Step inside a biophilic home

When first-time buyers Paloma and Chris bought their “dusty, crumbly Victorian terrace” in North Wales in August 2023, they knew they had their work cut out for them. In a state of disrepair, with no kitchen or working bathroom, the house needed a complete renovation. After receiving quotes from builders that were high above their expectations, they decided to tackle the reno themselves – making their already challenging project a whole lot trickier.

“We knew we had a lot of work to do, and apart from the plumbing and electrics, we have been involved in it all,” says Chris of the project so far. “From new steels to replacing joists, restoring floorboards and knocking down our entire back wall, it’s been a whirlwind of a year.”

They’ve been charting their renovation journey on their Instagram account, @restoringnumberfour, sharing everything from mood boards to chimney removals and the reveal of their first completed room, the master bedroom.

The vision for the property is a “modern Victorian house that is built with sustainability and biophilic living in mind” and the couple have big plans to introduce natural elements throughout the property. “We love the emphasis on natural light and creating a harmonious indoor/outdoor feeling in a home,” Chris says, “so I find it vital to try and incorporate these concepts into a living space to balance this out.”

With skylights and lightwells, the couple plan to improve the level of natural light in the space, before adding plenty of plants to create a link between the outside and in. “We’re both big believers that plants play a pivotal role in completing a room and making you feel happier. Very often a room doesn’t look quite right until some life has been introduced.”

For the already-completed home office, biophilic design was a big inspiration. The couple are amateur filmmakers and spend lots of time editing footage, so a room that inspires creativity was on the cards. Bespoke desks, a colourful gallery wall and plenty of greenery help to bring the space to life. “We wanted the room to feel vibrant, full of energy and ideas, with the many plants acting to increase our happiness and creativity for the times we are spending editing behind the desk,” Chris says.

Being busy people, they decided to pick low-maintenance plants that had simple care requirements, so they could spend more time admiring the greenery than tending to it. “Patch has a great system to help you choose the right plant for the space and your plant-parenting abilities, which made it super simple,” Chris explains. “We took the advice from the Patch experts and mixed up the space a bit, using hanging plants like Rapunzel the Devil’s Ivy in higher areas, with other larger plants like Chaz the Monstera Deliciosa and a little bit of luck with Penny the Chinese Money Plant.” Our Striped and Speckled pots added an extra pop of colour and texture to the room.

Elsewhere in the home, they plan to incorporate links to nature wherever possible. Living in an inner-city neighbourhood, the couple have limited access to green space, and so plan to introduce greenery into their garden to help the local pollinators. The garden and kitchen will be separated by floor-to-ceiling bi-folding doors, creating a visual link between the foliage outside and the plants indoors. “We want that vital connection with nature with us when we wake up in the bedroom, are sitting watching TV or having a cup of tea in the kitchen.”

Before that happens, the couple have more practical matters on their hands: Autumn’s job is to make the house watertight, so they can complete the bathroom and kitchen. “Be prepared for DIY underfloor heating, tiling, carpentry and everything in between,” says Chris. “We’ve promised our parents a Christmas dinner in our (completed) kitchen this year, so I guess we better get cracking!”