Anyone who has ever renovated a period home will be very familiar with the challenges facing Julia and Jenks McColl as they set out to breathe new life into their characterful 17th-century maisonette.
‘Not a single wall or floorboard was straight,’ says Julia. ‘The entire house is beautifully wonky. I dropped a tomato in the kitchen earlier, and it rolled all the way to the other side of the room.’
The previous owners had lived there for more than 20 years, and while the maisonette had been loved, it needed some serious attention – especially the kitchen ideas.
Starting the renovation work
‘The survey basically said “Don’t buy me, I’m going to fall down”, and I think that put a lot of people off,’ says Julia. As well as significant roof repairs, pinning cracks on the front of the house and refurbishing the original draughty sash windows, the entire house also needed new electrics and plumbing. ‘It was quite a big project, but because we didn’t knock down any walls, it doesn’t feel like a huge transformation. Lots of the work was behind the scenes, bringing the property up to date.’
To minimise disruption, Julia and Jenks sought to complete as much of the renovation as possible while they were still living in their rental property. ‘It made sense to upgrade the kitchen at the same time as we were doing the wiring and plumbing, rather than do half now and the rest a few years down the line.’
Designing their dream kitchen
Working with deVol, the couple brought their pencil-sketch kitchen to life – complete with Julia’s dream cocktail corner. ‘We love to entertain, and I enjoy making cocktails, so it’s lovely to have a dedicated place for that,’ says Julia.
The cabinet, nestled beside the chimney, needed to be built bespoke to accommodate the wonky floor and unconventional dimensions.
‘You can really see the wonkiness when you look at the baseboards: on one side of the room they are three inches deep, and on the other they are triple the height,’ says Julia. No strangers to the quirks of period properties, the experts at deVol took it in their stride, and each worktop is perfectly level.
Overcoming challenges
As is often the case, the project took longer than planned as they waited for Jenks’s dream Lacanche range cooker to be delivered. ‘We moved in with the kitchen part finished,’ says Julia. The cabinets were fitted with temporary worktops, and a small 1970s oven saw the couple through Christmas.
‘We bought the range from a father-son business in North London as we would have never had the confidence to measure everything accurately enough – especially with the narrow front door and the awkward corners on the stairs,’ adds Julia.
‘Lots of our furniture had to come in through the window because the front door is so narrow.’ Even with the expert measuring, delivery was not smooth sailing. ‘There was a point where they got stuck halfway up the stairs and had to call in reinforcements. We were holding our breath and thinking, “what are we going to do if it doesn’t fit?”’ Thankfully, the range slotted into place, shored up with the help of a wooden block – ‘even the oven’s adjustable legs couldn’t manage the sloping floors,’ jokes Julia.
Selecting a colour scheme
DeVol then returned to fit the copper worktops. ‘I knew I didn’t want the classic marble or marble-look worktops – so it was either going to be metal or wood. Then, when we were at our local pub, I spotted the copper bar, and I loved how it looked like it had been there forever,’ says Julia. ‘It just seemed like the perfect fit for our kitchen. I love how it reflects the sunlight and the way that the living finish ages with you; there is a real beauty in its imperfections.’
The warm undertones were a natural partner to the cabinetry painted in Little Greene’s Hopper. ‘I’ve got a bit of a thing about green, but was nervous about committing to colours, so I booked in for a colour consultation with Little Greene,’ says Julia.
Kate Humphreys from its Islington Showroom came to the flat, looked at the space, the light and the colours Julia had shortlisted, and then helped the couple come up with a colour palette that really shone.
‘Lots of the colours now in the house were ones that I’d originally picked, but where and how Kate used them really brought everything together.’ It was Kate who suggested using a lighter pistachio shade of green (Little Greene’s Pea Green) on the original sash window frames, a detail Julia really loves. ‘It’s such a great service if you can’t afford an interior designer, but still want that expert input.’
Adding charm and character with vintage finds
Vintage finds complete the space – a natural choice for Julia, who runs an Instagram antiques business @sistersundaysantiques with her sister, Lydia. ‘For me, it was adding all those vintage and antique pieces that I’ve collected over the years that instantly made the house feel really homely. The pineapple chandelier, for example, has been in the attic of the last two places we’ve rented. I brought it back from Paris on the Eurostar, and I knew that when we bought somewhere, I would find the perfect spot for it.’ And she did. It now hangs in pride of place over the antique dining table.
The pendant isn’t the only thing that has found a forever home. ‘When we are sat here of an evening, enjoying our dinner, with the candles flickering and a fire roaring, it feels as though this has always been our home.’
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This feature first appeared in Period Living Magazine. Click here to subscribe.
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