Ben Bailey, his wife Cat Bailey, and their son Fynn have lived in this 1,000-square-foot Victorian Terrace for five years, and have decorated it in a warm, minimal aesthetic. The couple are the owners of an online antique shop, called cart-house, so the pieces they have chosen are carefully curated vintage ones that make a statement in an otherwise pared-back home.

In fact, they say that most of the furniture in their home was actually meant to be sold at their shop, but they were unable to part with these specific pieces. Beyond just furniture, during their time in the home, they’ve made improvements like moving doorways to create a better kitchen flow, creating closet storage where none existed before, and refinishing the hardwood floors.

Inspiration: Buying antiques, interiors magazines

Favorite Element: The living room is an area where we spend a lot of time, and is great in the evening with low lighting.

Biggest Challenge: The kitchen, which involved moving doorways, replacing joists, and matching floor levels. We also laid the parquet flooring and fitted a kitchen with cabinets for the first time, which we learnt as we went along.

What are your favorite products you have bought for your home and why? We found a set of green Hungarian shutters, which were amazingly a perfect fit for our bedroom windows.

Please describe any helpful, inspiring, brilliant, or just plain useful small space maximizing and/or organizing tips you have: keep it simple: One of the walls in our bedroom was a tricky space to fit wardrobes, so we fitted scaffolding poles to the ceiling, which provided double rails for hanging things, and covered them with linen curtains.

Does your home reflect your home country/city in any way? Yes we think so, our house has a mix of different styles of furniture and objects from different countries, which we think reflects the British style.

What are your favorite places to shop for home décor that can only be found in your country? We like natural materials and one-off pieces, some of our favorite online shops are: Bailey’s Home, Tat London, and Object Story.

Finally, what’s your absolute best home secret or decorating advice? We worked hard to sand our floor boards with an air sander, which doesn’t make them look totally new after, and also dyed them with Lye to make them slightly paler before sealing with a matte varnish.

• Paint & Paper Library Slate series is used around the house with three of the shades used in the living/dining room.
• Kitchen Cabinets — Paint & Paper Library‘s “Squid Ink”

• Most of the furniture in our home was supposed to make its way to the website but we ended up keeping, though we do have a very comfy loft sofa from Bailey’s Home, along with some of the lighting in the house.

• Shaker Cabinets — Handmade Kitchens of Christchurch made to our specifications.

Thanks Ben!

This house tour’s responses and photos were edited for length/size and clarity.
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