This Victorian property was once a shop, with a house attached. Today, the two parts have been integrated to form a family home, complete with kitchen, utility, dining room, ground floor and top-floor sitting rooms, studio, six bedrooms and two bathrooms.
Julia, who works in fashion education and interiors, her partner, Dan, and their two children moving here in 2018, after swapping London for a slower pace of life in the Malvern Hills.
‘We’d planned to move to Stroud,’ Julia says, ‘but then we viewed this former shop, and everything changed. We loved the shop front, the original tongue-and-groove panelling, the chunky old shelving and simple wooden floors. The house’s unfussy honesty really won us over, and the views were just incredible.’
From shop to living space
A decade before, the main house had served as a clothes shop and café, leaving behind odd additions such as fitting rooms and partitions. Julia and Dan set about restoring flow. ‘We knocked out a jumble of loft rooms to create a lighter, more open space,’ she explains.
Their approach to renovation has been careful and considered. ‘We don’t rip things out for the sake of it,’ Julia explains. ‘We’ve revealed floorboards, kept original details, and tried to make the most of what was already here.’
They've also repurposed the former shop into a creative space, where they hold screen-printing workshops, wreath-making sessions, pop-ups and parties. 'Our vision was always a family home, with plenty of room for making, playing, and hosting friends,' Julia says.
Exterior
With a striking double shop-front façade, Julia and Dan’s home may appear modest from the roadside, but inside it reveals three full floors of spacious living and has a self-contained garden flat, currently used as a holiday let.
Sitting room
The interiors are an eclectic but harmonious blend of rustic woods, mid-century shapes, Victorian charm, pops of colour, woven textures and flea-market treasures.
‘We only buy things that speak to us,’ Julia explains. ‘Second-hand finds stop us being too precious and encourage more creative choices.’
In the sitting room, modern rustic style is blended with subtle Scandi-vintage touches. Panelling the walls keeps the room distinct from the adjacent diner.
Dining room
Simple but eclectic, the dining room features a contemporary wooden table and clear Perspex chairs, alongside rustic wooden doors and a textural rush rug.
The large artwork pulls the eye to the end of the room and creates a dramatic focal point in the space.
Kitchen
The couple inherited the built-in cupboards and generous island in the kitchen – but the space awaits their dream transformation.
‘One day we’ll knock through to the shopfront and create a larger kitchen using vintage fittings and apothecary cupboards,’ Julia says.
Studio
Julia, who works in fashion education and interiors, uses the old shop front as her studio when working on design projects, whether for clients or her own home.
The cabinet is an ex-shop haberdashery display unit bought from a local department store refit sale. The large wooden drawers are filled with fabric swatches, tile samples and paint colour cards.
Top sitting room
By stripping back old carpets to reveal the original floorboards and opening up a maze of small loft rooms, the space has been transformed into a bright, airy retreat.
Main bedroom
Julia has layered her favourite elements – natural materials, soft tones, and vintage treasures – into a bedroom that feels both pretty and full of character.
Guest bedroom
Tucked away at the top of the house, the guest bedroom combines old and new pieces to create a timeless vintage look.
Daughter's bedroom
Julia and Dan made the children’s bedrooms their first renovation priority, wanting them to feel comfortable and at home from the very start.
Bathroom
A top floor bathroom has been given a makeover with classic tongue-and-groove panelling and Metro-style tiles.
