By the time the owners of this Victorian house in London called in interior designer Josie Lywood, they’d been living in the home for about eight years. “It was a perfectly livable space, but quite dated,” Lywood says. “They hadn’t done anything to it, as they knew they wanted to do a full refurb at some point.”

The house had already been extended at the back to create a kitchen, but this was quite narrow. A wall between two public rooms had been knocked down, creating a dark and underused living space in the center of the house. The owners wanted these structural issues resolved and an old cellar dug out to create a usable basement. They also needed more storage, particularly for coats and shoes — they have three children — and a downstairs bathroom.

“The brief was for a modern, cozy and homey scheme, harmonious with the original Victorian architecture,” Lywood says. “They were not afraid of color or pattern so we had a lot of fun creating this design.” Read on to see the beautiful results of this year-long project.