Photographs: Christopher O’Donnell

Time for another home tour, it has been a while and the current pandemic hasn’t made it easy to do home tours but we managed to photograph Kemi’s gorgeous North London cottage over the summer. It was a typically British summer dreary day, but the house is full of so much colour and personality that the brights still popped – just look at the green kitchen! I’ll pass you over to Kemi to talk you through her home, style and everything inbetween.

Tell us a bit about yourself…

My name is Kemi Lawson, I am based in Stanmore, which is a leafy area on the outskirts of London. I am half Nigerian, half Jamaican, 100% Black British. I have two daughters aged 7 and 8 and a husband and we all live in a cottage set in a conservation area. After a career spent in the City, I have recently co-founded The Cornrow (coming soon!),  a home  accessories and lifestyle goods online store. We will sell an affordable edit of beautiful goods tailored to the modern Black aesthetic, for everyone to enjoy. 

How long have you lived here? 

We moved in a week before lockdown! So about six months. We were so pleased (and lucky!)  that the main bits of our renovation and redecoration work was completed just before lockdown and so we could move in!

What work have you done to the property?

Luckily the house was in pretty good nick. It was clear that the previous owners were pretty house proud, so we didn’t have to do anything too structural. Its also a Grade II listed property so we would not be able to do anything too dramatic even if we wanted to! One thing we did do is add some bespoke cabinetry as we knew that as a family of 4 you simply can’t have too much storage. We created a shelving system under a staircase, we built lots of cupboards and I also found a little nook where we built a desk and shelves to make a home office for me.