Simply sophisticated

A few tweaks to the layout, muted colours and glam details have transformed Vanessa Clewett and Luke James’ house into a home that feels relaxed and smart in equal measure

- ANNABELLE GRUNDY

Living room

‘Blocking up the doorway from the dining room gave us more scope and a quiet, separate retreat. It lacked a focal point until we put the fireplace in, then it all came together. Picking out the picture rail in darker grey made it look really crisp and smart.

BUY THE KEY PIECES

Harlequin Sakura wallpaper, £64 a roll, John Lewis & Partners. Levanto coffee table, £928, The Furn Shop

When Vanessa Clewett and Luke James swapped their rural barn conversion for a house in the centre of Bedford, it was all about location. ‘We wanted to be within walking distance of the children’s school,’ says Vanessa. ‘This house had character, too. I loved its high ceilings and decorative windows.’

The interior was very tired though, all 1980s red walls, dark wood, lots of separate rooms and a cramped, old-fashioned kitchen. ‘We weren’t fazed, as we’d learned so much from renovating our previous home, but we knew this would be a bigger undertaking, and we’d have to live on-site while the work was done.’ Improving flow around the ground floor was a priority, and Vanessa and Luke reworked the layout, removing a dividing wall, dismantling an old conservatory and blocking up redundant doorways. ‘The idea was to have a contemporary kitchen-cum-family room with an open-plan feel, but a separate dining room and a more grown-up sitting room. The new kitchen was the key project, and we moved in in August with the aim of completing it by Christmas. There were several weeks of doing the washing up in the bath, but we got there.’