Misty Grey Herringbone, London

“We absolutely love the traditional features of the house. We have tall ceilings, an original fireplace and an elaborate banister for the staircase. We tried to modernise the house whilst being sympathetic to these original features and add in some features that were previously removed like wall panelling and some extra coving. Our favourite part of the house is the ground floor, where the rooms all connect and let us see our young children wherever they are playing, but also allows us all to have our own space.”

However, the renovation journey was not all plain sailing, with Covid-19 restrictions providing a few roadblocks, the couple had to get creative when it came to designing their dream home. Without using an interior designer, Brooke shares how they made many of their design choices:

It was really tricky because we were renovating in the height of the second lockdown, meaning all showrooms were closed for 4 out of the 6 months of our renovation. We got lots of samples, and I created a mock-up of how things would look next to each other by using Canva. We created a colour scheme which allowed us to build each room so that it also flows to the next.

Wanting to bring colour and warmth into their home, whilst also maintaining a ‘neutral backdrop’ throughout, the couple chose V4 Wood Flooring’s Misty Grey engineered wood flooring throughout the downstairs of their home. Misty Grey is part of V4’s Tundra collection, and is available in multiple styles including plank, chevron, and herringbone – as seen in Brooke’s home. This beautiful floor offers muted oaky tones, whilst still offering the cool contemporary tones of grey, making a perfect neutral base for any design. Available in two sizes, Misty Grey Herringbone is a brilliant choice for any design that wishes to achieve a modern yet classic look. Explore the full Tundra collection here. When discussing her inspiration for the downstairs flooring, Brooke explains:

“I’ve wanted a herringbone wood floor for pretty much as long as I can remember. I worried about my kids (aged 2 and 4) slipping on any tiles, so I wanted something softer for them to play on. It was definitely the right decision because one of their favourite activities is chasing each other in laps around the island. I love a white-washed Scandi look, especially as our house faces north so I wanted a lighter colour to reflect as much light as possible. So, we searched high and low for a lighter coloured wood that could complement our kitchen units in graphite and cashmere pink. We linked the floor to the kitchen with some wood shelves and a wood interior for the pantry unit.”

The family floor was installed by Darren from Athena Carpets, who not only were comfortable with the installation process, but also had recommended V4 Wood Flooring to Brooke, she explains We didn’t know much about flooring options ourselves, but we found our fitter from recommendations, and when he told us the only company he would fit was V4 wood because it was the best quality, we didn’t need to ask any more questions.

In keeping with their design goal to incorporate old features with modern design in this beautiful Edwardian home, Brooke made sure to design the family’s kitchen with classic finishings in mind: We love the kitchen so much. It is a traditional house, so it made sense to pick a traditional style of cabinets, but we made it modern by positioning the beautiful plank gold handles in the middle of the drawers and alternating different handle sizes. The waterfall island helps the look to flow, especially when viewed from the garden and it divides the contrasting unit colours. Another original feature that has been absorbed into the new design was the beautiful fireplace in their living room. When deciding how to best incorporate this feature into the new design, Brooke explains it was a tough decision to make:

We came so close to ripping it out. It looked so crumbly in the original room, and I didn’t like the surround. Now I am SO glad we kept it – as soon as we painted the walls and tiled a new hearth, it looked so classic yet contemporary. What’s even better is that we got it fixed up, so we do actually use it in the winter months, and I love the smell of a wood burning fire.

Overall, Brooke explains We love the colour and pattern, and the subtle textures that are slightly different on each plank. We are still very careful with spills, but we clean them with a Bona wood cleaner which works well”. To learn more about our recommended cleaning products, click here to read our maintenance guides.