Morgan Scott-Murch and her husband Jon worked hard to turn bedsits into a beautiful home
FEATURE MARISHA TAYLOR
SITTING ROOM
The couple went for a more decadent feel in this space, with sumptuous decor, plush soft furnishings, moody walls and a bold wallpapered ceiling adding a sense of drama.
Creating a family home was the priority for Morgan Scott-Murch and her husband Jon after they had left the suburbs of Richmond in London and taken on a renovation project in Kent. ‘We’d been living in a two-bedroom flat in Richmond, which we’d developed ourselves,’ says Morgan, a project development manager. ‘After marrying in 2016, Jon and I were keen to have children and considered moving to Kent where I’d grown up.’
It wasn’t long before the couple found an impressive red-brick Victorian Villa. The property had been divided into bedsits, with a kitchen and bathroom on each floor. ‘We knew this had the potential to become something special,’ Morgan says, ‘and with some vision and determination we could restore it to the elegant family home it was built to be.’ Morgan and Jon started work on the house as soon as they moved in. ‘Initially the project felt overwhelming, but we broke it down into manageable stages, squeezing the renovation work around our full-time jobs.’ The couple started on the top floor knocking through a bedroom, kitchenette and bathroom to create one main suite with a dressing room, shower en suite and a bedroom with a copper bath. ‘We designed it and did the majority of the work ourselves.’ Then a couple of months in, the pair found out they were expecting their first child. ‘We ploughed on and just before Christmas the suite was finally finished,’ she says.
KITCHEN/DINER
‘We wanted a unique kitchen and commissioned a local carpenter to make Shakerstyle units,’ says Morgan.
LIVING ROOM
‘To create an open-plan feel we didn’t reinstate the doors between the living area and kitchen,’ says Morgan.
