Growing up, Julie Harkin could often be found walking the wild coastal paths around Derry or exploring Northern Ireland’s gorse-covered valleys. For this casting director, who was nominated for an Emmy Award last year for her work on British series I May Destroy You, being immersed in nature is a well-trodden route to calm.
It is not surprising, then, that when beginning to contemplate the design of her Victorian home in London’s Walthamstow Village, which she shares with her husband and young son, she decided to start by looking at the garden.
Enlisting the help of landscape designer Miria Harris right from the start of the project allowed Julie to emphasise her aim of creating a home that is linked to its surroundings.
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‘It is quite rare to be involved at this stage,’ admits Miria, who designed the front garden first, allowing it to ‘set the tone’. That way, she adds, ‘the house would respond to the garden, not the other way around’.
Inside, the decision was made to excavate and lower the existing ground floor, creating an extra 40 centimetres of ceiling height that, combined with a new side-return extension by the architecture firm Neighbourhood Studio, ensured the open-plan kitchen and living area was blessed with as much light as possible.
Previously a cold, dark space due to the walled courtyard to the rear, the room now works in harmony with the outside. The floating steps in the garden lead the eye out past the sliding doors, creating what Miria describes as ‘a sexy, gentle tease, slowly revealing the green, pale-pink, white and bronze tones in the planting that reflect the delicate palette that’s been used inside’.
For this, Julie sought the help of her friend Sarah Ellison, an interior designer at Frank & Faber. The pair worked together to select colours, with the upstairs remaining light and bright – ‘Farrow & Ball’s “School House White” for the walls and woodwork, with curtains in the same colour,’ explains Sarah – while downstairs is cosier and more textural.
Finished in lime plaster that has been tinted a rich, mossy green, the living room has the atmosphere of a secluded and shaded forest glade. The flooring here is inspired by Julie’s childhood holidays, which she often spent staying in ancient stone cottages in Donegal with her family.
Dedicated to finding the perfect tiles, Julie spent weeks carrying samples around in her handbag. ‘I would randomly pick options out of my bag to consider the shades, and even visited the Aesop store in Bath to ask about its floors,’ she recalls, having eventually settled on a black terracotta brick, produced by Claybrook in a bespoke shape.
‘I really wanted to create a nurturing environment,’ Julie explains. ‘A space that is very welcoming. I feel loved and cared for when I come home. This is a safe haven of wellbeing away from the rest of the world.’ miriaharris.com; neighbourhood-studio.com; frankandfaber.co.uk
