1. What direction does the room face, and how do your sash windows affect the light?Victorian terraces are often built in long rows facing the same direction, so front and back rooms can have very different light quality: one flooded with morning sun, the other permanently in shade. Original sash windows also tend to be smaller and more divided than later Edwardian glazing, letting in less light overall, which changes how a colour reads compared to a swatch held up in a brigh

There’s a decision that comes up in almost every period home project I work on, and it rarely has a simple answer. Do you restore the original feature, or do you recreate it?

You’ve bought the period property of your dreams and moved in, but now realise that the Victorian charm you fell in love with is hiding below many layers of (probably leaded) paint, peeling wallpaper and layouts that aren’t practical for modern family life.