'This house is the key that unlocks the way we want to live,’ says Lisa Brass, who fell in love with the property – a short hop from the West Wittering seafront in West Sussex – back in 2012. ‘Period homes like this don’t often come onto the market around here, so I just had to jump at it. We can walk out of the door and be on the beach with the dog in five minutes, which is just incredible.’
As founder and creative director of Design Vintage, a homeware retailer with a distinctly Scandi feel, Lisa has never been afraid of a challenge. And this trait stood her in good stead, as finding a property in such an enviable spot came with some significant trade-offs. ‘Nothing in the house had been touched for more than 25 years, and everything from the electrics to the windows had to be replaced,’ Lisa remembers. ‘It was very much a case of fixing the fundamentals before we could move in.
‘Taking on this project wasn’t too scary for me, as I’ve worked on lots of renovations before,’ she explains. The property now unfolds over three floors, with a layout designed to maximise a feeling of airiness: ‘It’s the natural light that makes this house so special.’ The sitting room, kitchen and expansive dining room have been connected, with Crittal doors blurring the boundaries and allowing light to flow around the space. The bedrooms have been transformed into sanctuaries with stunning views of the landscape. Bigger structural changes, including extending outwards and adding bathrooms, have taken place over time.
Throughout the interior, the walls are painted in Dulux’s Pure Brilliant White: a simple palette, but one Lisa has executed thoughtfully. ‘I’m a minimalist, but I’m all about character,’ she says. ‘Texture, rather than colour, is always my first port of call.’ Carpets have been pulled up to reveal the timber floorboards beneath, while marble worktops bring elegance to the kitchen. Light fittings made from recycled glass and sustainable wicker add interest overhead, while worn wooden furniture and slubby linen sofas lend themselves to an overall sense of lived-in comfort.
As well as curating Design Vintage’s online marketplace, Lisa runs the brand’s bricks-and-mortar showroom in Hampshire and sources all of its stock, which includes everything from genuine apothecary cabinets to handwoven storage baskets. ‘I’m surrounded by temptation and a lot of my pieces do inevitably make their way into the house,’ she says.
Taking a gradual approach has been a learning curve for Lisa. ‘I didn’t have an endless supply of money to change everything all at once, but this ended up being a very good thing,’ she reflects. ‘Taking things slowly has enabled the house to evolve organically.’
What to Read Next
Kitchen
Pieces from Lisa's shop inevitably find their way into the house. In the kitchen, a former Hungarian workbench covered in scratches and drill marks is surrounded by antique stools. ‘It’s probably the least comfortable set-up in the whole house, but everyone still ends up huddling around it.’
The cabinetry, commissioned from a carpenter and painted in Farrow & Ball’s Off Black, was designed by Lisa herself. ‘I literally drew my vision onto the wall with a felt-tip pen and asked them if they could build it,’ she recalls. Wooden utensils, handmade ceramics and vintage boards – many sourced through Design Vintage – add to the layered, textural feel.
Practical touches have been carefully considered, too: off the kitchen, the former downstairs loo has been reworked as a clever little pantry.
Living room
In the living room, Lisa removed the ceiling to expose the beams and create a more spacious feel. ‘It’s made a huge difference,’ she says. The space connects to the kitchen via secondhand Crittall doors – ‘the wall was built around the doors, rather than the other way around,’ she explains – helping light to flow through while maintaining a sense of separation.
Decoratively, it’s a carefully balanced mix of restraint and personality. ‘I don’t have a lot of clutter, but do love styling up corners here and there,’ Lisa says. Among her favourite pieces is an intricately hand-carved skull, picked up at a trade fair in Paris. ‘I found it years ago when I was sourcing in Paris and fell in love with it, but some people find it terrifying!’
Dining room
Lisa’s dining room extension is just the latest in a line of additions to the property, which dates back to the late nineteenth century. The double-height space has created a bright, inviting area for entertaining, with floor-to-ceiling doors leading out into the garden and a wow-factor picture window framing views both inside and out. ‘If we’re having a get-together, it’s happening here,’ says Lisa. ‘One of my grown-up children has a baby, so the family’s getting bigger not smaller!’
The picture window has also become part of her daily routine. ‘It’s my coffee spot,’ she says. A dedicated coffee station helps to bridge the space between the kitchen and the newer dining area. ‘I wanted to create a connection between the two spaces,’ says Lisa.
Loft bedroom
‘This is my retreat, and the conversion was surprisingly straightforward,’ she recalls. ‘We discovered that the original roof of the house was flat, rather than pitched, which means that what is now my bedroom floor was already structurally sound.’ She decided on an open-plan layout and again focused on bringing in an abundance of light. ‘I might have got slightly carried away with all the windows, but it’s so incredibly bright and I just love it.’
Bathrooms
A small bedroom has been transformed into a second family-size bathroom. ‘I knew I’d eventually do the loft, so didn’t mind sacrificing the extra bed.’ A monochrome palette creates a serene environment, while tiles around the shower in both the main bathroom and shower room bring a lively sense of pattern and energy.
Bedrooms
The bedrooms have been transformed into sanctuaries with views of the landscape beyond, where a monochrome palette works especially well, with black and white taking on a tranquil air. In the ground floor guest bedroom, ochre bedding from Secret Linen Store adds a rare pop of colour.
Throughout, personal touches bring warmth and character, from favourite postcards, photographs and collected trinkets to Tilly’s room, where a ceiling-hung disco ball creates a playful vibe. Her antique bed frame, discovered by Lisa during a buying trip to France, adds another layer of story and individuality.
Garden
Just as much consideration has been given to the design and layout of the garden as to the interior, and the space has become something of a conduit between home and seaside. ‘One of the first things I did was install the outdoor shower. It’s perfect for when we arrive back to the house covered in sand, or for giving Marley a quick wash before he comes back inside,’ adds Lisa.
‘The previous owner was a gardener and had planned the landscaping to be low-maintenance – there was a lot of grass! But I wanted the space to revolve around entertaining.’ Lisa added in the decking for dedicated seating, built shade-giving pergolas and created an outdoor kitchen area, complete with a built-in, wood-fired pizza oven and slouch-ready sofas. ‘We call it the surf shack,’ she says. Boards, ready to hit the waves at a moment’s notice, are casually perched against walls and artfully suspended on hooks.
