Inside a Whimsically Renovated English Apartment That’s Probably Not Haunted

Interior designer Sophie van Winden lives alone in her apartment in Margate, England, but she might not be the only soul that inhabits the place. “This area has many mediaeval crypts. The plumbers had to spend a fair bit of time under the floorboards sorting out all the pipes. One day they found a Victorian children’s pram, all rusted and bent. They were terrified!” she shares, insisting that despite the discovery, she is fairly (but not completely) certain that the home isn’t haunted.

The living room is a smorgasbord of vintage and contemporary finds. Sophie bought the table and armchair secondhand and had the latter reupholstered in Romo fabric to give it a cozy lived-in feel. The cork flooring is special for more reasons than one; it’s from First Floor, the flooring company her parents set up when she was a child and which her mom continues to run. A Moroccan rug sourced via Etsy adds a dash of pattern to the pared-back setting.

Not that a phantom spirit would have done anything to deter Sophie. After all, the home was a rarity in a town like Margate, a seaside settlement in southeast England. Situated on the lower ground floor of a 200-year-old converted chapel on a quiet Georgian square, it had thick stone walls, towering ceilings, big rooms, and charming metal columns. Plus, its proximity to the beach, restaurants, shops, and Margate’s famous art galleries made it all the more special. “I loved how unusual it was. It instantly reminded me of a New York loft,” adds the designer, who runs London–based interior design studio Owl alongside cofounder Simone Gordon. She knew that with a little work, she could easily put her stamp on it.

At one end of the living room is an indigo Hackney sofa by Hay, enlivened by cushions by Flots, Sophie’s new company dedicated to sustainable cushions and objets d’art. A wall hanging by HKliving graces the wall behind.

The living room belies its shoestring budget. “I planned scrupulously over a year so I could make the most of every penny,” says Sophie, who splurged on the DTiles embellishing the bench and saved on the IKEA storage baskets underneath. A pink artwork by Charlotte Taylor and a weave by Studio Mond animate the wall. The lamp is an HKliving design.

Sophie didn’t have to look far for inspiration. “Daily walks on the beach with my rescue dog, Django, meant that ideas came from everywhere—from the sand formations and chalky cliffs to the discarded shells and mossy sea walls,” she enthuses. As much as she wanted to evoke the landscape outside her window and the Margate beaches she had come to love, she also, in some way, wanted to pay tribute to the Spain of her childhood. (Her parents had met there and the family had regularly summered there when she was growing up.) She wanted her home to be a haven of all her best memories.