Edwardian house renovation
Guided by the style of her Edwardian home, Derya has undertaken a sensitive transformation, with each room decorated to create a different feeling
Walls and units painted in Clay; kitchen island painted in Olive Colour, both Little Greene. Handles, Corston Architectural Detail. Rose & Grey have similar stools. Pendant lights, Nkuku
‘Our previous home had a small kitchen and separate dining room, which was difficult with children,’ says Derya. ‘Now we spend most of our time in the open-plan kitchen-diner.’
Floral wallpaper, House of Hackney. Units painted in Bancha, Farrow & Ball. Wall light, Pooky. Belfast sink, Thomas Denby
Having lived in three different new-build homes, Derya and Reshid are now firmly in the ‘old and characterful’ camp after buying an Edwardian house in Nottingham.
‘Around here, most houses tend to be old,’ says Derya. ‘When we saw this, I was impressed by the beautiful front door, the big entrance hall and stained glass interior doors.’
Relocating from Leicestershire for Reshid’s job, and with two young children, having three big bedrooms on one floor was a priority, as was a garden and open-plan kitchen-diner.
The family moved in just before Christmas 2020, and work began the following spring on a top to bottom renovation. ‘In the first few months, we could quickly see which spaces weren’t working,’ says Derya. ‘There was only one small bathroom with no shower, so adding more bathrooms was important.’
With six bedrooms, the couple didn’t mind sacrificing one to create a new family bathroom, and turned the old bathroom into an en suite off Erdem’s bedroom. Two small bedrooms on the top floor were also knocked together to make one big, bright guest room with an en suite and fitted wardrobes. Old water cylinders were stripped out and new ones relocated to the cellar, freeing up lots of space. ‘Although it’s quite controversial to turn a six-bedroom house into a four-bedroom house, it works so much better for us,’ says Derya.
Luckily, the open-plan kitchen-diner already had a workable layout, so, after resolving some issues with damp and having the walls replastered, the couple chose to repaint the existing kitchen.
