WHEN Ian and Claire Hogarth bought their South Kensington basement flat in 2002, it had not been touched since 1936. The peeling walls dripped with damp – a fan was on permanently to alleviate the smell – and it had concrete floors, but no telephone line nor television aerial.

In just four months Ian turned the £350,000 property into a bright, stylish and ultramodern space – now housing the couple, their five- and eight-year-old children and Hogarth Architects, Ian’s practice.

Measuring just 1,475 sq ft, this is compact living. But Ian waved his architectural wand and made the flat lighter and seemingly bigger. He demolished the supporting wall of the 80ft corridor: “A big statement,” says Ian, in his Yorkshire accent. “But the structural opening allowed me to move the kitchen into the corridor and make the living area open plan.” He also removed part of the roof at the back, creating a courtyard and natural light for the bedrooms. “I wanted the space to be sensual and light.”

He made a “Blackpool illuminations” corridor – using a playful lighting feature that alters its colour from green to purple and blue – and put an ever-changing sequence of rainbow lights in the children’s bedroom, illuminations under sofas and pink fluorescent tubes behind the bath panel.

“One Cardio System computer-controlled button operates the lights, heating, music and security,” laughs Claire, a former picture editor. “You can access it from anywhere in the world with a mobile. Ian’s still experimenting with different settings and colours.”

Going further in the name of big, bright and light, Ian introduced glossy white rubber floors throughout and white Corian kitchen surfaces with a white basin (all for visual continuity), and painted everything white to reflect the light. Even the bespoke plywood and white formica dining table was put at the window as a “light bouncer” and the grey – and therefore light-sapping – plasma screen was carefully concealed.

Everything is hidden behind glossy white doors, enhancing the illusion of space.

Shiny white-lacquer IKEA cupboards run the length of the corridor, including one that is set on its side above the recessed mirror over the breakfast bar.

Until Ian moved his office into the flat, one of these cupboards acted as his workspace.

Introducing warmth was also important in transforming what had been a dingy and cold dungeon-like space. Ian lay expensive underfloor heating everywhere. “We keep it on permanently,” reveals Claire. For the living area, Ian commissioned supremo fireplace architect Henry Harrison (the Platonic Fireplace Company man who invented pebbles as fuel) to design a feature “shelf fire”. It complements the simplicity of the shelf of green slate salvaged from a derelict building in Cardiff. White pebble-effect wallpaper is hung alongside it.

The flat is a place full of surprises. In Ian’s home- office, you find employees, papers, computers, showreels and plans.

But past the children’s quirky bedroom “pavement wall” – made of lights with blue glass lenses set into concrete – you see dinosaurs through ship’s portholes and a seascape mural.

The living area is cool and calm with white walls and white Panton chairs. But it is also where Ian meets clients for presentations, projecting his radical refurbishments via the plasma screen.

But this room has a further surprise: unscrew the table’s legs, lift off the table top and push the beautiful low-slung SCP orange sofas to the sides – and the area becomes the couple’s party venue.

IN THE clean, corridor kitchen you find blue and orange tiles, builder-built brown and turquoise units and classic Bombo bar stools. But one step further and you are in the couples “bordello” bedroom. “It’s a night space,” Ian explains. “It is the darkest room, so we decorated it highly.” Previously, it was white with white shag pile but last year the couple painted its ceiling fuchsia – and hung Florence Broadhurst 19th century revival wallpaper featuring galloping horses on reflecting silver paper. The room also has purple chiffon curtains and a Maisonette painting-by-numbers screen of flowers above a purple B&B Italia bedhead. “I dyed that. It’s the only thing I did in the flat,” admits Claire.

Much has been imaginatively achieved with more style than shekels. The Jacuzzi bath in the children’s bathroom was rescued off a friend’s rubbish heap; the mosaic tiles in the couple’s wet room came from bankrupt stock – and because they ran out of red ones, Ian finished the wall with a white mosaic cross.

In their bedroom, IKEA mirror cupboards were covered with sticky plastic film to look like sandblasted glass. “We had a limited budget and ran out of money,” explains Ian. Claire adds: “Now we hire the flat out for fashion shoots.”

Before the couple bought the apartment, they spent four years trying to acquire an enormous subterranean council garage in west London. They had obtained planning permission to build a lateral flat in it. “I still hanker after that space,” says Ian.

Claire replies, pointedly: “Maybe we will get it when we have sold this place.”

“Oh, are we on the market?” asks Ian, surprised.

The completed flat has recently been valued at a cool £750,000.

HOW TO GET THE LOOK
Ian Hogarth Hogarth Architects, 61 Courtfield Gardens SW5 0NQ (020 7565 8366; info@hogartharchitects .co.uk; www.hogarth architects.co.uk).
Intergrated Intelligence, for computer-controlled lighting and other house systems (07956 827586).
The Platonic Fireplace Company, for fireplaces (020 8891 5904;www.platonic fireplaces.co.uk).
Minimalist pioneer Henry Harrison sells modern fireplaces and undertakes one-off commissions (020 8891 5904)
Borderline wallpaper from Florence Broadhurst (020 7823 3567)
Maisonette – for similar paint-by-numbers pictures to the one featured in the Hogarth bedroom- (020 8964 8444; www.maisonette.uk.com)
To hire out your home for fashion shoots, contact Lavish Locations (020 8742 2992; www.lavishlocations.com)
Lasarcroft, for rubber floors (01482 229119)
For the SCP, Michael Sodeau orange sofa, call 020 7739 1869.