House Style with Emma and Ross Perkin
After showing us around their adapted Victorian home in Stoke Newington, Emma and Ross Perkin of Emil Eve architects share their house style.
You’re happiest at home when…
Pottering, gardening, making, drawing.
We always have little projects on the go and are most content when absorbed in creative tasks.
How would you describe the interiors of your house?
Colourful, calm, crafted.
We see our house as an on-going project and enjoy changing the furniture and objects around, designing and making new pieces of joinery and planning the next project for our home.
If you could only save one thing, what would it be?
The paintings by Emma’s granddad which perfectly capture childhood holidays in the South of France.
What was the last thing you bought for the house?
A new pea-green two-seater sofa. We can’t quite bring ourselves to call it a snuggler, but we are pretty excited about snuggling on it…
Top three coffee table books?
In The Wilds by our friend Nigel Peake. He trained with us to be an architect but ended up moving into drawing and illustration. We have a lot of his prints up around the house and love his work.
A Garden and Three Houses. Jane Brown’s book about Peter Aldington’s inspiring Turn End.
Square Eyes by Anna Mill and Luke Jones – it’s amazing how beautiful dystopia can look!
If money was no object, what changes would you make?
We’re dreaming of converting the loft space into a mezzanine sleeping area with a small roof terrace… adding a fourth little garden to the house!
You’re having people over for dinner: what do you cook?
Ever since visiting Japan on our honeymoon we’ve been trying to perfect our ramen. We love trying different combinations of toppings and flavours.
What does a Sunday here look like?
Lazy morning, ‘French’ breakfast (croissants, jam and coffee) then heading to Springfield Park, our favourite local, with the kids on bikes and the kite if it’s windy. A film in the evening, or off to Hackney Downs to meet friends and enjoy take-away spritz from El Garito while the kids play.
What are the best things about the neighbourhood?
That it’s a quiet little oasis between Stoke Newington’s upmarket homeware stores and restaurants and Clapton’s lively pop-ups and wine bars – we get the best of both worlds. That we don’t need a car – our kids go to school nearby and our Dalston studio is a five-minute bike ride away. That our neighbours have fully supported our vision to turn the parking space outside our house into a community garden and that we have created something beautiful together.
How long will you be here for?
A good few years more. We’ve invested ourselves in the house and the neighbourhood and love living here. Not to say that we don’t spend our evening’s browsing land for sale and dreaming of building something from scratch one day…
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