You get a sense that there is something special hiding behind the front door of Laura Low’s large terraced home. From the outside, a glimpse of the soft gauze of the Roman blinds and bold black-framed sash windows suggest it is certainly a home of someone with an eye for confident design and a love of colour. Laura and her husband Jonathon’s home is just that, a house that gently unfurls itself around you, a house that feels both comfortable yet aspirational, with a spirited calm – much like the coastal town of St Leonards in which it sits, just a short walk from the town’s shingle beaches.

This is not the sort of home that shouts about itself. Instead, it invites you to explore, offering up charm and elegance with owners that have respected the past, but brought the building and its interiors firmly into the 21st century; from the original timber floors, now re-stained and re-coloured, to the modern new terrazzo tiles both inside and out, to the high Victorian ceilings now reimagined in contemporary tonal colourways. It is a home where each room has been determined with a sense of style as well as the considered curation of objects that really matter. It’s a house that quietly reveals thoughtful new interventions and the careful hand of someone who lives and breathes interiors.

It will be no surprise that Laura and Jonathon both have deep roots in design, Jonathon as a contemporary antiques dealer and Laura – previously Design Director at Ennismore that includes hospitality brands such as Mondrian, Delano and The Hoxton – who has over twenty years’ experience as an interior architect and designer. Last summer the couple followed their long-held dream and opened PITCH, an interiors shop in St Leonards that has had the whole town swooning, with their amazing eye for contemporary and vintage art, furniture and accessories.

Laura is first to tell you that this house was not always like this. When she and Jonathon bought it five years ago, it had been split into two flats, trapped in a patchwork of 1970s finishes, pine timber panelling, peeling vinyl flooring and an awkward layout that had long lost its Victorian spirit. What drew them were the bones: generous room proportions, large original sash windows, and a space that held the promise of restoration. With their designers’ eye and deep respect for the building’s heritage, Laura and Jonathon saw the potential to strip back and rebuild and allow the house and its original architecture to speak once again.

The result, from the upper ground floor entrance hall to the lower ground family room and first and second floor bedrooms, is a contemporary home that is at once comfortable and durable for everyday life and yet also beautifully considered, a balancing act that Laura has practiced for years in her professional life. Just like walking into their shop, Laura and Jonathon’s home is a visual reflection of their design language which is both assured and eclectic, a space that feels utterly right sitting in Hastings and St Leonards, a hub of cultural dynamism and creativity and now one of the south coast’s most compelling places to both live and work.

What is now the family kitchen was once a bright red bedroom. Opening it up required structural intervention and the insertion of a steel beam, but the result is a space that feels very generous with a natural flow. At the centre of the kitchen sits a sculptural island topped in dramatic dark green Brazilian quartzite, with wonderful veining of petrified tree trunks. Laura designed the island with a softly undulating edge rather than a rectangular hard slab, enabling it to allow for the generous proportions of the original Victorian doors to fully open, and also to soften the room’s geometry. The stone, sourced from a yard in Battersea and cut locally, is both visually striking and deeply practical, a recurring theme throughout the house.

Dark bamboo kitchen cupboard doors were added by Laura and Jonathon, the dark wooden texture grounding the room. Laura has offset the wood with tactile green and yellow ceramic tiles from Mosaic Factory on shelves and the base of the island. Industrial-style radiators also nod subtly to Laura’s years designing hotel interiors. The palette of earthy greens, chalky neutrals on the limed walls and muted yellows, was drawn from a single abstract artwork that inspired the original mood boards for the room, its colours echoed across the space.

A marble-based dining table, sourced in Europe, is topped with a bespoke smoked-glass oval surface, positioned perfectly within the bay of windows that overlook the rear garden of the house. Vintage midcentury dining chairs, rescued years ago from an interiors project of Laura’s, add a layer of personal history. The restored sash windows, throughout the house, have all been fitted with slimline double glazing ensuring the home remains warm, quiet and cocooning, despite its scale. It is a kitchen of restrained and considered glamour.

Leading off the kitchen is a compact pantry and a separate boot room, that once functioned as an awkward shower room. Reconfigured entirely, the boot room serves as a highly practical transition between indoors and out, the perfect place for wellies, dog leads, garden tools and everyday mess. The pantry that leads directly off the kitchen features bold striped floor tiles, that offer a graphic, almost 1950s playfulness, while walls and

shelves have been painted in a soft lemon yellow that lifts the space visually. A small opening that frames a monochromatic vessel designed by local ceramicist Kelly Jessiman, gives a sightline into the hallway and the front door, allowing light to travel through the house and also maintaining a sense of connection – particularly important when navigating family life with a young child.

Beyond the garden room opens a compact and yet perfectly formed urban garden, with a terrazzo paved patio area, terraced flower beds and a beautifully crafted treehouse by Cheeky Monkey Treehouses, built recently and yet already feeling integral to the space. In warmer months, the boundaries between inside and outside dissolve entirely, reinforcing Laura’s belief that good design should support how a house is actually lived in.
The generous kitchen moves seamlessly into the adjoining living room, another former bedroom in a previous life. The original marble fireplace was rediscovered by Laura, having been long buried under multiple layers of paint. During renovation, the fire grate was discovered remarkably intact in the garden and now sits restored in its rightful place in the room, once more.

A bespoke leopard-print sofa, inspired by one Laura admired during her time working with The Hoxton, injects a huge dose of confidence and personality, upholstered in a bold fabric designed by Temperley for Romo. A pair of Italian leather lounge chairs in mushroom, whose worn patina only adds to their appeal, sit alongside a chrome Guéridon, a cabinet by Lane in a textured geometric carved wood design and a 1970s polished metal coffee table. The walls and ceiling are painted in subtly different tones of the same lime wash, created by specialist plasterers and finished in a Farrow & Ball lime paint. Laura has matched the woodwork to the ceiling rather than the walls, a decision that lowers the perceived height and makes the room feel more intimate and enveloping.

Gauze and linen-layered Roman blinds made by local curtain makers Knight’s Interiors, soften the light while maintaining privacy from the street. Planting is used generously throughout the home to bring life and movement into the space. Above it all, hangs a striking Italian chandelier from the 1970s, its heavy cut glass shards scattering light across the room. A convex mirror by Abigail Ahern – a piece that has followed Laura from home to home – reflects available light back into the room and adds a quiet sense of grandeur without tipping into formality.

The hallway and staircase are treated, not as transitional spaces, but as an experience in their own right. Original wooden staircases and bannisters have been stripped and restored, while tutti-frutti style terrazzo flooring and pink hued walls have been used across both the ground and lower ground floors adding visual connection and a sense of fun. The stairs are stained darker than the surrounding floors, grounding the space and drawing the eye upward. As with the main living areas, lighting plays a crucial role here.

Jonathon’s eye for the perfect vintage chandelier can be seen in most of the rooms and hallways, with sculptural pendants creating moments of delight along the route through the house, while artwork, much of it sourced locally, punctuates the walls in every room. The result is a sense of journey rather than passage, each turn revealing something quietly compelling.

The lower level of the house, which had once been damp and uninviting, has been completely transformed into a warm, welcoming usable space for the family. Underfloor water pipes give literal warmth underfoot, ensuring the stone remains comfortable all year-round. A spacious playroom, painted in layered tones of soft sea greens, doubles as the family’s Friday night cinema room, anchored by a generous Loaf sofa.

Storage is discreet, lighting is low and atmospheric, and vintage furniture adds character without clutter. This is a room designed for relaxation rather than display and proof that practical family spaces need not sacrifice beauty.
Upstairs, on the first floor, the principal bedroom is designed as a retreat for the couple. A bespoke upholstered headboard, in a rich green cotton velvet from Yarn Collective, anchors the room, flanked by custom-made ribbed wardrobes crafted by a local joiner. Storage is maximised by incorporating the alcoves, with a clever

concealed shelf hidden behind the headboard housing charging points and everyday essentials. The walls and ceiling are painted in complementary tones, creating a cocooning effect, while dark-stained floorboards add depth and warmth. A vintage Danish style boucle chair introduces softness, while a sculptural pendant light, made from natural loofah, subtly references the coastal location, without resorting to cliché. Artwork is again hung with restrained confidence, allowing the room to feel serene and personable rather than over-curated.

Bathrooms are where Laura has truly released her creative handbrake, with each of the multiple shower and bathrooms throughout the house, letting pattern and colour sing. Visually linking each of the rooms are untreated brass fittings from Perrin & Rowe that will age naturally and develop patina over time. The Water Monopoly coloured sanitaryware has been combined with other pieces by Burlington, tiles and mosaics such as the fabulous dotted mosaic tiles from Reed Harris (which sadly ceased trading in 2025 after 100 years in business), the yellow checkerboard tiles from Domus and the veined Carrara marble tiles from Mandarin Stone make wonderful statements throughout the property.

In the main bathroom, a dramatic black slipper bath from India sits beneath a bistro half curtain. Sophisticated Italian Murano style blown glass shell wall lights sit either side of a vintage mirror. A mirrored half wall hides push-to-open cabinets, keeping bathroom essentials cleverly out of sight. Each bathroom feels distinct, yet all share a common language of texture, pattern and colour, all wrapped up in interior design confidence.
Designed as a room that will grow with their son, the top floor bedroom avoids overt ‘nursery’ tropes. A double bed ensures longevity, while a layered palette creates a playful yet elegant environment. Personal touches include artwork by local artists David Varney and Chiara Perano as well as local gallerist Stella Dore.

A rainbow-toned rug and sculptural lighting introduce joy without throwaway chaos. Storage is generous but discreet, ensuring the room remains calm even as it accommodates the realities of family life with a young child.

Laura and Jonathon’s design philosophy is simple, curating quality pieces from across Europe that remain as relevant now as they ever did. An ethos reflected equally in their own home as in the pieces they select for their shop.

For them both, design is an invitation to think differently about the spaces we inhabit, it is not about perfection, it’s about resonance, choosing things that feel right, that speak to you and make daily routines feel richer. This is an approach that champions a thoughtful interplay between past and present, form and function, quiet restraint and the joy of discovery and a narrative that keeps unfolding, long after you’ve walked through the door. This is interior design at its most generous: personal, tactile, thoughtful and full of heart. Luckily for us all, Laura is expanding her own interior design consultancy, now her son is a little older, whilst also working with Jonathon on the development of their wonderful retail space.

Their next project will be a listed building within the James and Decimus Burton area of early Victorian St Leonards and I, for one, cannot wait to see what design delights they will come up with.

Address Book:
PITCH can be found at 42 Kings Rd, Saint Leonards-on-sea TN37 6DY
Instagram @pitch_st_leonards pitchstore.co.uk
STUDIO LOW – Interior architecture and design – Instagram @laura.l.low