How A Place in the Sun’s Ben Hillman transformed his cluttered loft into a stunning bedroom

Ben and Gaby Hillman had always planned to convert their home’s existing loft space into their en-suite bedroom, but with a whole house to renovate and extend, the project was pushed down to the bottom of the list. Once savings were in place, they were ready to start.

‘The loft room was a multi-room, but with no real purpose – the girls would play up here, I had my office and we stored stuff,’ says Ben, a presenter on Channel 4’s A Place in the Sun and an interior designer from ITV’s 60 Minute Makeover (@benhillmantv). ‘It had been built with the original house and didn’t have a door or dormer and felt hemmed in without a visual connection to the outside. Our goal was to create a lovely light bedroom with a feeling of space.’

Without question, Ben and Gaby needed a dormer, which, as well as adding 6sq m floor space, created volume, head height, light and views.

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‘Fortuitously, the start date tied in with a break from filming, so I had time to take over the building work from second fix – making fitted furniture, fitting lights, skirting boards and so on – alongside a plumber and electrician,’ says Ben.

With the staircase already in place, Ben designed the en suite within the dormer above the family bathroom to make plumbing easier. He toyed with the bed facing the window with a partition wall behind for a walk-in wardrobe.

The finished look

‘On the plans, there wasn’t quite enough room and the layout felt less open and more clunky,’ he says. ‘Whereas coming into the room and seeing the bed in front creates a pleasing visual.’

For a light and calm space, Ben took a muted approach to interiors with plans for oak tones, linens and Farrow & Ball’s Setting Plaster on the walls. But, impressed with the plasterers’ work, he changed his mind. ‘I loved the silky pink sheen finish that had texture and tone, so I left the walls bare,’ he explains. ‘I then painted the wardrobes a soft white-grey so they fade back with contrasting deep-blue wall panelling to put the focus on the bed.’

The room infuses hints of mid-century modern in the bedside tables, linen lights and bouclé bed; lightweight curtains and pale oak flooring nod to Scandi design.

‘The new window is made with toughened glass and set as low as possible while still meeting Building Regulations. A favourite detail is the oak reveal I made that’s given the window a picture frame quality.’

‘The bold abstract art came last and draws the colour scheme together,’ says Ben. ‘We’re really pleased with the dormer and big window, we love all the light and feeling of space – it’s a real treat to have our own hideaway.’

‘We feature a “hot property” in A Place in the Sun and I saw a similar look in a high-end house in Oléron, France,’ Ben explains. ‘Interior lighting and oversized handles add to my design.’

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