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“Those living rooms are always a challenge in brownstones, to furnish in a thoughtful way,” says Cuttle, pointing to the narrow dimensions of the room, the low window sills, and abundance of woodwork taking up wall space. A curving Carl Hansen sofa floats in front of the bay window, so as not to block the light and allowing easy sightlines. The chairs and coffee table are from Lawson Fenning and the rug is Jardan.

Scala Studio replaced the original floor tiles with repurposed herringbone parquet. The Blue AJ Mini lamp is by Louis Poulson, and the cupboards are made to order.

A well-organized entryway leads to a living room that opens to gardens on two sides.

New prospect to the outdoors is provided by a screened courtyard.

From the stained wallpaper, to the lacquered floorboards, to the timber joinery, every element has been hand finished using traditional techniques.

A fixed oak dining table is supported from the building structure, allowing it to almost float in space.

Large cambered roof beams, previously hidden, are now celebrated as striking sculptural forms within the home.

Japanese oak kitchen cabinetry is combined with a unique copper worktop and services ducting.

Lacquered wallpapers bring a vibrancy of colour to the bathroom.

Louise Avenue new floor plan

Instead of focusing on reworking the street-facing front wall of the house, they turned their attention to the back wall, and found a better way to connect the interiors with the beautiful garden. This allowed them to stay true to the suburban vernacular of gabled brick walls and a terra-cotta roof, while modernizing the back section of the house quite dramatically.

In the petite kitchenette, the original orange-tinted enamel of the sink and stove was spruced up with concrete overlay on the counters, a hex tile backsplash, and new brass accents. The original cabinets were refreshed with the same paint color as the interior walls, then adorned with brass hinges and hex-shaped pulls.

Pop-out doors reveal storage space and a tiny refrigerator.