Ferrowstudio
Journal

Notes on living with old houses

Two people holding drawings in a room mid-renovation

What it is actually like to renovate a Victorian house

It takes longer than you think, it costs a little more than the quote, and there is a week in month four when you will hate us. Here is the whole arc, with the story of a Park Town villa, its wonderful garden and its terrible drains, and the process we built so that the disruption is planned rather than suffered.

Hands laying out wood and fabric samples

The five things to decide before anyone lifts a hammer

Where the kitchen goes. Where the light comes from. Which walls are actually load-bearing. How you will get upstairs while the stairs are out. And what you will do about the bathroom in the meantime. Everything else can wait.

A long hallway hung with framed prints

The hall is the most important room in the house

You walk through it thirty times a day and never sit in it. It sets the mood for everything else and is the last thing anyone budgets for. A case for spending on the hall first.

A pale living room with a long sofa

Why we photograph a year later

A room that only looks good empty was not designed for anyone. Twelve months of living tells you what the design got right, and it tells us what to do differently next time.

Designed by Cuee, original redacted.