A Total Facelift

Mark Wade

Sep 1, 2020

5

min read

P

hotos by Sally Chance

“My grandparent’s apartment was stuck in a time warp,” said Jess Colepeper, “and as we were about to take it over from them, realised that a total facelift was necessary. We had to start with the kitchen and bathrooms as they hadn’t been touched in years.”

The entrance hall with restored parquet flooring

“We started by ripping out all the old carpets (we found the most beautiful parquet flooring underneath, which we restored) and wall tiles, and painted everything white,” said Jess.

Lounge with soft, natural textures, and highlights in green and black

“I decided that I wanted to keep a similar look throughout the house; a theme of black, white and shades of green. I like things clean and simple. The original kitchen and bathroom were really outdated, and we wanted an interior that was more modern and open, but needed to do all the renovations on a limited budget. We asked David Nyce, an extremely talented friend, to help us redesign the kitchen – which was in desperate need of a total overhaul – and are so happy with the result.”

Mementos, family photographs and object d'art always personalise an interior

“We then stripped-out the floor-to-ceiling avocado and brown bathrooms tiles, painting the walls again in white, and added highlights with black and greenery.”

The diningroom with an eclectic mix of photographs and collectibles

“I added floor to ceiling mirrors to certain areas to give the impression of space, and surprisingly, the black walls have also created depth - making the rooms look much bigger. As we live in a flat that has our own garden, I have filled the interiors too with loads of plants.”

The main bedroom with a very effective black-painted panel

“I’m an artist,” said Jess, “so included many of my paintings to the interior.”

The redesigned kitchen; simple and elegant, with a gas/electric stove

“I was pregnant during the renovation, and not knowing the sex of my soon-to-be-born child, decided to go for a gender neutral décor to that room. I worked with the amazing team at Cara Saven wallpaper designs , who created the bespoke wall paper in that room. I was totally blown away by the result.”

The child's nursery with bespoke wallpaper by Cara Saven

“For the finishing touches to my baby’s bedroom, I wanted natural tones with loads of textures, baskets, wood and highlights of soft greens. The beautiful mobile above the crib was from Curious Kitten, and the compactum and toy box were both made but the incredibly talented Blaise Furniture and Decor. The safari animal heads are from H&M home.”