How an interior designer transformed her home from dated grey to a riot of colour
After buying her home in 2007, Samantha Todhunter decided it was time ‘to pile things on a bit’ in terms of colour and pattern - Lucy Butler Walters
One might assume that interior designers are constantly renovating and refreshing their homes; but in the case of the designer Samantha Todhunter, the transformation of her own home in west London was one that had to wait until more than 15 years after she moved in.
The house has always been, she says, “a girls’ house”. She bought it in 2007 following a divorce, moved in with her two daughters, aged nine and seven, and set about making a few small changes: “It was kind of OK at the time,” she says, “so I did some basic things just to freshen it up – a coat of paint, new carpet, and I replaced a purple splashback in the kitchen with subway tiles. But it had a lovely, light, airy feel, so we just lived in it pretty much as it was for quite a while, and we loved it.”
Todhunter bought the house when her daughters were young, and ‘made do’ with its decor for years - Jonathan Bond Photography
Over time, however, she found her taste as a designer evolved, as did what she wanted and needed from her home. Whereas 15 or so years ago she liked a clean, fresh look, she realised that now, she “just wanted to pile things on a bit” in terms of colour and pattern. The walls, for example, were a pale grey colour which “felt so chic at the time” – but, she says, “I think I would no more paint my walls grey now than fly to the moon.” It was time for a change.
Small changes, big impact
“I’d been wanting to renovate it for a while,” says Samantha, “and then things just fell into place a couple of years ago. I found an architect and a great team of contractors, and we punched out the back a little bit – not by very much, but it opened up the back of the house completely. There had been a nasty pitched glass conservatory roof which leaked – we had to put saucepans out when it rained – so I was able to replace that with a more modern glass skylight and Crittall-style French doors. The difference is just incredible.”
Todhunter opened up the back of her home, and added Crittall-style French doors - Lucy Butler Walters
She was also able to add a small extension on the second floor to create an extra bedroom and bathroom, so that the first floor is now occupied by the main bedroom, bathroom and study, and the second floor has her daughters’ bedrooms and bathroom. “It wasn’t a massive change in terms of floor space, but it’s really interesting how small things have such a huge impact on a building; it’s really changed it so much,” she says.
A second floor extension allowed for the creation of an extra bathroom and bedroom - Lucy Butler Walters
Piling on the pattern
Another dramatic change to the house has been the injection of colour and pattern that Samantha has given the interior: the soft greys and pastel pinks have been replaced with warm, vibrant shades, black and white accents, and wallpaper in almost every room. “I think I’ve wallpapered 90 per cent of the house in different papers, but it does all flow beautifully,” she says.
The walls in the hallway, living room and dining room, for example, are now covered in a warm salmon-pink grasscloth from Altfield. “If I’d painted the walls that colour, I feel it would have been quite a challenging thing to live with long-term,” she says, “but because it’s a grasscloth it has so much movement and layers to it; I don’t think I’ll ever get bored of it. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have lots of art to hang; it just looks good.”
The living room sofa, which she has had “forever”, has been re-covered in a green Jim Thompson velvet which picks up the pattern in the rug from The Rug Company, which she has also had for years. The raspberry-pink ottoman, one of her own furniture designs, adds a shot of contrast. “I wanted this room to be like a jewel box, and to feel cosy,” she says. “It’s quite ‘busy’, with the geometric rug and the chevron armchairs, but that makes it feel really cocooning.” Where previously there was a gallery wall of multiple different-sized pictures above the sofa, there is now one large black-and-white artwork, to balance the pattern elsewhere. “I love what black does to a room; it’s a classic,” says Samantha.
The bookcases either side of the fireplace are also painted black, and she had wiring added so that she could install library lights for added atmosphere in the evening.
Beyond, what is often the difficult middle room in a terraced house is a sophisticated yet fun dining room, with a leopard-print table – the Matilda trestle from The Warborough Collection designed by Samantha – and chairs found on Etsy.
Black bookcases anchor the fireplace - Lucy Butler Walters
The party kitchen
While the kitchen is bigger and more open than it was before, Samantha resisted adding a central island unit and opted for a round table instead, which she had custom-made and covered with a ticking fabric by Ian Mankin and a glass top. “It feels more atmospheric, and less like you’re sitting in a kitchen, especially in the evening,” she says. “If I’d put an island there, it would have limited how I use the room. Now, if I have people over for dinner I can add a bigger top to the table, and in the summer I can open up the doors and have people dining from the kitchen all the way into the garden; it becomes one big room. I couldn’t do that if I had an island.”
The subway-tile splashback has been replaced by Carrara marble, and the smart black units contrast with a striped yellow and white wallpaper from Howe. Further energy is added by the black and white striped awning which shelters the terrace on the outside: “I think that awning is the most triumphant thing about the renovation; what it’s done is extraordinary,” says Samantha. “Adding a black and white stripe into anything just works.”
Smart solutions
The main bedroom, on the first floor, has been painted in a soft pale pink: “I define pink as a colour that invites you in; it’s very warming and easy to be in,” she says. The curtains are in a similar shade, in a linen fabric by Claremont with a cream fringe. Samantha replaced the previously “horrendous” mirrored wardrobe doors with a chicer, framed version with perspex handles from Matilda Goad: “I didn’t do anything to the interiors of the wardrobes, just changed the doors, but it’s transformed them,” she says.
‘I define pink as a colour that invites you in,’ says Todhunter who opted for pale pink for the main bedroom - Lucy Butler Walters
The adjacent bathroom is the pièce de résistance of this floor, with a pink heron-print wallpaper by Gucci that Samantha says was “one of those bucket-list design things” – and, she has found, it has stood up well to its bathroom setting: “It’s digitally printed, not painted, so although it’s Gucci it’s pretty bombproof.” A vanity unit from Neptune and wall lights with cheerful red and white striped shades complete the look.
Also on this floor, the new study, which was initially painted brown, has been zhushed up with a patterned wallpaper: “It was very cosy in the chocolate brown, but I would walk in there and feel something was missing. Then this Antoinette Poisson wallpaper kind of popped onto my radar,” she says. The zebra-print armchair is from Samantha’s Warborough Collection.
The new study features Antoinette Poisson wallpaper and a zebra-print armchair - Lucy Butler Walters
On the floor above, a design masterstroke can be found, where an alcove that previously housed a hot-water tank has been converted into a small but perfectly formed laundry nook, concealed by a curtain. It’s worked so well, because you don’t really notice that it’s there,” she says, “but when you pull the curtain back, all the bedlinen is stacked on a shelving unit to the right of the machines and there are pull-out drawers with all the washing stuff. There’s a really clever little pull-out shelf that fits in between the washing machine and the dryer, so that you’ve got a surface to fold the laundry on – it’s the best thing ever.”
One of the girls’ bedrooms is decorated with Bird and Thistle wallpaper by Brunschwig & Fils - Lucy Butler Walters
The girls’ bedrooms are also here – one painted pink, the other covered in Bird and Thistle wallpaper by Brunschwig & Fils. The pretty bathroom has blue and white floor tiles that Samantha designed for Bert & May, along with marble wall tiles with a scallop edge that echoes the frame of the mirror, and wall lights with rattan shades from Pooky.
Her girls are now grown up and, she says, have “flown the coop, and I miss them so much – although they come back often”. She has further plans to tweak the house in line with the lifestyle she now has: as the kitchen has become such a sociable space, for example, the dining room might become a library. But for now, she is enjoying living in the sophisticated house with the colourful, “piled-on” aesthetic that has been so long in the making.
Lucy Butler Walters
Lucy Butler Walters
Lucy Butler Walters
Lucy Butler Walters
Lucy Butler Walters
Lucy Butler Walters
Lucy Butler Walters
Play The Telegraph’s brilliant range of Puzzles - and feel brighter every day. Train your brain and boost your mood with PlusWord, the Mini Crossword, the fearsome Killer Sudoku and even the classic Cryptic Crossword.
