilst textures add depth and steer white away from looking flat. Delicate lace expresses femininity and monochrome type adds masculinity – mix together and you’ve embodied the principles of yin and yang. Whatever you do with shades of white, they are guaranteed to lighten the mood, and indeed your interior space.

STYLING IDEAS Layer up with vintage lace, cotton and crochet in shades of vintage white, and add candlelight to create a feeling of warmth and calm.

SOURCING Find pared-back decorative items, lace and monochrome signage at brocantedecorative.com, honitonlace.com and pedlars.co.uk, or
shop the look at The Decorative Living Fair, 17–18 May, near Tunbridge Wells, Kent (decorativelivingfair.co.uk).

INSPIRATION Instagram #styleitlight

Bright future

With Living Coral emerging as Pantone Colour of the Year, brights are merrily skipping over the threshold and into our homes, livening up walls and furniture and influencing art as it goes. For many, it would be a bold step to paint a room in a shock of turquoise, yellow, hot pink or coral, so making a backdrop is a fantastic way of injecting some glorious technicolour into the home without too much commitment. With Miami art deco colours in mind, make your own backdrop using a roller to paint emulsion onto thick dust sheets or stretched canvas. When the mood takes you, hang the backdrop and add colourful accessories to transform your home into a sunny paradise.

STYLING IDEAS Let the 1950s, 60s and 70s collide with brightly painted mid-century furniture, bold pop art and kitsch plastic flowers set against your own handmade backdrop.

SOURCING Find retro fabrics, bold upcycled furniture and prints at rainbowvintagehome.co.uk, zoemurphy.com and Etsy, or shop the look at The Vintage Home Show, 24 May, Pudsey, Leeds (vintagehomeshow.co.uk).

INSPIRATION Instagram #colourmyhome

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