A 100-Year-Old Brighton Apartment Inspired These Designers to Embrace Its Past

When buying a home, the phrase “location, location, location” is often the first consideration, and for designers Anthony and Brett Calvert-Harrison, it is quite the most important one. They chose to sign the deed on a 1,000-square-foot apartment in a Victorian-era building in Brighton because the seaside city holds a special significance to them. “We met about 20 years ago in a club in Brighton,” says Brett. “He lived near Chichester, and I lived up in Surrey, so Brighton seemed to be this interconnecting point for us both.”

The home, however, was on the aesthetic verge of collapse, and they had their work cut out for them. “It was quite unloved, as it had been rented for many, many years,” Anthony notes. “But we came here, we saw it, and we were impressed by the volume of spaces and the ceiling heights.” So they snapped it up and spent the next year transforming it into the quietly comfortable home of their dreams that’s completely inspired by the building’s history.

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A Grand Room With a Purpose

Some call it a living room, but this design duo calls it a reception room, and that’s because it is the first space one sees upon entering the home. “This was one of the main reasons—the sole reason, probably—why we actually bought this apartment,” Brett admits through a laugh. This also happened to be the space that needed the most work in terms of making smart use of the space, which is quite grand.

“It was important that we were to have a lot of micro-zoned areas within the room,” Anthony notes. “And what that allowed us to do was have a separate living area, a separate dining area, and then an area in our window where Brett and I will quite often have breakfast at weekends.”

Immediately after establishing a layout, Brett and Anthony replaced the fireplace, which was in the Arts & Crafts style and, according to them, did not fit with the history of the room. “We wanted to change it out to something that was a lot more sympathetic in its form and in its character. So we went for a classic Victorian arch insert, and typically they would have had a marble surround in here, but we opted for a timber,” Brett says.

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A Little Kitchen With a Lot of Character

Don’t be fooled by the enormous size of the reception room because the rest of the rooms’ square footage is nowhere near it. Take, for instance, the kitchen, which is just big enough for one person to squeeze in and chop some veggies. “Because I do all the cooking and Brett tends to be puttering around, there wasn’t actually much we could do with this space in terms of rearranging or space planning,” Anthony explains.

They did, however, perform small changes that made a big difference. The duo replaced all of the countertops, raised the cabinetry, and added open shelving. “With the styling in here, we wanted to keep it quite fresh and utilitarian, but also a little bit layered,” Brett adds.

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Dinner for Eight

One of the charming vignettes in the reception room is the dining area, which may look small, but it comfortably seats eight. Sadly, though, they couldn’t find the perfect table to accomplish their goal, so they did what any designer in this predicament may do: They had one custom-made. “We needed something that was longer than standard but also shallower,” says Brett. “But we had this one made by my father, who’s a blacksmith. So it’s got this central pedestal design with these kind of fork legs. So they’re kind of out of the way when they need to be.”

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Some Drama Above the Bed

Though the pair’s style is hardly maximalist, they did want to go a bit bolder in their bedroom, starting with the Arts and Crafts-style wallpaper that they printed in a custom colorway. They also wanted to draw the eye upward given the height of the space. “But to kind of further enhance the size, what we ended up doing was this half tester above the bed,” says Anthony. “We found a vintage trim and applied it to the edges there. But because the bed itself isn’t so tall, it was a great opportunity to introduce some much-needed fabric within the space.”

The wallpaper certainly gives this room the oomph it needed, but they still wanted it to be pared back in the right ways. “It’s a little sanctuary for us. We kind of wake up every day, we see it, we have a coffee in bed, kind of mull over our thoughts while we pull ourselves together, and then we tend to start our day,” explains Brett.

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A Spa Without a Window

The sanctuary extends beyond the bedroom and into the bathroom, which boasts a very spa-like feel. What’s more, it’s a total 180 from what it was before, which was a very 1980s-style space in a bad way. “We stripped out the bathroom. We wanted a double vanity, a big shower, and good lighting,” Brett says. “What this bathroom doesn’t offer, though, is any natural lighting,” Anthony adds. “So to us lighting was really, really important. We wanted to make sure that all of our lighting was the same color and it was all dimmable, and that we could offer that warm, spa-like feeling, and we managed to achieve it.”

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A Playful Place to Stay

Given the fact that the guest bedroom is not intended for the residents of the home, Brett and Anthony wanted to have a bit more fun in here. Anthony says, “We wanted to be playful in here because, for a guest, you want them to leave and go, ‘Oh, do you remember that detail or do you remember that fabric?’ or something quite quirky about a space.” Mission accomplished, and they achieved their goal with a custom bed frame, an antique table, and warm wallpaper.