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\u201cReuse is not a design trend; it\u2019s an attitude, a mindset, and a behavioral approach that isn\u2019t just relevant today\u2014 it\u2019s vital,\u201d says Maria Speake. Back in the early 1990s in Glasgow, she and fellow architecture student Adam Hills watched historic buildings being demolished. \u201cThe madness of this process wasn\u2019t just about unnecessary waste, it disregarded the common sense that used to underpin construction: valuing materials and craft.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response, the couple founded Retrouvius, their now 29-year-old London-based salvage company, that all this time has been leading by example. \u201cIn the simplest terms, we rescue materials, furniture, lighting, and fixtures and continue their life,\u201d they write. \u201cIncreasingly, we understand our mission as something more fundamental: to enable and inspire reuse, not just as a design preference but as a way of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam oversees the reclamation side of the business, and Maria runs the in-house design studio, applying rescued components to inventive remodels  (House & Garden UK <\/em>named her designer of the year in 2019). A recent project that caught our eye is this Georgian townhouse in Notting Hill. It belongs to a successful costume designer with a love of patinated surfaces, old wood, and peace and quiet. Maria and team transformed her quarters into \u201ca country home in the city.\u201d<\/p>\n

Take a look.<\/p>\n

Photography by Tom Fallon courtesy of Retrouvius.<\/p>\n


Above: Formerly a series of \u201cboxy dark rooms,\u201d the garden floor was opened up by relocating the stair to the back of the lounge, shown here. Other key moves: exposing (and repairing) the original beams and introducing a rescued 17th century stone fireplace. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was originally from Somerset,\u201d says Maria of the mantel. \u201cWhen we first got it\u2014from a wonderful architectural salvage dealer called Marcus Olliff\u2014I tried to put it in a house in Somerset, but our clients thought it was too raw, which is, of course, what we love about it.\u201d<\/p>\n


Above: The house is located near Portobello Road\u2014the costume designer bought her velvet-upholstered armchair on Goldborne Road, at the far end of the Portobello Market.,

Above: The costumier loves living with old textiles, of course, but has an aversion to painted walls: as Maria puts it, \u201cshe feels a deep sense of gloom about flat emulsion.\u201d To give the surfaces depth and nuance, the rooms are limewashed (learn about the finish in Remodeling 101: Everything You Need to Know About Limewash Paint).
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Above: The paneled door in the back of the lounge leads to a tiny guest bath. \u201cTo distract from the scale, the walls here are covered in an old wallpaper, we think it\u2019s 1920\u2019s but it\u2019s possibly 1940\u2019s\u2014it\u2019s outrageously glamorous,\u201d says Maria. \u201cThe door is clad in oxidized copper sheets with amazing color variations and texture. Adam salvaged these from a building in Soho.\u201d
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Above: The lounge opens to the dining area and kitchen, which references the costumier\u2019s grandmother\u2019s kitchen in Italy. Reuse, Maria points out, starts at home: the dining table, and Wishbone chairs were already part of the place, as was the Falcon range (which originally stood where the stone fireplace is now).,

Above: The cabinets are faced with 18th century marquetry floorboards that came out of a building in Vienna. The backsplash is made of slices of onyx that Adam bought from a fireplace and sculpture restorer who was retiring.
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Above: This end of the kitchen overlooks a new sunroom. The marquetry cabinet fronts have a light limewash finish \u201cto keep them pale\u201d and the rafters are treated with a fire retardant paint.
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Above: A tall refrigerator and two fridge drawers are built into the new back stair partition. The flooring throughout is a mix of the original pine boards\u2014\u201dlifted for insulation and leveling purposes\u201d\u2014and reclaimed wood: \u201cyou\u2019d be hard-pressed to work out which is which,\u201d says Maria.
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Above: \u201cThe old stair had that vibe of cramped servant\u2019s stair,\u201d says Maria. \u201cThe hierarchy of arrival and ease had to change.\u201d,<\/p>\n

The interior window, she notes, is framed in copper and probably dates to the 1910s: \u201ccopper lights are a little more refined and urban than lead lights.\u201d<\/p>\n


Above: The laundry, with it cupboards of reclaimed maple, is a \u201cwee temple to wood.\u201d
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Above: The cupboards are inset with a band of sculptural antique Dutch cigar molds and custom vents. \u201cOne of the delights\u2014and frustrations\u2014of salvage is that we have a finite quantity of everything, so we always have to change and adapt, but it helps make projects unique\u201d says Maria.
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Above: In one of the guest rooms, the bed is set in a nook paneled in reclaimed pine cheese boards (a longstanding Retrouvius speciality, these were used for maturing cheeses, hence the faint circular patterns, but, Maria assures, are odor free). The cutouts are small glass windows.
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Above: The room has a built-in dresser and, just out of the photo, a compact sink from an old train car.,

Above: There\u2019s a steam shower with cedar fittings and Moroccan-style tadelakt walls. Read about tadelelakt in Remodeling 101.
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Above: The basin is made from an old wood bread trough. The copper fixtures are from Waterworks.
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Above: The master bedroom has limewashed walls and original moldings. The rug is Swedish. Note the 1930\u2019s glass door:  Maria says you can find designs like it on UK salvage website Salvo.
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Above: The room pairs two longstanding Remodelista favorites: the Moroccan Pom Pom Blanket and Ercol Stacking Chair (see also Updated Classics from Ercol).,

Above: Centuries and styles mix in the master bath. The tub was in the house, \u201cso whoopie, perfect to be reused, albeit in a new location,\u201d says Maria.
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Above: An antique English sideboard serves as a washstand. (\u201cA great place to look for English furniture is the Decorative Collective website, says Maria.) The vintage enameled sink came out of the Retrouvius warehouse: \u201cWe were using it to clean teacups and old light fittings,\u201d says Maria. \u201cOur client used it to explain what she envisioned and we realized the basin had found its new owner.\u201d
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Above: The zellige tiles are from the Mosaic Factory: \u201cThey\u2019re cut in a way that gives them a subtle geometric pattern.\u201d To see more of Maria\u2019s designs, go to Retrouvius; the company shop and showroom is in Kensal Green, London. <\/p>\n

Some more projects that make artful use of vintage and found materials:<\/p>\n