TThe catalyst was the arrival of children. In 2013, Jason Wilary-Nattew, 55, director of John Lewis, and his husband Wil, 46, a Reiki practitioner, lived in a basement apartment in St. John's Hill, Battersea. They had just adopted their son Kyran, now 14, at that time an active two -year -old, and the trio needed something bigger. “Earlsfield was just a stop. At that time it felt like it was a long distance. Because everything was very grown up here. And then I realized … We are somehow grown up!”
We are all the Wilary-Anthews. The arrival of descendants and the amazing revelation that we have made adulthood is often accompanied by a move and a revision. For many it affects that Style victim on the altar of practicability and the hug of the decor in the middle of the street. That was never on the advance for this creative couple. The first house they saw was her three-story Edwardian house, in which the owner lived for 40 years and was “very tired”. They bought it outside the market, moved in at the end of July 2013 and almost immediately began to place a remarkable renovation.
Jason is currently heading an ambitious transformation by John Lewis' house offer, and Wil used to lead new designers – the Talent Showcase in Islington – so that both had fixed ideas for aesthetics. They worked the decor with an enthusiasm that borders on nerdiness. “We had several mustboards in A1 size, all set up in every room with colors and materials. It is good to move them through the room because [colours] Look very differently in different lights, ”says Jason.
The work started in January 2014. Originally a house with three bedrooms, a Leer-to-Hack-Haus showed itself with a corrugated iron roof and a tiny, dark cuisine. They added a loft room and stretched into the return of the side and the garden. In the old part of the house, they installed ceiling roses and coving and added a deep crossing and cladding to imitate the original characteristics. The end result is a plot of land with five bedrooms and two bathrooms with an inviting entertaining space in the heart.
The front living room, painted in Dulux Celtic Forest 1
Lucy Young for the time
“Our mission was twice. One was to have a home with enough space for a utility room – I didn't want my underwear to dry when I entered the apartment! [The kitchen] was deliberately a party room. Because we had a little boy and babysitters are quite expensive, we thought, we'll do this into a party house so that people can get around to eat and dance with us at the table. “Is this table strong enough to dance? I can confirm that it is.”
The table is a Calia, a popular John Lewis 12-seater in a solid American oak with robust steel legs. Ask the couple what you love most about your kitchen, and without hesitation, you both look up. “The steels are beautiful. When we put them in, we were like, oh my god, we love them. The builders wanted to reduce and hide the blankets, but we absolutely do not say – we won't all integrate them.” And so the steels stay to be seen. Mounting gardening doors of the Clement Windows Group in Haslemere maximize the light and contribute to the industrial mood.
Living the garden style doors to the garden
Lucy Young for the time
The entrance hall
Lucy Young for the time
When the builders left in August 2014, the Wilary-Anthews realized that their freshly furnished interiors were almost empty. “Because we came from a small apartment with two bedrooms, not much larger than our current kitchen, we used our furniture and we have nothing more!” Jason remembers the following shopping spree: “Oh my god, it was wonderful.”
The house is now an I-spy list of design icons that were mainly bought from work (it was bought from the partnership at that time). The lamp that hangs over the dining table is a Moooi -grown trailer, and at the table there is a Robin Day 675 chair next to a quintet made of gray Eames -DSR chairs with chrome -plated legs. Under the popular Finn armchair by Oliver Hrubiak, which Jason discovered for the first time at the new designer event, Drifts of Lego, is a memory of the other creative people in the house. Five years ago, in 2017, the couple adopted a daughter, Queenie, now seven.
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What looks like a simple closet door behind the kitchen island opens to reveal a hidden room: a pantry/utility/cocktail bar that is lined with white U -Bahn tiles and filled with decorative glassware. “This is really my favorite room in the house. It is a harder, but it is also a supply room, a bar and a breakfast station,” he says. “We dry our clothes here and make toast.” Here Wil – the family mixologist – creates his characteristic Paloma cocktails with tequila and pink grapefruit.
Next door, in the front living room – deleted in Dulux Celtic Forest 1, is a rich green shadow – your favorite chair, a G -Plan 6250 Wingback -Rahren seat. “This is like the one who was in the James Bond film [You Only Live Twice]And was known at the time as the most convenient chair in the world. It is the one in which Blofeld sits and the cat caresses. I found it around the corner in the window of a vintage shop and took a photo and came home. The shop was closed. So I said that you get up in the morning and stand outside of this shop until you open yourself! We have it for £ 50! “
The couple's bedroom, deleted in Dulux -Nacht -Jewelen, has a great king -king bed and fabulous shutters
Lucy Young for the time
While the kitchen is hugging an industrial edge and the living room channels in the middle of the century, the interiors on the first floor have the cosiness of a boutique hotel. Jason says that choosing the color in the bedroom was the key. “If you want the purest gray that doesn't have too much brown or green or blue, Dulux night jewels are just perfect.”
The great king bed is its luxury tip. “I spoke to our bed buyer and she said: 'Jason, how big is your bed?' And I said it is a double and she said: ” You have to block the light, so we have installed the fabulous shutters. And don't have a TV in your room, “he advises.
Her daughter Queenie's bedroom
Lucy Young for the time
When the children grow, the interiors will develop further. Queenie is already a constant decorator. She is currently worshiping Miffy and the color pink and likes to change the styling of her bedroom with different blankets and pillows.
And how does John Lewis move to time when working? Jason says: “It's about being radically relevant. It is about getting our mojo back. We should be relevant for everyone, but John Lewis was an experiment when it started. Why can't we celebrate it?
From super villain seats to oversized beds, the house, created by the Wilary-Natews, exceeds expectations. “We said we wanted a sociable, municipal party house where people are welcome. We make people say:” We want to make a little birthday party. Can we keep it in your kitchen? “Well, mission fulfilled.