After showing us around her Victorian terrace house in Balham, south west London, Ayshea McCormack, founder of The Small Home, shares her house style.

You’re happiest at home when…
I am pottering around my garden, dead-heading flowers and watering the plants.

My first coffee of the day is in hand, the rest of my family are still in bed, and there’s chilled music on in the background. Bliss! I’m a lark, so I love getting up early in the morning. I have all of my best creative ideas at that time.

If you could save one thing, what would it be?
A painting I bought in Buenos Aires 15 years ago.

I bought it on the first day of my travels around South America and carried it wrapped in cowhide and string for eight weeks across Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. It’s a very well-travelled painting – and it isn’t small!

What is your favourite living space around the world?
Artist Olivier Lubeck’s apartment in Marseille.

Olivier’s home is a feast for the curious eye – it is full of interesting items that he has slowly collected during his life. He lives a humble, slow-paced life, taking the time to appreciate the beauty in the everyday. He is a very inspiring man and spending an evening with him, eating the simplest of food on his balcony overlooking the buzz of Marseille, is a complete joy.

What was the last thing that you brought for the house?
Plants!

I’m slightly obsessed with plants. My twenties were spent buying clothes, my thirties buying baby clothes and my forties are all about plants and my garden. I wonder what I’ll be buying in my fifties?!

Top three coffee table books?

Abode by Serena Mitnik-Miller and Mason St. Peter. Cook Beautiful by Athena Calderone. Gathering by Kristen Caissie.

If money was no object, what changes would you make?
I would create the most amazing en suite bathroom and dressing room.

Living in a London house where my husband and I also run our businesses means that space is compromised. Having a luxurious en suite bathroom with a Carrie Bradshaw-style dressing room would feel incredibly grown-up. I might even have to invest in a silk dressing-gown to swan around in!

You’re having people over for dinner: what do you cook?
Something on the Big Green Egg BBQ.

It’s my husband’s latest purchase, which I mocked until I used it. I’m yet to taste anything that has been cooked on this ceramic BBQ that isn’t amazing. I attempt to keep dinners with friends simple but can’t seem to help overcomplicating things in the end. Athena Calderone’s Cook Beautiful is my go-to cookbook – everything looks and tastes amazing.

What does Sunday here look like?
As slow and quiet as possible.

Sunday mornings are serene; my girls and husband play cricket so I can potter in peace. We usually have a big late lunch followed by a nice walk or a snooze on the sofa, depending on the weather.

What are the best things about the neighbourhood?
Our friends.

We spend nearly every Friday night with our neighbours. The kids dress up and perform dance shows, while the adults have a well-deserved glass of wine and discuss the week. It has taken us some time to find our people in Balham, but I feel very lucky to have made real friends who I know will be in our lives forever.