'It would have been madness to undo our changes'

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Nana Themis, born in Norway and trained in London, works as interior designer for the furnishing store Purves & Purves. Together with her architect husband she owned a large detached Edwardian house in Willesden before her two boys (now in their thirties) left home to start university.

Themis and her husband decided to look for a smaller place. However, they couldn't find any house in any street that they preferred to the one they were selling.

"We had done a lot of alterations to turn that property into the perfect family home and it would have been madness to undo it all just to stay on," says Themis. So they bought a similar house in the same street and converted it into four flats, keeping the ground floor and the garden for themselves. "That garden was the most important thing for me. Getting out of London is such a hassle and some open space gives me the feeling I can breathe," she says. "We've also installed two bathrooms and a third loo."

The new conservatory is where they hold family reunion meals and entertain their friends, and a sofa bed in the sitting room is for guests and family visitors.

Contacts: Purves & Purves, 220-224 Tottenham Court Road, W1 (020 7580 8223; www.purves. co.uk). Chaplins of London, 477-507 Uxbridge Road, Hatch End, Pinner (020 8421 1779; www.chaplins.co.uk), and in SW3 and W1.

Geoffrey Drayton, 85 Hampstead Road, NW1 (020 7387 5840; www.geoffrey-drayton.co.uk), also in Epping. Morris & Co, 387 The Arches, Geffrye Street, E2 (020 7739 8539; www.morris andco.co.uk). Simon Horn, 117-121 Wandsworth Bridge Road, SW6 (020 7736 1754; www.simon horn.com).

Alternative Plans, 9 Hester Road, SW11 (020 7228 6460; www. alternativeplans.co.uk) with a new showroom in W11. Harvey Jones Kitchens (0800 917 2340). John Lewis's furnishing advice service is offered at all its branches and at Peter Jones, Sloane Square (08456 049 049; www.johnlewis.com).

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