This family designed their colourful Victorian home from 8,000 miles away – now it's bursting with charm

This family designed their colourful Victorian home from 8,000 miles away – now it's bursting with charm

Covid restrictions posed a challenge for the renovation of this Surrey home, but creativity won out in a cross-continental alliance between homeowners and designer. Photographer James Balston

James Balston

Dominique Corlett

When Iiro and Julia Seppänen decided to move, along with their son and daughter, into the late-Victorian house in Surrey that had belonged to Julia’s parents, they already knew it would make a fantastic family home. They also knew that the spacious rooms would provide a wonderful backdrop to the furniture, artwork, vintage collections and quirky one-off finds that they had accumulated over the decades.

Antique toleware trays are displayed on the walls of the conservatory.
The antique toleware trays in the conservatory were collected by Iiro and Julia and make a stylish display on the walls, together with an oversized clock. The coffee table was repurposed from a cart, with a glass top added. ‘The playful contrast between pink and yellow injects energy and positivity into the room, uplifting the mood and inspiring creativity,’ says Ana. The chairs are upholstered in fabric from Susan Deliss. - James Balston -
A traditional Chesterfield sofa, Berber rug, and ostrich and penguin paintings are features in the yellow painted living room
The sunny yellow living room is a mix of different styles, with a traditional Chesterfield sofa, Berber rug, and ostrich and penguin paintings from Julia and Iiro’s collection. Walls are painted in Peter’s Ochre by Francesca’s Paints. - James Balston -

The family were living in South Africa (where they’d spent the last eight-and-a-half years) when, a few months into 2020, they were faced with a challenge. How were they going to get the house – which hadn’t been updated for 20 years and had been sitting empty for the last three – redecorated and ready to move into, while stuck 8,000 miles away in Cape Town under an unforeseeable Covid-induced travel ban?

A meeting of minds

Iiro and Julia planned their relocation for a while and had already booked in London-based interior designer, Ana Engelhorn, to help them tackle the project. They had envisaged Ana and Julia working together, but with that now out of the question, Ana would be working alone, with all decisions made over phone and video.

In the entrance hall the warm tones of the wooden balustrades contrast beautifully with the blue painted walls
The walls of the entrance hall of Iiro and Julia Seppänen’s Victorian home are painted in limewash paint, Nest, from Bauwerk. Limewash gives a textured effect, making the walls look ‘velvety and soft’. - James Balston -
Original double doors with stained and leaded glass in the vestibule
The house features an impressive entrance of original double doors with stained and leaded glass. The vestibule is painted in Menthe, also by Bauwerk. - James Balston -
The library area is situated at the far end of the living room
At the far end of the living room is a
library area, which is full of light and overlooks the garden. ‘Some places, by virtue of their atmosphere, impel one to
do a certain activity. What else could you want to do in here but read?’ asks designer Ana. The egg chair is a mid-century classic designed by Arne Jacobsen. Walls are painted in Peter’s Ochre by Francesca’s Paints. - James Balston -
The kitchen leads onto the large, airy conservatory
The kitchen leads onto the large, airy conservatory, which houses the main dining table. The chairs were made by The Odd Chair Company and reupholstered in Constanza fabric from Susan Deliss. The chandelier above the dining table was made from shoe lasts by an artist friend of Iiro and Julia’s. Walls are painted in Lavender by Bauwerk, to complement
the slate floors and bring unity to the dining area, kitchen and adjoining breakfast room. - James Balston -
The coffee table in the breakfast room, which is made from wine crates and other wooden boxes
The house is filled with quirky pieces of furniture that Iiro and Julia brought back with them from South Africa, including the coffee table in the breakfast room, which is made from wine crates and other wooden boxes. This room is where the family gathers for more intimate meals. - James Balston -

Julia sent Ana an inventory of all their art, furniture and decorative items, complete with measurements. Ana then set about designing the rooms, working out what would fit where, and plugging any gaps with pieces she sourced herself. ‘It was an interesting way to work: they had to put a lot of trust in me,’ says Ana. ‘The challenge was finding spaces for all those things, without being able to see them physically.’

One thing working in everyone’s favour was that Iiro and Julia had chosen Ana because they loved her eclectic style and her ethos of mixing old, new and repurposed. This creates what Ana calls ‘perfectly imperfect interiors’.

The kitchen with its pink painted walls and wooden central island
Ana completely reconfigured the kitchen, adding a central island to make the space more usable and sociable. Both Julia and Iiro are avid cooks, and were keen to have more space and more modern appliances – but they did decide to retain the Aga. Ana was able to integrate a contemporary Gaggenau oven as well, to make the cooking area fully functional. - James Balston -
The colourful breakfast room with its pink painted walls and contrasting moss-green sofa
A chimney breast with wood-burning stove separates the breakfast room from the kitchen. The sofa is the Roubel from Pinch, upholstered in moss-green cotton velvet fabric from Rose Uniacke. The triptych of photographs above are of mountains in Switzerland. Other accents include floral tapestry cushions, a copper pitcher, and a Dakakari terracotta equestrian figure from Nigeria. - James Balston -

The couple had a huge variety of pieces – ranging from a coffee table made from a repurposed cart, and a chandelier made from shoe lasts, to a large collection of vintage candlesticks and toleware trays – but they felt confident that Ana had the vision to pull everything together.

Bold decisions

The couple also loved Ana’s use of colour and gave her free rein to embrace this. To achieve a characterful, textured effect on walls, Ana used limewash paints from Bauwerk and Francesca’s Paints. While acknowledging that limewash is difficult to apply and will instantly show up any wall defects, she believes it is worth it because you don’t get the ‘flatness’ that can sometimes appear with standard emulsion. ‘It is very chalky and beautiful and feels like velvet; the texture makes the walls more alive somehow,’ she says.

A purple and green theme for an open-plan master bedroom and bathroom
Purple and green were chosen as the colour palette for the open-plan main bedroom and bathroom, with walls painted in Lillypilly by Bauwerk. ‘This is a very intentional mix of the contemporary and traditional. A sense of balance is important here, so colours tend to be neutral with pops of vibrancy,’ says Ana. The standalone bath was already in the house, while other bathroom fittings came from Drummonds. - James Balston -
An antique bedside table sits next to a bed with green velvet headboard.
The main bedroom features a bed with green velvet headboard from Savoir Beds, and antique bedside tables from Brownrigg. - James Balston -
A child's pink bedroom with charming ensuite
Originally this room was a library, but Ana was able to reuse the joinery and create an opening to a next-door bathroom to turn it into a charming en-suite bedroom for Julia and Iiro’s daughter. She chose Bauwerk’s limewash paint in Sweetpea to colour-drench the walls, ceiling and woodwork in both the bedroom and the en-suite bathroom. An artist (@gioiasart_uk) painted tropical green leaves on the wall, continuing the home’s largely green, pink and purple colour scheme. - James Balston -
Green fishscale tiles contrast nicely against pink painted walls in the en-suite bathroom
Julia and Iiro’s daughter’s en-suite features fishscale tiles that were made to order by Palazzo Morelli in Italy. They add a playful, textured feel to the room. - James Balston -

Global influences

Ana loves to incorporate antiques and vintage because she likes ‘having items with texture and a story to tell’. However, she finds that antiques ‘can sometimes be quite heavy’, so mixes in contemporary pieces or antiques from other countries, such as France and Sweden, which are often lighter in colour.

Being half Spanish, Ana also does some sourcing in parts of Spain, giving her the opportunity to find pieces that contrast with items found at her favourite UK haunts, such as The Decorative Fair.
When the family turned up on their doorstep during the summer of 2021, they saw the finished home in the flesh for the first time.

The late Victorian house is surrounded by an established garden
The house is surrounded by a large and established garden. - James Balston -
One of the many spots outside for sitting and dining
There are many charming spots outside for sitting, dining and enjoying views of the garden. - James Balston -

This was a nerve-wracking experience for Ana, who had also been responsible for placing all the furniture and artwork, which had arrived in a container ahead of the family. She needn’t have worried. ‘Ana managed to harmonise all of our belongings brought from Cape Town,’ says Julia. ‘She made them feel natural and homely in this space.’
anaengelhorn.com

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