Bright designs on Denbigh Terrace

Denbigh Terrace is quintessential Notting Hill. The street is lined with a terrace of picturesque houses, each one painted a pastel shade. Close to Portobello Road, it’s a short walk away from the Travel Bookshop made famous in the Richard Curtis film.

Emma Stevenson moved to this address in the early months of the pandemic. The house she bought had not been renovated in 60 years, meaning the downstairs loo was still outside. But, over the next nineteen months, she transformed the property into a beautiful family home that was the perfect expression of her personal style.

‘It needed a lot of love,’ Emma explains as she shows us around. This meant gutting the interiors, with corridors removed, bedrooms added, and the lower ground floor expanded into the rear garden. The most major change was a glass extension rising over two storeys, with an internal void allowing light to be shared between the ground floor and lower ground floor living areas. This gave the space the feel of a Parisian duplex.

The extension frame was painted a bright shade of red, to match the railing for the internal balcony and the staircase. This was a bespoke design by Emma and something she insisted on despite the challenges of construction and installation. As well as adding a bold colour, it further links the two storeys together.

The house had to be practical, too. Emma has four young children, which meant storage space was vital. ‘It was like designing a boat,’ she says of the careful way she used every spare inch of space.

But practicality can also be playful. Perhaps the best example is the walk-in pantry under the stairs in the kitchen, with automatic lights illuminating rows of shelves lined with food. Nearby there is also the snug: a family television room with paper-backed fabric on the walls and ceiling. The same fabric – Astrea by Fermoie – upholsters the furniture, so that sitting here feels like being enveloped in floral patterns.

French-born Emma originally trained as a doctor. She enjoyed refurbishing her first home so much that it inspired a change of job. That home also received positive attention from friends and professionals, helping to launch her career as an interior designer. Since then she has worked on numerous properties, but never forgotten her earlier profession. Each time she works with someone new, that first consultation is key.

‘I call them clients rather than patients,’ Emma explains, but she’s just as thorough when trying to understand their lives. Before any renovation project, she will ask about her clients’ favourite food and films, their hobbies and working habits, how they like to spend their weekends and how often they entertain. ‘It’s something I’ve become better at over time. I want them to love their home.’

When working on a house, Emma blends her personal aesthetic with her clients’ tastes. But, when designing her own space, that individual style is expressed with more confidence. All the same, it was important for this house to incorporate some of the original architectural features. For instance, the cornice in the ground-floor reception room is an exact replica of the one that decorated the former property, with a pattern taken from the old plaster mould.

This is the room that brings Emma the most pride. It’s a multifunctional space that can be used for children to play and adults to entertain. In fact, 35 people were invited to her birthday here, with a long table stretching from one wall to another and the whole place decorated for a party.

As Emma’s children are nearing adolescence, the house is becoming too small. However, she has lived in Notting Hill for most of her life and has no plans to leave the neighbourhood. But she will be sad to say goodbye to the memories this house holds, and the time spent here with friends and family. She only hopes the future owners will appreciate how much love went into making this space.