Olive Loves Alfie owner's funky home

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Ashlyn Gibson’s house rocks. From the minute you walk through the front door, it’s “Ooh” around this corner, then “Ahhh” around the next, and “Oh, my god, that’s such a clever idea”. Ashlyn and her six-year-old daughter, Olive, live in a terraced house in the trendy north London neighbourhood of Stoke Newington. From the outside, it’s a house much like all the others on the street, but my goodness, inside it’s a different story altogether. 

“This was my dream house,” says Ashlyn. “A little old lady had lived here for years in just two rooms. The rooms were either untouched or the original features had been boarded up. It was the perfect renovation project, but I didn’t want to rush it, so when we moved in, I simply whitewashed the lot and then just lived in it for a while to see what individual characteristics would emerge.”

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