A design legacy: inside a transformed south-west London family home after an ingenious industrial-chic renovation

When Caroline Johnson and her husband, James, bought their 19th-century terraced house in Fulham 20 years ago, they dreamed of a sleek, contemporary kitchen.

After all, James co-founded Espresso Design, which sells industrial-chic, Italian designer kitchens at Chelsea Harbour.

But the kitchen/dining space in their own home "had very poor natural light, a Seventies pine kitchen and terracotta flagstones", Caroline recalls.

"And there was this tiny, hexagonal conservatory on the end that leaked, which we used as the children's playroom."

The couple had converted the main house but left the kitchen and basement while the children were growing up.

In 2016, they decided to go ahead and dig out the basement. "James introduced me to designer Nick Horvath of Momo & Co, who he had already worked with."

Then, later that year, James was diagnosed with cancer. During his illness he drew up plans for his dream kitchen. "When he was having chemo and even when he knew he was going to die, we were finalising the design with Nick because James wanted that to be something that would continue."

James died at the end of 2017. "In 2018, I fell apart, as you do," says Caroline. But by January 3, 2019, she was ready to go ahead again. Her brief to Nick was to open up the entire ground floor and create a light-filled space where she could have friends over for supper or just chill with her daughters, now 21 and 18.

The project involved excavating the basement and underpinning to increase room height by 20 inches, and adding a rear extension to make more space for the statement kitchen, installed by James's business partner, Andy. Caroline, a creative industry management consultant, had to earn the money as she went along.

"We couldn't afford to move out so the builders made a little temporary kitchen for me and the girls upstairs, with a little breakfast bar."

There was a very bleak episode during building: "We got an infestation of rats from the sewer — they ate a kilo of coffee beans and our dirty laundry and we also gave our neighbours rats," says Caroline.

She had to hire a specialist firm to trap the rats but you'd never guess at such drama today, as you walk down the stairs into the serene new kitchen/living area and gaze out across the garden.

A series of disconnected spaces has been integrated. "Downstairs feels like it has doubled in size because of the height and the volume and the length of the garden." Steel-framed glazed doors by Fabco feature throughout the space, tying all zones together in the form of interior partitions, sliding internal doors and patio doors.

"It was Nick's genius idea to bookmark the space," says Caroline. Two large skylights bring in extra light. "We integrated LED lighting into a coffered ceiling to make a soft light in the living and dining areas, which zones these areas without any physical barriers," explains Nick.

He designed the built-in joinery, while the use of reflective materials — a microcement kitchen floor, a polished plaster wall in the living area — helps push light through the space.

The kitchen has a Bora hob that extracts downwards instead of up, "which means you don't have to have any chunky extractor hoods".

Nick introduced Caroline to designer Maya Singer, who has her own bespoke furniture range. "Maya designed the sofa, dining table and soft furnishings to fit the space and did it within budget." Caroline also added pieces from Zara and French Connection so the cash went further.

The newly landscaped garden has an outdoor cooking and dining area with an integrated sound system and an awning, so the family can use it all year round.

During the first lockdown they "lived" out there. And the continuity with James as they cook in the kitchen he designed is key.

"He was a very lovely, gorgeous man," says Caroline. "There was a lovely sense of him being a constant part of the building. He's embedded in everything that's new."