‘We reworked EVERY SPACE'

Jo Bergdahl took on a small flat with bland decor and transformed it into a spacious home packed with style

- RENEE GREEN

Finding a place to have a cup of coffee and a piece of cake led us to this flat. My husband Jon and I were looking to move from a rental and buy our own home. We searched various parts of north London and ended up in a Crouch End cafe on New Year’s day, 10 years ago. We decided to further explore the area and this led to finding our flat, which offered much more space than all the other properties we’d viewed.

Blank slate

The decor was basic, with an old wood floor, cheap carpet, white undercoat on the walls and an Ikea kitchen. So when we moved in, there was nothing major to do apart from laying a new floor and re-carpeting.