Comfort & joy
Celebrating in a house full of fresh greenery and surrounded by vintage finds, for Selina Gardner it is the treasures and traditions that make Christmas special
THE STORY
OWNERS Selina Gardner, founder of Faded Charms (@fadedcharms), an antiques and vintage business specialising in perfectly worn pieces for the home and garden, lives here with her husband, Stuart, a data engineer, and their grown-up son, George
PROPERTY A semi-detached, 1930s brickbuilt four-bedroom home in a Surrey market town. The house is laid out over three floors, including a loft conversion
WHAT THEY DID The house mostly needed cosmetic work to take it from a brash 1980s look to a more sympathetic one. Selina and Stuart stripped it back to the original wood and masonry, created feature fireplaces, added panelling, and repainted throughout
Stripping back layers of paint, reinstating architectural features and adding timeworn treasures has seen Selina Gardner turn her family home into a warm and welcoming space. Even though it was smothered by wallpaper, heavy curtains and carpets when they first viewed it, Selina and her husband Stuart could see its potential. Doing most of the work on the house themselves, with Selina taking care of the cosmetics and Stuart tackling the woodwork, they have created an atmospheric interior.
‘The house actually gave us more overall space than our previous home and we were fortunate that the kitchen had already been extended, and a conservatory added,’ says Selina. The loft had also been turned into a fourth bedroom with an en suite. ‘Although there was no need for building work, the house has still kept us very busy,’ she adds.
Always thinking ahead, Selina decided in late 2022 to install a wood-burner in the living room, ready for Christmas. It meant rebuilding the hearth, which caused the plaster to come off, something that initially sparked concern. ‘I didn’t want to be left with a red brick wall, but as soon as our builder took off the layers I loved it, and suddenly, we had a feature we hadn’t expected,’ she says. Salvaged fire surrounds have been added to other rooms and Stuart reinstated the picture rails, which had been cut by previous owners to accommodate mirrors and pictures.
Stepping through the original front door, you immediately se
