OUT OF THE ORDINARY

This Victorian villa in West London may share the same slim multistorey configuration as so many other neighbouring terraces, but behind its classic front door lies a host of confident design choices. Interiors fuse contemporary detailing, midcentury elements and an American preference for colour and pattern with just a sprinkling of English decorative style for good measure.

Here, florals are paired with nubby grasscloth wallcovering; inky tones and plush textiles with design-led prints. The home of Kentucky-born Michelle Hagemeier and her German husband Jan reveals the eclectic imprint of a well-travelled family, yet every element co-exists easily, resulting in a space that is tactile, cocooning and adventurous in equal measure.

The pair lived in this house for a year with their daughter Lilli, before undertaking a renovation. ‘It was a good opportunity to see how its bones settled around us,’ says Michelle, whose first restoration 25 years ago was a modest maker’s bungalow in Portland, Oregon.

Accustomed to large spaces and lateral living, Michelle’s initial instinct had been to buy a period maisonette. But at the eleventh hour, this terrace, with its elegant mouldings and generous windows, persuaded her otherwise. Though the couple virtually gutted the interior in order to refresh the building’s steel reinforcements, living there had taught them that they needn’t unduly alter the layout. ‘We started anew because we didn’t want to band aid structural issues, but we respected the internal configuration,’ says Michelle. The lower ground was a dug little deeper to accommodate a kitchen and snug; the ground floor preserved its flow of double sitting room; the first floor was turned over to a master suite, while three bedrooms and two bathrooms were carved out of the top storey.

When it came to the interiors, the couple’s preferences diverged, with Jan favouring wholly classic schemes and Michelle drawn to more contemporary spaces featuring the odd colour or pattern clash. Their first thought was to hire an interior designer to bridge that gap, but