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Homes

54 Read more reviews and listings and book tickets at timeout.com/london

Hom

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The house that eBay built

F lat envy. It’s hard to walk into the perfect mid-century home that Swedish couple

Cecilia Hammarborg and Konrad Lindholm share with their 18-month old son Albert without covetously stroking the furniture. What’s even more sickening is that they

have decorated their rented flat in Hackney Wick on a

Seen enough lavish Chelsea mansions to put you off decor mags for good? Take inspiration from this Hackney Wick home, furnished on a shoestring from eBay, salvage yards and skips. Cath Clarke gets some tips from the owners. Photography Britta Jaschinski

shoestring. From shelving made out of scaffolding planks to a 50p lampshade hanging over the coffee table, the pad is packed with eBay steals, design hacks and canny finds.

When Konrad moved in ten years ago the flat, in a former textile factory, was an empty shell. ‘In those days Hackney Wick was totally empty,’ he says. ‘Now the rent is twice as much.’ He’s the chef and owner of Floyd’s restaurant in

Dalston (a side of salmon is curing in a smoker on the roof . Cecilia is a fashion designer whose coats are as enviable as the flat. Both take pride in using local products and minimising waste in their work, and their desire to consume sustainably is reflected in their home. Their biggest decorating challenge was the wood flooring – Victorian teak parquet snapped up for £50 on eBay and DIY-installed. ‘When

people move into houses, they rip it out and sell it,’ says Cecilia. ‘So you can pick it up in big batches. When we bought it, the wood was covered in bitumen. It took days to clean it.’

Celia is a woman with something money can’t buy: amazing Scandi taste. Take the geometric rug on the floor. It’s Ikea, but flipped, with the back of the rug on display. ‘It just looked better that way,’ she shrugs.

The dining table was from

WORKROOMKonrad ‘I built a workroom where there was an open shelving unit – with a door and a pop-down bench. The yellow wallpaper is dead stock from the 1960s which I bought on eBay.’

SHELVESKonrad ‘The shelves are made out of scaffolding planks. There’s a safety rule that scaffolding planks can only be two years old, then they have to get rid of them and get new ones. So you can pick them up quite cheaply. I got these for £3 each. A friend helped me put the shelves together. It took us two days.’

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B E A B E T T E R B I D D E R

CECILIA’S TIPS FOR BUYING VINTAGE FURNITURE ON EBAY‘Don’t search for “vintage”. Search for “old”. If someone’s selling a vintage

sofa, the price will be higher.’

‘Always click on “used”, otherwise your search will be filled with shabby-chic,

“vintage-style” and all that crap.’

‘Sort by “nearest distance first”. You pay less for furniture outside London, but you can spend ten hours in the car

picking it up!’

‘Remember that you can always re-sell. We bought a leather sofa that was too

big for our flat. We sold it for £300 more by taking nice pictures,

and dressing the room.’

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In association with

a neighbour, and the desk chair found in the street and recovered with tweed that Cecilia was using to make a coat. Konrad grew up around boats and has a thing about winches, so a window shelf of plants can be hoisted up and down on ropes from an old naval vessel.

Like all renters, there’s a limit to how much they’ll spend on someone else’s property. ‘We’ve definitely spent more effort than money on the

flat,’ says Konrad. But they love the feel of vintage furniture. ‘When you buy old, you can get top-of-the-line. Things that we couldn’t afford the modern version of.’ But it’s not just necessity, he’s also sentimental about his finds. ‘I just like old things.’

KITCHENKonrad ‘The kitchen is ’50s. I bought it for £120, but I’ve seen them on eBay for over £1,000. It’s old and I could do with tightening everything up, but it’s working pretty well. When we move, we’ll take it with us.’

See more pics of the property attimeout.com/e9flat


13.03.2015 13:18


Homes

Hom

es

How to be a homeware

hacker

HOW TO HACK

1 Take the tabletop of whatever you’re using as a base unit,

find the centre and draw a circle there big enough to accommodate the waste pipe. Draw two smaller holes where you want the water pipes to run. If you need to shorten the legs of the unit, do it now.

2 Take a drill with a hole saw (see tool kit, below

attachment the same size as your circles, or slightly larger, and drill through the top of the base unit. You may need to drill the wood from both sides to finish the hole.

3 Varnish (or paint all the wooden components and allow

them to dry. This process is vital on untreated wood to avoid it warping once your sink is in use.

YOU WILL NEEDBase unit (any table or similar which is tall enough . Pictured: Bekväm kitchen trolley, £35 . www.ikea.comCounter-top basin Pictured: Sorrento basin, £44.95. www.betterbathrooms.comMixer tap of your choice Pictured: Oxford Basin Mixer Tap, £49.95. www.betterbathrooms.comPlus waste pipes and bottle trap if not part of your sink kit. www.diy.comWood varnish or paintPictured: clear varnish by Ronseal, £6.89. www.leylandtrade.com

TOOL KITHacksaw (if shortening the unit’s legsPaintbrushDrill with hole saw attachmentFrom £2.69. www.wickes.co.uk Pencil and tape measure

4 Assemble your base unit, place your sink in position, and run the

waste pipe through the central hole. You can anchor it with sealant around the base, but you shouldn’t need to as the weight of the sink should be sufficient to hold it in place.

5 Put your taps in place, and run the water pipes through

the smaller holes. Your pipes can now be connected to the rest of your plumbing. Find out how on YouTube, or splash out on a plumber.

Spruce up your bathroom sink for less than £150, by refashioning an Ikea trolley into a vanity unit

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13.03.2015 13:18

hands in the air,

feet on the property ladder,

ignore the dodgy decor

happy

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Hom

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Homes

Property predictor

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It could be… CatfordThis corner of south London ain’t glam, but it’s got green space and potential. Katie Rosseinsky looks at SE6

THE FIRST SIGN The neighbours have already poshed-up

You’ve missed the boat for Peckham (or ‘Peckney’ – which now rivals its

Eastside cousin for artisan bakeries and pop-up pizzerias , Brockley and

Forest Hill. As Neil Laman, of Foxton’s South East puts it, ‘If lots of people

are talking about an “up-and-coming” area, it’s probably too late.’ Despite

being bordered on all sides by rapidly gentrifying hotspots, NO ONE is talking

about Catford. Yet. But mark our words, they will be...

THE SECOND SIGN The houses are big

and beautifulJust look at them. Street after street of the kind of period property that’ll have you drooling Elephant’s Breath vinyl

matte. Our man in Foxtons agrees: ‘It’s not uncommon to find a decent-sized,

two-bedroom house for £300,000 – that would only get you a one-bed

down the road in East Dulwich.’ There’s also a stonking new Barratt

Homes development, which might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but is a clear vote of confidence from the developer.

THE THIRD SIGN The tube is coming...

possibly At the end of this month, we’ll find

out if the fabled Bakerloo line extension gets the go-ahead, which

will put Catford Bridge station on the Underground map. As everyone knows, new tube line = guaranteed neighbourhood pimp-up. It won’t be until the 2030s, mind. But time flies when you’re having fun in Catford.

In the meantime, you have trains into London Bridge, Charing Cross and

Farringdon in less than half an hour.

THE FIFTH SIGN There’s the obligatory

gastro boozer The promise of the kind of local that sells fancy cider and Kettle Chips will be of great comfort to the wavering

purchaser. In Catford, the fancy pint fancier can hit The Catford

Constitutional Club for cask ale, vintage-y decor and some allegedly

haunted toilets. The Blythe Hill Tavern was recently named best

pub in London by the Society for the Preservation of Beers from the Wood.

And you don’t mess with them.

THE FOURTH SIGN There’s parks and

recreation It’s within wheezing distance of the smoggy South Circular, but Catford

has enough parks to keep Phil Daniels ’appy for weeks. Local vantage point Blythe Hill boasts panoramic views

stretching from Canary Wharf to Kent, while Ladywell Fields is a leafy stretch

following the river Ravensbourne. Catters is also very bike-friendly –

Catford Cycling Club dates back to the 1880s. This all has the potential

to lure familes to the area.


13.03.2015 13:18

Wake up to breathtaking panoramic views over the London skyline – the ever-changing backdrop for your spacious private terrace and impeccably finished living spaces. XY Air is the jewel in the crown of the iconic Le Corbusier-inspired XY development.

Prices starting from £450,000*

*Prices correct at time of going to press.

REGISTER FOR MORE DETAILS VISIT XYAPARTMENTS.COM OR CALL 020 3320 8220

Delivered by <Zf]^g!l"<hffngbmr"Bgo^lmf^gm"Ikh`kZff^

KING’S CROSS ON A NEW LEVEL

Computer generated image of an interior at XY Air


13.03.2015 15:55


Hom

es

Homes

Let there be lightIt’s time to ditch the paper globes and invest in some ceiling lamps. Katie Dailey picks the perfect pendants

LIGHT CUBEPaola six-light cluster in

copper, £150.www.bhs.co.uk

RIPPLE EFFECTSplügen Bräu lamp

by Flos, £320.www.ariashop.co.uk

HIP TO BE SQUAREAxial pendant by Bec Brittain x

SCP, £300.www.scp.co.uk

PRIMARY COLOURSBluff City pendant light by Jonah

Takagi x Roll & Hill, £510.www.scp.co.uk

MAGNIFICENT SEVENMabel seven-light cluster in

concrete grey, £150.www.bhs.co.uk

WICKER, MANToscana pendant, £10.50

(was £15 . www.cargohomeshop.com

MATTE EFFECTCopenhagen pendant by Space

Copenhagen, £199.www.hauslondon.com

FUNNEL VISIONFoscarini Aplomb lamp by

Lucidi e Pevere, £292.www.hauslondon.com

PLEATS, PLEASEAmbrose Orikomi shade by

Blaanc, £42.www.heals.co.uk

GLASS ACT Phane ceiling light by Original

BTC, £259.www.johnlewis.com

CONCRETE IDEAMarie pendant lamp by Marie Michielssen for Serax, £51.

www.monoqi.co.uk

SHIP SHAPEFishing ceiling light in white

metal, £89.www.westelm.co.uk

WOUND UPØ22 Helix Shade by Tom Raffield, £105.

www.tomraffield.com

THE BIG DIPPERCloche shade in pale grey enamel, £22.50www.nooklondon.com

SMOKIN’Marlowe smoked glass

ceiling light, £60.www.habitat.co.uk

BUDGETBUY

BUDGETBUY

BUDGETBUY


13.03.2015 13:20

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