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09 May 18

Mum’s Granny annex reveal- the open plan kitchen living room

So a year after moving in I’m finally ready to show you the reveal of Mums ‘Granny’ annex. Having her living next door has been just a dream and we’ve really enjoyed designing her new home together.  After the pain of selling up the family home and renting for six years its been a long time coming! But this is a fresh start for Mum and it’s been an absolute delight sharing this part of her journey.  Over the next few weeks I’ll be sharing each room reveal, so make sure you subscribe to my newsletter so you don’t miss a thing.

To kick off I’m going to share the main open plan living area- which is the real heart of her new home. We’ve created a really lovely light and open space with the living, dining and kitchen all open to one another with the aim that her compact two bedroom build feels as light filled and spacious as possible. Harnessing the views was totally key to the design and we invested in these amazing huge picture windows from Velfac. They are aluminium on the outside but timber in the inside which makes them have a much softer feel and appearance, and you can have them painted  to any colour you want. We went for a soft off white, as it helps keep the focus on the view outside rather than to the window frames. They were made to our architects spec and we went for their large siding doors at the back as a more practical and user friendly alternative to bi-fold doors. They are a dream to use.

open plan living dining kitchen with large picture windows from velfac

Next up we created a soft and light backdrop using French Grey by Little Greene which is one of my all time favourite neutrals. I then paired it with French Grey Pale on the ceiling rather than brilliant white which would have been too harsh in this sunny open plan space. Going with the light and bright look we chose a oak engineered floor with a raw texture too it and soft light grey wash. It’s Imperio Rough grey oak oiled by Quickstep and a year on Mum is thrilled with how it’s keeping up. It has a lovely light appearance but the rough grain really adds some warmth and texture to the room. It’s also super easy to keep clean and withstands muddy boots and paws very well. We’re really thrilled with it and get masses of compliments.

Walls and painted units in French Grey by Little Greene. Kitchen by Ashfield Kitchens. Teltos Worktop, Landford stone. Pendant lights (discontinued) Heals. Originals bar stool, Ercol.

I decided to take the pale grey across and over the entire kitchen. The colour was also colour matched and sprayed onto the kitchen units from Ashfield Kitchens (who are part of Clive Christian at Forest Row). The local company supplied us with pre-primed units that I then sent to a furniture spray company who expertly spray painted them all up to match the wall colour. The idea being that the kitchen very much blended into the back ground so the sofa and dining areas could become a stronger focal point in the room. I don’t understand why in an open plan space you’d ever want to focal point to be the kitchen area.

Bright canary yellow velevet sofa from sofa.com as seen in the granny annex at the home of interior designer sophie robinson

Holly sofa, Felix footstool, Sofa.com. nestor side table, Habitat. Abstract Malachite oplain rug, Designers Guild. Golden priole cushion, Timorous Beasties. Suki cushion, Margo Selby. Charleston cushion, Nikki Jones.

With the the basic scheme a neutral soft grey with accents of black, it allowed us to next work on popping the colour. Colour is a great way to draw the eye to areas you want to celebrate and away from places you want to hide. A bright canary yellow Holly sofa from Sofa.com takes pride of place in the center of the space and looks just incredible as the colour is just so feel good. We picked up the rug in the sale at Designers Guild which anchors all the other colours throughout the scheme. I love the way the different patterns in the cushions and the rug all link together, while nothing matches. It creates a very individual and eclectic look.

fitted joinery is a great way to make the most of small spaces. This made to measure media unit was built by local joiner at Ark Builders in sussex. All painted throughout in french grey by Little Greene. As seen in the home of interior designers Sophie Robinson

Fitted media unit designed and fitted by local joiner at Ark Builders. Nestor side table, habitat. Milton desk lamp, Heals.

With open plan spaces it is crucial to choose the right furniture. With the lack of walls you also have less wall space on which to position furniture. A made to measure bespoke media unit suits the space perfectly and again matched into the wall colour allows the books and collection of pottery to be the focal point. This unit was made by the joiner at Ark Builders who did all the build and fit out in the Annex. This piece cost around £1300 unpainted.

open plan dining room with modern country tongue and groove wall panelling, painted in french grey by little greene. Mid century modern furniture from ercol. as seen in the home of interior designer and judge from the gret interior design challenge sophie robinson

Originals plank table, All purpose chairs, ercol. matador armchair, Content by Conran. Imperio floor, quickstep. Ascaridiosis sideboard, La Redoute. Patsy mirror, Habitat. Junction wall light, Heals.

We decided to clad the internal wall in floor to ceiling tongue and groove. In a new build with crisp walls I felt this would add a little country modern and texture and interest to the space. I had the carpenters router the fire doors to match in with the lines of the tongue and groove which I think is a natty little detail.

modern country home of interior desiger Sophie Robinson. nautral oak mid century modern sideboard with patsy rund mirror and ercol dining furniture

Ascaridiosis Sideboard, La Redoute. Patsy wall mirror, Habitat.

The tongue and groove wall panelling is pre-routered mdf panels that we ordered from our local timber merchant Wenban Smith is Sussex. These were cut to size at attached on batoning to all the internal walls. I then used the tongue and groove reference throughout the house, on furniture and doors to give the whole space coherence.

All purpose chairs, Originals plank table, Ercol.

Next week I’ll be giving you a look at the master bedroom. Scroll to the bottom of this page and sign up to my news letter here to be the first to see it!

To catch up with the entire build of the Granny Annex project from start to finish, hop on over to my YouTube channel here. And i’m happy to answer any questions in the comments below.

Photography by Tim Young.

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Creating a happy home The launch of my new bed linen range for Secret Linen Store

comments

Claire Horn on 10.05.18

Hi Sophie,
What a lovely calm place for your lovely mum, we are doing a self build, just a shame that we cant fit in something like this for my mum.
It looks stunning and had to say I love the shiplap on the walls and the sliding barn door., absolutely beautiful.
Best Wishes
Claire Horn

Reply
Sophie Robinson on 13.05.18

It’s these little details that help stop a new build feeling too boxy. Good luck with your project!

Reply
Emily on 10.05.18

This is so fab! It s given me lots of inspiration thank you x

Reply
Sophie Robinson on 13.05.18

Thrilled to have inspired! Thanks for your lovely comment

Reply
Linda De Mey on 10.05.18

Your mum is very lucky, to live close to you, in such a nice and bright home. I look forward to see the other rooms.
I like a lot your linen collection. Maybe I can buy some when we come to London for your color shop the 2nd October. After assisting the S&D masterclass, i didn’t hesitate to sign up again. I had such a good time.
Kind regards. Linda from Belgium

Reply
Sophie Robinson on 13.05.18

Hi Linda! Thats great news that you have signed up for the Colour workshop- and yes let me know what you want to do with the linen although I think Secret Linen can arrange for the linen to be sent to Europe. Let me know how you get on, or we can arrange for you to collect it on your visit in October…if you can wait that long!

Reply
Luci Winters on 10.05.18

It looks super Sophie! So many great elements – and I especially love the way you have handled the kitchen. What an amazing space for your Mum. And the view outside the sliding doors is not bad either!

Reply
Sophie Robinson on 13.05.18

Its a lovely aspect and the whole design was vety much geared around appreciating that lovely view!

Reply
Miruska on 15.05.18

Amazing space. Simple yet very interesting. Everywhere you look, there is a spot for your eye to rest on and take in, but it’s not cluttered or busy. I think using that light grey and tongue-and-groove to unite the space is genius. Really well done.

Reply
Sophie Robinson on 19.05.18

Thankyou so much for your kind comments. it really is a lovely space to be in

Reply

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Who is looking forward to the weekend! 🙌 Welc Who is looking forward to the weekend! 🙌 

Welcome to a rare tour of my home! Since every room looked tidy, I grabbed my phone to show you around. 

You can see how I have lots of colour and pattern in every room but still the house has flow. I use the same palette of colours through which helps make it all hang together. But it takes more than that to make a maximalist home sing. Repeating the same materials, design motifs, styles and shapes helps to create a feeling of cohesion.

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This is the perfect time of year to up level your This is the perfect time of year to up level your bedding. With the autumn chill on its way I’d rather hike up the tog count than whack up the central heating. 

Beautiful bedding and linen is the ultimate luxury and at this time in my life 👵🏻 my bed is up there as my absolute favourite place to be and my sleep is honestly my favourite pastime! So making it the most comforting, soothing, replenishing experience possible is my priority. 😴

I recently up-levelled my duvet and pillows  to @naturalmatuk goose down products and here is my unbiased review. The pillows are the like sleeping on an actual cloud! Along with the 9 tog duvet I’ll stay cosy all winter, and leave the thermostat turned down.  @naturalmatuk only use natural, sustainable materials, organic cotton and responsibly sourced feathers, which all support a good nights sleep. With a hectic lifestyle, my bed is my ultimate sanctuary 🥱

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What a dress! When @benjaminfoxdressmaker spotted What a dress! When @benjaminfoxdressmaker spotted my new collection with @harlequinfw they wanted to make a dress in it! Now I actually match my decor! 

This dress shape is so perfect. I love the big sleeves, that goes so well with a fine knit underneath and the long gathered skirt looks perfect with boots, both of which I bought recently at @cosstores . Team with my signature big earrings ( these are old ones from @anthropologieeu ) and I feel a million dollars! Happy Monday folks! We can do this 👊

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I hosted an event this week to show off all the ha I hosted an event this week to show off all the hard work we’ve done in the house and showcase the new collection with @harlequinfw . It was a wonderful opportunity to fill the house with laughter, great conversation and celebrate our mutual love of colour! Since the pandemic I work more and more from home and it felt good to open the door and let people in. 

The guest list was a mix of writers, artists, gardeners, cooks, designers and fashion stylists but one thing we have in common is embracing the joy of colour and celebrating how our homes are the foundation for a happy and fulfilling life. 

However getting the house ready for such a group of discerning eyes was rather exhausting! I had to hide under the duvet yesterday! But I’m so grateful to everyone who came, their positivity and inspiration. Most of whom I met here on instagram. This is a special place to make like minded connections, yet it was great to actually have an excuse to get together in real life! 

And this weekend Tom and are are celebrating not doing any house DIY for the first time in ages! 

Special Thanks to @mad_about_the_house @erica_davies @hillhousevintage @andrea_childs_journo @theottohouse @clairevallis @michelleogundehin @mollymahonblockprinting @sophieabbottartist @gemswholesomekitchen @edwardrobinsonid @dahliabeach for making it such a wonderful day 

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thanks to @benjaminfoxdressmaker fir the custom made dress!

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Cushions have long been an obsession of mine and I’m so thrilled with this capsule collection for @johnlewis because it combines all the pattern and colour so you can get an instant hit of maximalist spirit by creating any combination that works for you. There is the iconic Sherbert stripe, sitting amongst luxurious embroidered designs and heavily patterned velvets. My personal favourite is the deeply colourful jewel bug design🪲 Which ones yours?!

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How we did it…

Firstly I maximised all the space in this 4x3m room by having a corner sofa made to measure. The Grace corner sofa by @loveyourhomeuk is super  comfy but better still upholstered in the glorious Wonderland floral velvet from my collection with @harlequinfw . 

Then for extra comfort and pattern I’ve added plenty of cushions. These are from my new ready made collection available to buy now from @johnlewis . Very excited to se how great they all look together. 
 
The round Dylan footstool, also @loveyourhomeuk , is covered in the striking Sherbert Stripe, and is perfect for a small room, doubling up as a coffee table. This fabrics is so eye catching I love it!

All of this glorious pattern is set off against the deep dark and cocooning  wall colour called Cordoba by @littlegreenepaintcompany . It’s a deep brown, plum colour and feels so rich and enticing. I’m very pleased I took the leap of faith and did the ceiling too. It makes the room feel so cosy. 

All the colours are finally bought together in this glorious painting by @sophieabbottartist . Inspired by the sunsets on our recent holiday to Marrakesh it fills me with fond memories. That and the vintage Moroccan rug from @tateanddarby completes the sultry Marrakech vibes. 

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