In progress: Forest Hill, London
Victorian Family Home – Reimagining Two Characterful Reception Rooms
Brief: Create two distinct yet connected reception rooms that balance the elegance of a formal sitting room with the warmth and comfort of a relaxed family snug, while celebrating the home's Victorian character.
Style: Victorian elegance with a playful contemporary edge, combining traditional undertones with considered colour, pattern and modern detailing.
Services: Full design service including concept development and moodboards, space planning, lighting and electrical plans, bespoke joinery and fireplace design, fabric and decorative specifications, window treatments, and sourcing and supplying all FF&E (furniture, fixtures and equipment).
Creating definition within a Victorian home
Set in Forest Hill, South East London, this characterful Victorian home is beginning a new chapter, starting with its two adjoining reception rooms.
Currently, the downstairs spaces feel very open, with little separation between the formal sitting room and snug. My clients wanted rooms that feel more intentional and intimate, each with its own identity and purpose, while still sitting comfortably alongside one another.
Our design journey began with these two rooms, with the view to working on four further rooms as the project progresses. Rather than repeating the same scheme across both spaces, we are using colour, lighting, furniture and bespoke joinery to give each room its own personality, while carefully connecting the two.
Before: the back reception room, looking through to the front room's windows
Before: the front reception room, looking through to the back room
A light and elegant formal sitting room
Positioned at the front of the house, the formal sitting room is designed as the more elegant and refined of the two spaces, a place for entertaining, family conversation and the occasional board game.
Beautiful natural light has led us towards a softer, fresher palette, moving away from the darker blues and greys previously used throughout the home. Warm neutrals, soft pinks and touches of olive green will create a room that feels tranquil and sophisticated, but still full of personality.
The original fireplace remains an important focal point, with new tiling, an elegant surround and considered detailing that celebrates the home’s Victorian character. Comfortable furniture, layered lighting and soft, floaty curtains will ensure that although this is the more formal room, it remains somewhere the family genuinely wants to spend time.
Creating a snug you can sink into
Moving through to the back reception room, the mood changes. Sandwiched between two spaces and receiving only borrowed natural light, we are embracing the snug’s naturally cosier character rather than fighting it. This is the room for movie nights, karaoke, reading and relaxing, somewhere the family can truly sink into at the end of the day.
Here, we can be a little bolder, exploring warmer pinks, burgundy and olive green alongside tactile fabrics and layered textures. Bespoke joinery across the chimney breast will incorporate a recessed television, shelving and concealed storage, making the most of the room’s smaller footprint and wonderfully high ceilings.
A deep corner sofa bed, generous rug and ottoman will bring softness and comfort, while layered lighting is particularly important in a room with limited natural light. We are also exploring glazed doors to create greater separation and intimacy while still allowing borrowed light to travel through the house.
The challenge across these two rooms is not to make them match, but to make them belong together. One will be lighter, calmer and more refined; the other warmer, cosier and more playful. Both will share the same considered balance of Victorian character, contemporary design, comfort and personality.
As these first two rooms take shape, they will begin to establish the design language for the wider home, with four more rooms potentially to follow.
I look forward to sharing more as we bring this beautiful Forest Hill home to life.