An Edwardian townhouse in London

An Edwardian townhouse in London gets an infusion of colour and joy from Kate Guinness

With a bright new extension by David Hingamp of Archic, this classic London house was perfect for the owners' growing family, but it needed the confident hand of interior designer Kate Guinness to make the decoration sing

By Jennifer Goulding

26 February 2025

When the curtains were installed in the sitting room of this Edwardian house in south-east London the owner sat in front of them and wept. ‘I’d never owned anything so beautiful and grown-up,’ she says. Made from ‘Margot,’ a joyous floral fabric by Fanny Shorter, the curtains are characteristic of the colourful scheme interior designer Kate Guinness has created for this family home.

The owners previously lived in a small, Victorian terrace. It began to feel cramped after the arrival of their twins, but they bide their time and waited for a property to become available on their favorite street. ‘We loved the architecture of the houses, but it is also very quiet and backs onto green space, which is rare for this part of London.The top floor of the house they eventually bought had been remodeled, but it was otherwise structurally untouched, with all the original fireplaces and moldings.

Unusually, it came with planning permission to extend into the side return and convert the cellar storage space. The latter, a difficult piece of structural engineering executed by local architect David Hingamp of Archic, has yielded a playroom, guest bedroom and bathroom.

David also opened up the original ground floor, marking the boundary of the reception room from the extension with an elegant brass and timber balustrade, and dividing it from the sitting room with a glazed window. This enabled Kate to create an adult space at the front of the house, which feels cosy and cosseting but isn’t completely shut off from the rest of the downstairs.