How we converted a boxy ‘dump’ into our spacious, light-filled dream home

Already weary from multiple house viewings that didn’t meet their criteria, Purvi Harlalka and Jyothish George were unenthused when details of a large, long-neglected HMO (house of multiple occupancy) in north London dropped into their inbox. First impressions in real life were equally lacklustre, at least for George.

“We arrived for our viewing and he whispered, ‘There’s no way we’re going to buy this dump!’” says Harlalka. “But later, I convinced him of its potential. It had so much light and, importantly, a garden. I knew it was the one.”

A warren of small rooms was turned into one huge living, eating and playing space that looks out on to an exotic garden.

Harlalka’s brief to architect Jo Edwards of Edwards Rensen was to create a sense of spaciousness throughout the property, delivering fewer rooms but more space. “One of the attractions of this project was that the clients didn’t want to squeeze every bit of space out of it,” says Edwards. “They just wanted to make a beautiful family house for themselves.”

To this end, instead of building extra rooms into the loft, the ceilings were removed, creating expansive double-height volumes, allowing the bedrooms to soar into their airy apexes.

The ceilings of the bedrooms were removed and they now soar into airy apexes.

And at the bottom of the house, the basement, which had previously been divided into multiple rooms, became an open-plan live, eat and – for their young son – play area, dissected by a contemporary steel staircase. A sleek kitchen now flows across one side and dining and seating areas populate the other, while across the entirety glass doors open on to an evergreen garden.

“The full-height kitchen cupboards look like a simple long run, but they hide a multitude of sins,” Edwards says. “The wall behind them kinks and bulges with old fireplaces and wall supports, so beyond the doors, the cupboards are all different depths to make the most of the space available.’

Balancing playfulness and originality with practical considerations was a common thread on this project, thanks in part to the expertise of interior designer Edwina Boase, who was invited to bring her eye-catching aesthetic and savvy layout skills to bear. “Edwina is a lover of art and colour, as am I,” says Harlalka. “She also values functionality and practicality, so we were completely in tune.”

Full-height kitchen cupboards ‘hide a multitude of sins’ (wall supports, bulges, old fireplaces).

Between them, Harlalka and Boase commissioned a raft of bespoke artworks, sculpture, photography, furniture and fabrics. Many of the pieces were bought from overseas, via artists and makers discovered on Instagram and Etsy, and then shipped to the UK to be reframed or re-covered where necessary. The Thim Rohde painting in the study came from Denmark – its canvas stretched in the UK. The silk x+l artwork in the basement is from the Netherlands. The artwork in the main bedroom, by Holly Addi, is from Utah in the States, and the one above the dressing table is by Rubeena Ratcliffe from Canada.

“The idea was to create a cherished tapestry of collaborations and stories, enriching not only the aesthetic, but adding depth and personality, too,” Boase says.

A case in point is the sitting room, where a pair of large-scale photographs by the South African visual artist Kgomotso “Neto” Tleane, found at LagosPhoto festival in Nigeria, inspired the decoration. “It was refreshing to use photography as the main focal point. The colour palette of this pair is quite unique,” says Boase. She reinforced these colours with a series of quadriptych sculptural artworks by Danish artist Tilde Grynnerup and the Furbo rose rug. “And after an extensive search, we sourced an abstract painting by German artist Susanne Kirsch, which worked, both in terms of scale and colour palette, even bringing in a shot of the orange accent colour.”

An asymmetric mirror helps create a quirky vibe in the dressing table area.

Ever the pragmatist, on a holiday to India Harlalka took with her a tracing paper template of the terrazzo design she wanted for the fabric of her sitting room blinds , so it would match the Diespeker design on the pair of console tables. Having the fabric and blinds made there proved much cheaper than doing it in the UK. “She will go the extra mile, always,” Boase says.

Another example of Harlalka’s fastidious approach is the sideboard, which was originally flat-fronted. Nell Beale Navarro at Coucoumanou was asked if she could create one of Harlalka’s own designs, using art deco-style routing to give it more texture. “I spent hours getting the sizing between the grooves just right. I love the result,” Harlalkas says.

If the house itself is a thing of beauty, the garden is just as intoxicating, and about as exotic as you’ll find in the UK. It was designed by Declan Buckley (who happens to live across the street) and it’s bursting with evergreens and hardy versions of banana that remind Harlalka and George of their childhoods spent growing up in India. “We wanted to see the garden from the moment we opened the front door, and the straight staircase down to the lower level – an idea George came up with – facilitates that so well,” says Harlalka.

Despite his early misgivings about the house, it seems, in the end, that George has delivered the icing on this very special cake.