No Awkward Slope or Slant Was Ignored in This London Attic Makeover

We could earn income from the merchandise obtainable on this web page and take part in affiliate packages.

Domino Reno: Before + Afters, DIYs, and Advice From the Pros

Subscribe now to get our publication in your inbox.

For inside designers, ending off a renovation may be bittersweet. Leanne Kilroy, founding father of London-based agency Good Bones, had devoted the previous 5 years restoring her four-story Victorian townhouse again to its former glory. So when it got here time to sort out the attic, she approached it as a final hurrah.

The high stage consisted of her teen daughter Stella’s bed room, a microscopic lavatory (simply 5 sq. ft!), and a much-frequented visitor room. While the areas had been briefly patched up with DIY fixes, by late 2025, it was now or by no means. “I really wanted to experiment up there, especially with the built-in features,” Kilroy explains. Ahead, uncover the place Kilroy selected to avoid wasting and splurge, how her next-door neighbor helped her create the wallpaper of her goals, and the final word transformation of this trio of rooms right into a cohesive retreat.

Tap a Warm Neutral for “Warm Hug” Vibes

Stella was comfortable for her mother to take cost of her room; her solely request was that it ought to really feel like a heat hug. “I was like, ‘I can do that!’” says Kilroy, laughing. First up, she wrapped each floor in wide-set, V-groove paneling to melt the huge wall and ceiling that visually take up plenty of house. Kilroy wobbled on the colour (Archive by Farrow & Ball), although—the primary software got here out darker and muddier than anticipated. “I thought I’d really messed up. But actually, once the whole space is enveloped, it brightens back up and feels really lovely,” she says. Even the image ledges above the desk are drenched within the hue, and—enjoyable truth—they’re not customized. Kilroy ingeniously requested the constructor to curve the sides of IKEA cabinets and fill the gaps between the joins.

Reach For Heirlooms

Although there’s a wall of built-in cabinets tucked beneath the sloped ceiling, Stella’s stand-alone wardrobe was nonetheless an essential addition—it’s fairly actually a part of her household’s historical past. Her dad purchased the Scandinavian pine armoire from none aside from Kilroy’s father’s vintage furnishings store. “My husband and I were high school sweethearts, and then we broke up. At some point, my husband moved back to Boston in his twenties and this was his first adult furniture piece,” explains Kilroy. It has traveled with the couple ever since, even throughout the Atlantic. “It’s so terrifying to put it back together. We have to call my dad to guide us through the process,” says Kilroy. “It’s such a special piece, and it looks like it really belongs here.”

Create the Guest Room No One Wants to Leave

American household and associates are all the time angling for a keep at Kilroy’s house, so she wedged a tall customized cupboard into a clumsy nook of the visitor room for stashing suitcases and belongings away. Kilroy exercised inventive license in protecting the door fronts in maple burl veneer. “I decided to lean into the fact that it’s a more private area of the house, and I can do things I haven’t done before to see if I would recommend them to clients,” she notes. (The reply, on this case? Yes!)

The built-in desk doubles as a dressing desk, its again wall clad in cork for pinning inspiration and mementos. The designer used a roll of the stuff, however subsequent time she’d go for stick-on cork tiles as an alternative. (Not solely was the previous troublesome to put in, however she had manner an excessive amount of leftover.)

Craft a Wallpaper That Tells Your Story

Kilroy has by no means used wallpaper in her house, however she was struck with a really particular imaginative and prescient: a impartial sample with no apparent repeat and a smaller scale to work with the room’s wonky structure. Her searches revealed nothing. Cue Kilroy’s neighbor—a graphic designer she was consulting for—who mentioned she might sketch out a motif for her. The end result: a painterly floral that subtly incorporates Kilroy’s daughters’ love of ballet and butterflies, their initials, and the household’s cat. Kilroy merely plugged the design right into a print-your-own-wallpaper service; the top end result value lower than a roll of designer wallpaper.

Get the Lighting Right

The attic’s pitched ceilings meant pendants have been a no-no. Luckily, Kilroy’s collaboration with Plank Hardware was being finalized, concurrently the renovation. In each Stella’s room and the visitor house, Stella swing-arm sconces grasp subsequent to the beds. “I love how they work in what are very different-looking spaces,” says Kilroy. The Aster, a star-shaped flush mount you’d sometimes set up on the ceiling, serves as an surprising jewel above the visitor room doorway.

Think Through Every Potential Issue

In the spirit of getting out of her consolation zone, Kilroy braved a slab of pink and inexperienced Alba Chiara marble for the ground, bathe tray, and skirting of the tiny shared lavatory. The self-importance high, nonetheless, is a darkish inexperienced granite off-cut boasting a sink cleverly oriented in order that nobody will by accident bump their head on the ceiling. The two-tone faucets and towel hotter are one other customized creation. “I decided to do mixed metal, because why not?” she says. Just the fitting state of mind for a final hurrah.