The house is Grade II listed, but the owners were pleasantly surprised to find that the two reception rooms on the ground floor had been knocked into one spacious, light-filled room. When the terrace was first built, the sitting room would have been located on the first floor, with the ground floor divided into a kitchen and small parlour.

A happy set of circumstances – unintended, as is so often the case – meant that they bought the house and then put their existing one on the market. It took them a while to sell their own property, so their daughter moved in for a few months, which meant that they were able to spend time thinking about how they would renovate. The time lag proved invaluable, allowing them to plan out the changes carefully before jumping in. Luckily the weather was very good, so the experience of ‘camping’ in a couple of rooms and living in the garden was an enjoyable one. It also made the tricky process of downsizing and slimming down furniture and possessions a little easier and meant that they were able to start work on the garden.

Their builders converted the basement into a makeshift kitchen and bathroom while the major work was completed. Painted a glossy white throughout it is now a very useful extra space, used as an art studio and workroom.

The house had not been touched for over 25 years and so was in need of a thorough overhaul. They could also see an opportunity for extending the kitchen out into what had been a small half-covered courtyard. This has made the ground floor area much bigger and more usable and even enabled them to create a light-filled vestibule, or tiny orangery (or rather a ‘satsumery’) that leads out to the back door. The glass panel is an elegant addition and separates the kitchen from the entrance at the back of the house. It is double glazed and so creates a thermal barrier between the kitchen and the outside wall at the back of the house. This, together with under floor heating, makes the kitchen a very warm room during the winter, which is handy because the rest of the windows, an intrinsic part of Georgian architecture, remain single glazed. The original window at the back of the house now provides a view from the sitting room to the kitchen, and so light floods through from one end of the building to the other. The kitchen feels especially airy and bright thanks to the lantern light that they installed in order to bring in as much natural light as possible.

The builders initially renovated and decorated the basement, which was used as a makeshift kitchen and bathroom. During the renovations they discovered a cast iron pole that turned out to be the sole support for the bathroom that is now above the kitchen. They have kept the unnervingly thin support, which resembles an ornate Victorian pole dancer’s pole, and is used more as a decorative feature now. Thankfully, there are now proper steels in place to support the upstairs bathroom.

The kitchen has been cleverly designed and is almost unfitted; a combination of cupboards and a dresser unit have been used for storage instead. A large cupboard houses, and hides, the washing machine and dishwasher. It is tricky to get a successful unfinished look in a kitchen, so the unit housing the sink and cooker is fitted, but stylishly so – one of the units curves gracefully across a corner. The paint has been stripped off the opposite wall to reveal the remnants of the original blue colour and the bricks have been left exposed, preserving the patina as both a mark of history and a wonderful textural surface. The rest of the walls, in fact all the other walls in the house, are painted white, but the effect is not at all stark. The colour appears to alter as the light changes in the different rooms, picking up hints of colour and reflecting them back. The impression given is that the walls have been painted in slightly different shades.

The same carpet has been used throughout and this, together with the calm white of the walls, serves to unify the whole interior and blends one area seamlessly into another. Using a neutral backdrop has meant that the internal features are beautifully highlighted and colour is introduced through the furnishings, objects and artworks.

Plants feature significantly on each floor, either as healthy looking real plants, or charmingly painted onto the walls in certain areas. As you enter the upstairs bathroom, a wonderful hoya plant frames the large window above the sage green roll-top bath and gives a view out to a lilac tree in full bloom. There are ingenious ‘bottom up’ blinds on the window, so that both privacy and the view are maintained.

The master bedroom is spacious and extends out through a dressing area into an en suite Jack and Jill bathroom via an elegant glass panelled door. The windows also have ‘bottom up’ blinds, together with stunning curtains in a wonderful blue-grey fabric, redolent of the sea or sky in stormy weather. A prominent and original feature is the witty and creative use of a famous Gainsborough painting as a bedhead. This clever idea has set a trend and they can now be made to order directly from the makers of the fabric. The only piece of original plasterwork is in this bedroom, as the whole house had to be re-plastered throughout.

Another large bedroom can be found on the top floor, with stunning views across the garden to rooftops beyond – the only reminder of town life. This room has a serene and understated elegance, enhanced by the verdigris-coloured bed, which is almost an artwork in itself. It was bought in France for around £20 many years ago at a brocante and, despite its romantic, delicate looks, has a strong framework underneath. This main guest room is simply furnished with a large wardrobe from ’Tasha Interiors, painted a “smudgy green” by the owners, and a Mark Maynard desk.

The small guest bedroom is charming and equally restful, housing a single bed and a large built-in cupboard, which allows for extra storage space.

Artwork features prominently on the walls of the staircase. Along the top of the landing, as you descend the stairs, there is a paper sculpture by Jack Milroy, featuring alpine flowers cut out to stand up from the book they were printed in. Further down the stairs larger artworks shine out boldly and bring character to the space.

The only working fireplace is found in the living room, where a collection of tiny birds march along the mantelpiece towards a wave of hands. This end of the room has a touch of grandeur, created by the imposing pelmet that was installed originally to hide a missing piece of cornice work – a deliberate obfuscation to hide the fact that they couldn’t get the cornice to match across the gap. A large ornate mirror completes the look and artfully manages to juxtapose with more modern features. A clever use of space has been the installation of combined radiator cover and bookshelves, that apparently came in flat pack form.

A small hallway leads out to the front door via an elegant arch, made larger and more welcoming. A pile of hats teeter quirkily and the door is framed by a eucalyptus tree, painted on the wall to remind them of one that used to grow outside.

The owners have used a simple palette of blues and greens in the detailing and furnishing of the interior, soft greens and blues – the colours of water, foliage and sky. This cool scheme creates an air of relaxed calm, which echoes subtly throughout the whole of the house, unifying spaces and allowing the interior to breathe.

This charming Georgian townhouse has been renovated with imagination and a sense of proportion, something that we could all do with, especially when downsizing to a smaller space. In this fine example, the owners have managed to tap into both these attributes and have created an understatedly elegant home, brimming over with timeless grace and style.