Interiors: Keeping it firmly in the family

Dec 13 2007 by Debbie Johnson, Liverpool Daily Post

WHEN you find a great home, you don’t want it to go to strangers. Michael Jenkinson passed his on to his brother, Nicholas. Debbie Johnson reports

NICHOLAS JENKINSON’S flat in Sefton Park has something of a family tradition attached to it – he bought it from his brother, Michael.

Michael bought the three-bedroomed period apartment when he qualified as a doctor. Nicholas was more than happy to take it over when he left.

He says: “It’s a great place in a great location. I had always visited Michael and really liked the place, so I was definitely pleased to get it for myself.”

The home on Aigburth Drive comes packed with the kind of character charm you associate with the grand old houses of the area.

The lounge is open plan with a kitchen and dining area, and is flooded with light from large windows. The high ceilings also give the room a feeling of space and style.

Nicholas, who lives there with his girlfriend, Joanne Cartledge, has painted the walls white in most rooms to maximise that sense of space.

It also provides a dramatic backdrop for artworks – such as the three-part landscape canvas that dominates one of the living room walls.

The curtains on the large window are a deep red, and the floors a beech-coloured laminate. The couple have two dark brown leather sofas.

Nicholas says: “The fact that it is all open-plan makes it feel even bigger, and it is quite a big place, anyway.”

The dining area has a beech dining suite, and the kitchen has stone tiled floors and fitted oak units. Nicholas likes to cook, and says he is a bit of a dab hand at Chinese and Indian, “although I must admit, sometimes a take- away tastes even better . . .”

The home is clean and uncluttered, with the minimum of mess – not that Nicholas would have any excuse for a messy home, as he runs his own cleaning business, Merseyside Environmental Cleaning Services Ltd.

He launched it two years ago, and at the beginning was doing the cleaning himself. He said: “I did my MBA and after that I was looking for a good business opportunity. I had a friend doing this in Doncaster and it is a solid thing to do, with low start-up costs. To start with, I did a lot myself, and still occasionally do. I have seven staff now and we do all sorts of cleaning – from residential to organisations like housing associations, factories, apartment complexes and building sites. Anything that needs a good clean, really. And when the need is there, I’m not afraid of donning the old Marigolds and getting stuck in.”

Nicholas uses one of the flat’s three bedrooms as an office. He says: “This is where I run my empire from.”

The master bedroom in the apartment is again painted white, with built-in beech wardrobes, beige bed linens and soft furnishings. The carpet is cream. Above the bed are three abstract canvases done in shades of brown. Nicholas says: “This is a great room – it’s just really light and bright.”

The third bedroom is used as a guest bedroom for visiting friends and family; and the bathroom comes with unusual black tiles on the floor.

The apartment, which combines modern convenience with character, also has a fantastic location, on the edge of Sefton Park. Nicholas says: “The living room has a wonderful view – right over the boating lake in the park. We love going to the city centre, to the restaurants and bars and to enjoy the nightlife, and it is only 10 minutes away, but on Lark Lane we have really good pubs and places to eat as well.”

* FOR more information on Nicholas’s cleaning service, see www.mecsltd.com