A Fresh Start

Sarah and Ed Dickens struck the right balance between old and new in their relaxed family home while beginning a new chapter in their lives

- Jo Leevers

Sarah and Ed Dickens were both immediately struck by the handsome architecture of this London townhouse – and how different it was from their usual style. ‘Until we moved here, we lived in a modern, minimalist apartment, but then we started a family and our priorities changed,’ says Sarah, now mother to Charlotte, eight, Rosie, six, and Philip, three. ‘We wanted more space but didn’t want to move outside London. Through friends of friends we heard about this house, which needed some updating, and instantly loved its unique character.’

The Georgian property is in a street where many neighbouring buildings have long since been turned into offices. ‘Unusually, this house had already been converted back to residential use, but its awkward layout, featuring lots of separate rooms, was not ideal for family life,’ explains Sarah. ‘We could see lots of ways to make this place work better for us by creating much more of a flow between the rooms. Ironically, we modelled the ground-floor open-plan spaces on the modern Bermondsey flat where we used to live.’