With a house full of French vintage finds, Ami Wootton knew luxe metallics and rustic natural decorations would work a treat
WordsKAREN WILSONPhotographyKATIE LEE
When Ami and Paul Wootton bought their three-bedroom 1940s semi in Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, Northumberland, it wasn’t their first choice. A much bigger run-down Victorian property had captured their hearts, but they decided not to overstretch themselves. ‘The one we chose seemed like the sensible option as it had the parking space and garden we wanted, plus scope for extending in future,’ says Ami.
An elderly couple had lived there for many years, so there were layers of woodchip and painted blown vinyl wallpaper throughout the house, along with 1960s carpets. Once everything was stripped back and replastered, the pair could redecorate one room at a time, starting with the living room and kitchen before moving upstairs.
Five years ago, Ami decided to make the living room smaller in order to create a bigger kitchen-diner next door. The couple had lived with their old kitchen for 10 years, but it was lacking in workspace, there were three different kinds of units and a huge freestanding fridge. To make matters worse, when they added a conservatory, it made the kitchen feel very dark.
‘I was upstairs when I realised our bedroom and Kitty’s bedroom were the same size as the living room,’ explains Ami. ‘This meant it wouldn’t be too small if we put up a partition wall to make the kitchen bigger and blocked up the door into the hall. When the stud wall went up, it looked tiny, but when we knocked through into the old kitchen, I knew that it would look amazing.’
Ami loves the new space, which features Howdens units with a repurposed Victorian sideboard fashioned into a sink unit. She’s even managed to incorporate an under-counter fridge and dishwasher. ‘I particularly love the extractor housing that our builder made from chipboard corbels and a decorative piece of wood picked up at Tynemouth Market,’ she adds.
Having moved from a one-bedroom flat to a three-bedroom house, the couple hardly had any furniture to begin with, but have picked up pieces over the years. ‘My favourite local shops ar
