Like so many people, Alexandra Evans and her husband, Tom, had always been cautious about color: “We had to think about resale value, so we painted everything white,” she says. Then the couple bought a 1914 fixer upper in Richmond Park, in southwest London, for themselves and their three children, ages 4, 9, and 13. Feeling as if they had found their “forever home,” they decided it was time to welcome in the bright and the bold. Working with a trusted carpenter and crew, they embarked on the remodel themselves while also holding down their day jobs: He’s a lawyer and she’s the…

Proof of a well-considered space: Years after a remodel, its design stills feels fresh and exciting. That’s how we feel about Cold Press Gallery, an apartment and exhibition space housed in a former Methodist meeting hall from the 1800s. We first wrote about it back in 2012 (see Christine’s report here), when artists Kate and Ben Lawrence opened the gallery, located in the market town of Holt in rural Norfolk, about three hours north of London. A few years later, when we spotted the building for sale on The Modern House, we found ourselves enamored all over again. Ready to see…

I don’t have much of a bar going, just three bottles of special aperitifs, but the other day I noticed that the collection looks a little sad. It’s not because of its modest proportions but because the bottles are standing there without a tray. See, a bar is not a bar without a great round wood tray. With it, bottles of liqueur are chic. Without it, they resemble a dorm room display (not chic). The realization led me down a path of wood tray research; here is the best of what I found. Above: The Nickey Kehoe Round Wooden Trays…

For an object lesson on how to create a charming first garden on a tight budget, we take you to a small backyard in London’s Crofton Park neighborhood. There food writer Mina Holland and musician Freddie Denham-Webb have created an oasis in the city—complete with an American-style Big Green Egg grill. What prompted the American barbecue invasion? “We’re on a street of what I figure were quite experimental Victorian houses. Ours is a purpose-built maisonette, and opposite there are cleverly laid-out cottages. It feels like it was a bit of a testing ground for small-space living,” Holland recently told The…

The rafter square, commonly called a “Speed Square” (a proprietary name like Romex and Kleenex), is a tool used by carpenters for a variety of tasks. Tom Silva provides some of the basics of this tool in the ASK TOH segment, How to Use a Speed Square. Here, post frame builder Kyle Stumpenhorst shares his top 10 uses. Between Tom and Kyle, you’re sure to learn a trick or two - whether you’re a professional contractor or not.https://www.thisoldhouse.com/how-to/tips-and-tricks-using-rafter-square

What does it take to find the romantic ruin with your name on it? For London art director Sandy Suffield the process was much like online dating: “For months, I obsessively trawled websites dedicated to derelict buildings. I looked at an embarrassing number,” she says. “And after a couple of abortive attempts with two other buildings, both chapels, I bought The Engine House. What compelled me? Um, er…I fell in love.” Built at the turn of the 20th century to supply electricity to a nearby stately home near in Suffolk, two hours northeast of London, the brick structure was abandoned…