“It Works Hard but Still Feels Airy” — Inside a Couple’s Clever, DIY Small London Home

Celeste Bolte, founding director of SALT, and engineer Pete Fisher weren’t sure their move to a 46sqm/495sqft London flat, even one with rare garden access, would work – until they began transforming it themselves, one room at a time. With invaluable help from the architectural firm Loader Monteith and plenty of hands-on renovations, they built a home that does more than its size suggests without feeling small. Every surface earns its keep, from the fold-down desk to the built-in bench seat, yet nothing feels fussy. Bright, practical, and a little improvised – the kind of place where their dog Percy naps in the sun, drinks turn into dinner, and the DIY, imperfections included, feels woven into how they live.

Celeste and Pete's floor plan created using Rayon. Explore the floor plan design here.

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The Kitchen: A Handmade Layout That Really Works

The kitchen is where the couple spend most of their time, but originally it was split by awkward cabinetry that blocked the room and cut off long stretches of bench space. Radiators lined the walls, making it difficult for two people to pass through or work side by side. “The previous kitchen just did not function at all,” Bolte explains. “The team at Loader Monteith really helped us plan the space around making it flow.” From that starting point, the couple reworked the layout themselves, opening the space so they can move easily around each other while cooking. They installed DIY underfloor heating to remove bulky radiators, built their own timber joinery, and added open shelving to keep sightlines clear to the living room and garden. Integrated LED strips provide warm, adjustable light at night, turning their hard-working kitchen into a calm, communal space.

The Living and Dining Area: A Flexible Space for Relaxing, Eating, and Hosting

In the dining area, the oak bench the couple built holds linens, blankets, and spare sofa covers, eliminating the need for a separate linen cupboard. Beyond it, the living area centres on a sofa platform made from reclaimed timber by East London workshop Fallen and Felled, which works with trees that have fallen in parks across London and other cities. Beneath the platform, a sliding clothes rack keeps storage tucked away. Along the wall, IKEA BESTA units topped with matching hardwood keep storage streamlined, and following their architect’s advice, they kept furniture raised off the floor to maintain a sense of openness in this shared living–dining space.

The Bedroom: A Walk-Through Wardrobe and Simple Storage

The bedroom reflects the couple’s resourceful approach to the renovation. They fitted a pocket door to open up the room and built walk-through wardrobes from IKEA Pax units, using a curtain instead of doors to keep the space easy to navigate. Their handmade headboard, which doubles as a shelf, adds storage without adding visual weight, helping the room feel calm and uncluttered.

The Office: A Fold-Down Desk in a Quiet Corner

By removing an old linen cupboard and its cluttered tangle of electrical wires, the couple carved out space for a compact office nook tucked into what had been a dead-end corridor. “Being creative with making storage space elsewhere in the flat, we’ve been able to turn this into its own little space,” Bolte explains. Fisher built a timber fold-down desk from leftover joinery, complete with rounded edges and a monitor, keyboard, and mouse ready to plug in. They kept the original electrical panel in place, covering it with a simple pop-off box made from spare board. It’s a tiny space, but it gives them a dedicated spot to work without a full setup and pack-down each time.

The Bathroom: Second-Hand Finds, Thoughtful Upgrades

What began as a small, awkwardly arranged bathroom became far more workable after the couple built out a wall to hide the plumbing and tuck in some much-needed storage. That change allowed them to hang the basin and shift the lighting onto the wall, giving the room a gentler glow at night. They added a mirror-fronted cabinet for extra storage and a rotating shower screen that’s easy to clean. With natural airflow from the window and a strip light beneath the cabinet, the bathroom now balances practicality with their relaxed, unfussy approach to updating their compact home.