Interiors: fit for a family – in pictures

Architect Helena Rivera lives in this Victorian house in south London with her husband and two young sons. The ground floor – a kitchen, living- and dining room – is the family’s social space, and has many different uses. 'We rearrange the furniture depending on what we’re doing,' says Rivera. Stackable chairs, an extending table and armchairs that fold flat, all feature. The 50s Penguin armchairs, by Dutch designer Theo Ruth for Artifor, were a vintage find (try The Modern Warehouse for similar). Rivera re-covered them in 1950s style Kvadrat fabric. 'The chairs are designed as two interlocking pieces.' The 50s sofa is Danish,' says Rivera. 'Our house is quite small, which forced me to look at more compact furniture – Danish 50s pieces are a natural fit.' Skandium has similar smaller sofas such as the Poet by One Collection or EJ180 by Erik Jørgensen. Photograph: Rachael Smith

Rivera found this 50s G-Plan table on Gumtree – it folds out to seat eight. The stacking chairs are by Ercol and were bought at a modernist fair at Brockwell Lido (try Ercol’s Chiltern range from John Lewis). The dining space is nominally separated from the living area by an alcove painted in Blue Verditer from The Little Greene Paint Company. The painting is by Columbian artist, Juan Antonio Roda. Photograph: Rachael Smith

Rivera, an architect (asmallstudio.co.uk), designed the plywood tongue and groove kitchen. A local carpenter made the cabinets, and she painted them Kitchen Green from The Little Greene Paint Company. If you want to buy off the shelf, try Yew Tree Designs for a similar kitchen. The Deco sideboard, from After Noah, serves two functions. 'I use it as storage and as a worktop,' says Rivera. The yellow light over the sink is a 60s desk lamp Helena bought online from Belgian vintage store Ztijl. 'If you’re prepared to shop outside the UK you can really save money on vintage pieces – the same light would be three or four times as expensive here,' she says. But note that if you buy lights from abroad you will need an electrician to rewire them to meet British standards. Photograph: Rachael Smith

Rivera converted the hallway into a library and study. 'It’s a great way to make the most of a narrow space,' she says. Books line the walls floor to ceiling. The shelves are bespoke. Those opposite the console desk are only 15cm deep (about half the depth of standard shelves), designed to hold paperbacks. The others are 20cm deep for larger books. 'I like the way the shelves don’t dominate the space; it becomes all about the books.' For bespoke shelves try your local carpenter or a specialist shelving company such as The London Cabinet Company. Photograph: Rachael Smith

A small folding desk acts as a workspace in the book-lined hallway. Photograph: Rachael Smith

The bathroom’s matt black and white tiles are based on the house’s originals, from the Mosaic Tile Shop. 'Vintage originals would cost around £200 per sq metre. These copies are much cheaper, and because they come on sheets are much easier to lay too.’ The two nudes on the wall are by artist friends. Photograph: Rachael Smith

Bathroom shelving is built into an alcove by the tub, and tiled. Photograph: Rachael Smith

Rivera designed a garden studio three years ago, where she works. 'I like the fact I have to put my shoes on and commute to work,' she says. The concertina doors allow her to open up the space when she works collaboratively on projects. 'You don’t need planning permission as it’s essentially a shed,' she says. Photograph: Rachael Smith

Photographs of the grandparents of Rivera’s husband, Hernando, mounted on plywood, sit on a windowsill beside a vintage 50s Swedish vase and a handcrafted Columbian wooden vase. 'In the 30s and 40s in Bogota there was a custom of photographing people for the newspapers. The pictures would then be mounted and given to the people who were photographed as a gift. These are of my husband’s grandparents and they’re typical of prewar Columbian high society,' she says. Photograph: Rachael Smith