A Beautiful Bright Edwardian Home

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We first came across Rosie's home (@roseontherow on Instagram) when her beautiful bathroom popped into our feed several months ago. The entire home is equally stunning, with the lovely light and colourful decor creating the most uplifting home, with so much individual style and personality. We love how the home has kept all of the original features yet sits so well with some modern interiors.

We chat to Rosie who shares with us her renovation story and how she created this perfect Edwardian home.

If you are thinking about a renovation project in the near future and need some help with where to start with your project, try our renovation advice session.

Renovation Advice Session

Can you tell us about your home and renovation project?

We bought our house in February last year and have been renovating it ever since. It’s a 3 bed Edwardian property. And one of the huge selling points for us was that it still had all 5 fireplaces in tact! We were lucky that the previous owners had done some of the big jobs such as replacing the boiler and replastering. But the decor was quite tired and not to our taste. You could also see quite a few things looked like rush jobs and were now causing problems. And we had a few issues in the main bathroom with leaks - the joys of a period home! So that was first on our list to sort out! But by the time we’ve finished, we’ll have renovated every room in the house!

The lounge with the original fireplace

What was the biggest challenge and why?

When we designed the bathroom renovation, we knew we wanted a crittal shower enclosure. At that time, there were very few on the market, let alone one that was square in shape and had a door. But after months of searching, we eventually found one, and while it was a little smaller than we wanted, it was the right style, and so we bought it and re-designed all our bathroom measurements around it.

Our bathroom fitters installed the required size tray and completed the very labour intensive double herringbone tiles. But when they went to install the enclosure, which was the last piece to finish the bathroom, it didn’t fit! It turns out the manufacturer had advertised the wrong sizes in error. And as a result, the shower tray was too small to hold the enclosure. We had two choices, rip everything out and start again, putting all that hard work to waste, let alone the additional cost! Or settle for a different enclosure.

I was absolutely gutted and spent weeks in discussions with the manufacturers to try and find a way forward. And us a result, we ended up spending around 2 months without being able to use our shower after our bathroom was finished as it had no enclosure. And because all of my fittings were brass, I couldn’t just pick another one, as they were all chrome. Luckily I eventually found a fab company who make bespoke crittal shower enclosures. But they actually had a standard one that would just about fit our size of tray. And after several conversations with the original manufacturer, they eventually agreed to organise a replacement enclosure for us from this new company.

So it was a long old wait without a working shower, and an unfinished bathroom that we’d worked hard on and were desperate to enjoy. But, we got there in the end and now have a gorgeous enclosure that we love!

The crittall shower enclosure that was worth the wait

Did you have a budget and how did you stick to it?

Kind of. We agreed an amount of our savings that we were willing to use towards the house. And then said that if we exhausted that amount, then anything else we did would have to come from our monthly wages or would be on hold until we could save for it again. So that definitely spurred me on to get it all done within the savings budget, and on the most part we did. I always shop around and make sure I get the best quality item I can and at the best price. I always plan ahead and keep an eye out for sales and promotions. And if an item I have in mind is really expensive, I always check to see if there’s any other reasonable alternatives that look the same and get equally good reviews.

The tranquil master bedroom

What are you most proud of?

I think I’m most proud of how my style and design has evolved with this house. My last home was a new build, and I kept it very neutral and muted as I knew we were always going to sell it relatively quickly. So this house has been a real opportunity to release all my creativity and have fun trying out bolder colour palettes, patterns and textures. I feel I’ve really started to discover my style and I’m really pleased with how it’s all meshing together.

We love the combination of the traditional herringbone floor and the modern bright walls

Where is your favourite place in your home now?

Oh this is a difficult one - it changes every week! Overall I would say that I have 2 stand out favourites. My bedroom is my little sanctuary and I really do feel so peaceful and happy in that space. But I absolutely love my bathroom too - it’s another great space to chill out and unwind!

We love these tiles!

What do family and friends say about your home?

They are always really lovely and supportive about it and love seeing what we’re working on next or checking out our latest project! It’s nice that I now often get asked for advice or help with projects they’re working on - hopefully that shows I’m doing something right in their eyes!

A bright corner of the kitchen

If you are thinking about a renovation project in the near future and need some help with where to start with your project, try our renovation advice session.