Interior design ideas: sharing a home and a work space

Fiona Pitkin, a textile designer, and her partner, Osbert Parker, a film and animation director, have a studio each on the ground floor of their north London home, which overlooks the vast Victorian cemetery in Highgate. Triple-height windows dominate the shared downstairs lounge area (Parker's is to the right of the double bass, a prop from his first film). → Photograph: Michael Franke/Guardian

It is sparsely furnished with 20th-century classics, including Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona chairs. Sliding doors open out on to the garden, creating a huge indoor/outdoor space that’s perfect for summer parties. 'It’s great for urban wildlife watching, too,' Pitkin says. 'We see foxes, owls and woodpeckers.' → Photograph: Michael Franke/Guardian

Pitkin has bagged the larger space, sandwiched between the lounging area and a leafy front terrace, above, accessed through a pretty bay window. It is filled with swatches of her pop colour textiles (available from etsy.com); paints and supplies are stored in an antique glass-fronted cupboard from Les Couilles du Chien. She found the steel rail for her scarves at Muji. → Photograph: Michael Franke/Guardian

Across the way is Parker’s studio, painted cobalt blue with a floor-to-ceiling picture window that looks out on to the back garden and courtyard. He also has an uninterrupted view from his studio through Pitkin’s and right on out to the front terrace. As a result, in summer, the entire ground floor swirls with fresh air and summery scents drifting in from outside. → Photograph: Michael Franke/Guardian

The couple’s careful demarcation of live/work space has enabled a healthy relationship to blossom. 'If our work and home life crossed over, it wouldn’t have worked nearly as well,' Pitkin, above, says. 'Ossie teaches, too, so he’s in and out, but when he’s here, we always stop work and have lunch together.' → Photograph: Michael Franke/Guardian

They share the lounging area between their studios when necessary, Pitkin using it for painting, Parker for making animated short films – these often demand that up to 10 or so crew members be comfortably accommodated, and the space fits the bill perfectly. The kitchen, above, and living room are on the first floor and the bedrooms, along with a new bathroom, have been relocated to the attic. Off the first-floor kitchen is a sizable balcony that overlooks the back garden. On hot days, the couple and their two young children bring out a rug, daybed and piles of Pitkin’s velvet pillows to take advantage of the suntrap. 'I worried we’d be overlooked,' Pitkin says, 'but the trees from the cemetery provide great cover.' → Photograph: Michael Franke/Guardian

There’s another, smaller balcony off the first-floor sitting room, above: the family use this space mostly for summer breakfasts while drinking in the view of the historic Waterlow Park opposite. The park was bequeathed to the public in 1889 by philanthropist Sir Sydney Waterlow as 'a garden for the gardenless', though that’s hardly something Pitkin and Parker ever need worry about. 'At this time of year,' Pitkin says, 'our balconies and outdoor areas come into their own.' Photograph: Michael Franke