A strict colour palette and vintage finds have turned this semi-detached Edwardian house into an elegant family home

After living in a series of new builds while moving around the country with her husband’s job, Derya Berber took a leap into the unknown with a neglected period property that needed a major renovation.

Derya and her family moved into the four bedroom, three bathroom, three storey semi-detached Edwardian house in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, in December 2020.

What was the attraction of this property?

'The location was ideal, and the garden was nice and big,' explains Derya. 'We hadn’t been particularly looking for a period property, but this house had so much potential. It originally had six bedrooms and just one bathroom, but we knew this wouldn’t work for us.

'We moved in between lockdowns, and made the decision to basically go for it, and do all the work in one big go, which meant eighteen months of disruption, dust and chaos.'

'We had to replumb and rewire completely, as well as putting in a new central heating system and replaster all the walls that had been messed up. That took around six months, and I was desperate to get onto the décor, but had to be sensible.'

'We took down a wall between two small rooms at the top to make a guest suite and upgraded the tiny shower. We sacrificed a bedroom to give us a much bigger main bathroom, plus we changed the original bathroom into an ensuite in our younger son’s room.

'We moved around from room to room after the builders and a low point was all four of us sleeping in the room at the top with strips of wallpaper hanging down everywhere like a Halloween set.'

The elegant decor approach

'The character of our home guided my interior design choices. I believe it’s important to embrace the style of a building, appreciate its unique features and enhance them. I did some research into Edwardian colours and design before I started,' says Derya who shares many pictures from the transformation on Instagram @prettylittleedwardian.

'I like to stick to a palette of three colours, and I took my shades of green, yellow and pink from the original stained-glass windows. I’d never been a fan of wallpaper ideas before, I always worried that it would date quickly, but in this house, it just seemed right, and I’ve surprised myself by embracing dramatic florals.'

Choosing colours

'I like a mix of dark moody colours and light shades and it really depends on which way the room faces. In the north facing rooms, such as our bedroom, I’ve gone light with the pale pink,' Derya says.

'I’m really into colour drenching, I’ve never liked white ceilings, and it’s a great way to blend ceilings and woodwork into the room. We’ve totally drenched six rooms now, and it makes such a difference.'

The open-plan kitchen

‘An open plan kitchen diner was an essential for me when considering a house. I enjoy being able to cook and spend with family at the same time. The only disadvantage is that any mess in the kitchen is always visible,’ says Derya.

‘We inherited a solid wood kitchen in grey and we could have had a new kitchen to our taste, but that would have been wasteful as the bones of this one are good, so we had it resprayed instead in two different colours for new look. It only took a day and cost around £1,000.’

‘As part of the kitchen respray, we matched the majority of the units to the walls as part of a colour drench, while we had some sprayed in the same green we’ve used in the sitting room and we’ve changed all the handles.’

The dining area is connected to the kitchen and anchored with a rug. ‘I always worried that a rug under the dining table would get too dirty, but actually it’s been fine. It was only after I added the rug and brought in some green that I realised how empty it had looked before.’

‘I love the intricate detail on our dining table and bench, rather than just plain wood, and I’ve added some vintage dining chairs. Mixing vintage with modern is a growing trend, which is motived both by sustainability and wanting unique and cosy interiors.’

The colour-drenching siting room

colour-drench‘I found this pair of Parker Knoll armchairs on Facebook Marketplace and knew they’d be perfect for the sitting room. Finding an old chair and transforming it with a new fabric is one of my favourite things to do.’

‘I’ll always decorate at least one room in a dark moody colour and in my opinion, you can colour drench any space. Think about the impact that colour will have and make sure it gives the room the feeling you want. I fell for this green straightaway.’

‘The marble fireplace really stands out against the green walls, and I found a mirror and wall scones in brass because green and brass is a combination that’s hard to beat. I’ve also added ceiling roses back around as there weren’t any.’

‘I love paintings of flowers, and search things out from The Vintage Art Gallery, where my red roses are from, as well as The Wallflower Art Gallery and Junk Deluxe in Margate.’

Bathroom wishlist

‘A freestanding bath was always on my list for the bathroom, and I’d envisaged it being painted black. But once I got the wallpaper up, I knew it had to be a colour reflected in that. I never imagined we’d have a yellow bath, but in interiors, never say never.’

‘Search out unique pieces of vintage furniture for every room, like this cabinet we use for storing towels. Our home just wouldn’t feel the same without them.’

‘The vintage washstand was a Facebook Marketplace find for £120, and it was the first thing I bought, before we’d started any of the work, to make into a vanity unit. Ceramic basins just looked wrong, until I spotted a marble one.’

Putting wallpaper in bathrooms tips

Make sure if you’re planning to put wallpaper in a bathroom that there is good ventilation within the space. That’s the most important thing. Using wallpaper in poorly ventilated bathrooms isn’t recommended.

Choose the wallpaper first before you make any other decisions on colours and build the bathroom colour scheme around it.

Decide on how many walls you’ll be putting it on. If it’s a large, intense pattern it may feel too overwhelming to have it on all the walls.

If you have a freestanding bath which will be the focal point, consider putting it on the wall behind the bath, as long as it’s far enough away from major splashes.

If the walls aren’t straight, using lining paper underneath the paper can help to disguise imperfections, prevent wallpaper shrinkage and improve the durability of the wallpaper. Always use a varnish afterwards to protect the paper from moisture.

A blissful bedroom

‘I’ve always loved pink and wanted it for our bedroom. My husband wasn’t sure and asked for it not to be a girly pink, but I found a colour that we both love. I’ve colour drenched it from the ceiling down and picked out the delicate shade in the floral bedding, rug and blinds.’

‘Hang onto original floorboards if you can, and I’m thrilled we managed to in the bedroom. There was mention of carpet, but I chose a very large rug instead. I love flowers and my vintage rose picture from The Vintage Art Gallery is in the ideal spot above the fireplace.’

What's next...

'Now we’ve got the taste for it, I think we’ve got one more renovation in us, but I’ve promised to wait until the boys finish secondary school so we’re here for a quite a while. I’ve loved sourcing the vintage furniture and art that is dotted around the house, and we’ve still got the garden to do.'