{"id":436503,"date":"2026-02-20T17:58:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T17:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/436503\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T17:58:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T17:58:14","slug":"how-an-interior-designer-created-a-chic-home-from-a-wreck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/436503\/","title":{"rendered":"How an interior designer created a chic home from a wreck"},"content":{"rendered":"

Building a home from scratch is the ultimate goal for many an interior designer. For Sarah Pinn, the opportunity to create a home from a small, derelict property in the Surrey town where she grew up proved an irresistible draw. \u201cIt was a bit of a Cinderella moment in that it was just the right fit for me, plus there aren\u2019t many undeveloped buildings left in really suburban areas like this,\u201d says the 40-year-old, who relocated from a Georgian townhouse she had renovated in Canterbury, Kent, with her nine-year-old son.<\/p>\n

Acquiring the site, near Reigate, over two years ago dovetailed with Pinn landing in full-time employment for the first time after almost 20 years as a freelance draughtsman. Sophie Rowell, the founder of the Folkestone-based interior design practice C\u00f4te de Folk, hired Pinn as her right hand. Starry names on the studio\u2019s roster include the actors Andrew Scott and Jenna Coleman, and the TV presenter Angela Scanlon.<\/p>\n

Having a new boss as a sounding board came at an invaluable time. \u201cSophie will always walk into a space and have that wise, broader zoom-out perspective, whereas I\u2019m good at the zoom-in,\u201d Pinn says. Indeed, it was Rowell who suggested the subtle but effective two-tone paintwork on the kitchen cabinetry. Pinn had designated a large cupboard to house the boiler \u2014 along with, rather ingeniously, a side opening by the front door to stash shoes \u2014 but Rowell thought it would look too cumbersome in a block colour. \u201cWe overlap in complementary ways: Sarah makes the most of every inch of any space, and I focus on the tactile and visual details that elevate the room,\u201d Rowell explains.<\/p>\n

\"Sarah\"A<\/p>\n

The petite courtyard with plants in travertine boxes, and brutalist wall lights refurbished by Jamie Taylor<\/p>\n

CHRIS SNOOK<\/p>\n

Pinn\u2019s clever approach to maximising space is best exemplified by the L-shaped downstairs loo. Concealed within a wall of V-groove panelling in the kitchen, the moody nook has a washing machine hidden behind a concertina door, a laundry maid on an electric hoist and a shower tray in stainless steel that you step over to reach the loo. A set of double doors means her son can also access it from his bedroom. Upstairs in Pinn\u2019s and her partner Jamie Taylor\u2019s room, the upholstered headboard set away from the wall cleverly conceals shoeboxes, while a low storage unit opposite, draped in linen, was sized to house the airtight containers Pinn relies on to keep moths away from her knitwear.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a hardworking room, with an enormous vintage wood-topped bath and a loo wrapped in moir\u00e9 vinyl, that is also Pinn\u2019s WFH space. The desk is carved from a chunk of travertine positioned to look out to the neighbouring church and moonlights as a dressing table. All the techy essentials are carefully out of sight, \u201cbecause the minute you\u2019ve got a filing cabinet and a printer out you\u2019re in your office at night and at the weekend\u201d, Pinn says. The house is considerably more compact than those of most of C\u00f4te de Folk\u2019s clients and she is proudly obsessive about the details: \u201cIf the practicalities aren\u2019t taken care of, there will always be a rub. What you want is for it to be beautiful but also effortlessly practical.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Upstairs in the bedroom, tucked in next to the granite sink unit, is a storage cupboard<\/p>\n

CHRIS SNOOK<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The living room features original beams<\/p>\n

CHRIS SNOOK<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

The cleverly laid-out bedroom with a desk and hidden wardrobe<\/p>\n

CHRIS SNOOK<\/p>\n

Pinn and Taylor, who is a lighting designer, oversaw the 18-month project themselves. They rolled up their sleeves, lugged around wheelbarrows of rubble, and called on subcontractors, friends and colleagues to create a two- bedroom house within the shell of the existing building. Due to the property\u2019s wonky angles they experienced a few battles along the way, such as fitting the cornerless sliding doors that open on to the internal courtyard. \u201cThe easy thing would be to have a post there, but it would have defeated the object of the seamlessness that we now enjoy,\u201d Pinn says. Taylor took on the poured-concrete flooring himself. \u201cThat was so stressful because if it goes wrong, what are you supposed to do?\u201d Pinn remembers.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Read more expert advice on property, interiors and home improvement<\/a><\/p>\n

She calls managing a build \u201ca different kettle of fish\u201d compared with her previous refurb. \u201cIt\u2019s a great privilege, but you can\u2019t get away from the pressure of it all, and of course the rest of life has to carry on around it.\u201d She also notes how starting from the ground up meant prioritising the bones of the building over the more \u201cexciting, showstopper pieces\u201d. They moved in last summer so these are finally starting to trickle in, with a set of vintage Italian bentwood chairs sourced from Soap and Salvation a new addition around the kitchen table.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The downstairs loo is painted in Inferior Grey by Edward Bulmer<\/p>\n

CHRIS SNOOK<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The voile curtains downstairs are by C\u00f4te de Folk<\/p>\n

CHRIS SNOOK<\/p>\n

What\u2019s reassuring to hear is that decision fatigue is real, even for the professionals. And how Pinn saw cost constraints, like only having three choices within her budget at the stoneyard for the kitchen worktop, as benefits. She likens the process overall to a sort of \u201cshedding\u201d. \u201cI had to be really honest with myself about where I was, what my expectations were and what the necessities were. Often it\u2019s less about achieving what you want to do than divorcing yourself from what you want to do, because if you made a meal out of all your favourite ingredients, it would be disgusting,\u201d she adds with a laugh.<\/p>\n

Still, the memories of the hard labour involved are finally fading. \u201cIt was such a slog that it took me a while to feel like I could relax. Now I have, it feels glorious,\u201d she says, smiling.<\/p>\n

cotedefolk.com<\/a><\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The artwork in the living room is by Chiara Perano<\/p>\n

CHRIS SNOOK<\/p>\n

\"Bedroom<\/p>\n

The upholstered headboard conceals storage space for shoeboxes<\/p>\n

CHRIS SNOOK<\/p>\n

\"Attic<\/p>\n

Pinn had a mahogany surround made for the salvaged wood-topped bathtub in the bedroom<\/p>\n

CHRIS SNOOK<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Building a home from scratch is the ultimate goal for many an interior designer. For Sarah Pinn, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":436504,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,1120,96,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-436503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436503\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/436504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}