Home swapping — the chic way

Having quit her job as a property developer to go travelling, Erika had already extended her initial adventure — a last-minute yoga retreat in Thailand — to Vietnam, Cambodia, Japan and the Philippines when she decided to make the most of her beautifully renovated home sitting empty back in Tottenham and swap it with other like-minded travellers.Erika, who converts industrial buildings into live-work spaces, had already signed up to Kindred, a house-swapping platform. When she started welcoming guests she enlisted friends back home to get her set up — not such a huge imposition thanks to the fact Kindred takes care of cleaning and provides bed linen and other amenities.Neil PerryUnlike on a traditional house-swapping platform, when Kindred members open their homes to visitors they build up credits, which they can then “spend” in other members’ homes when they travel. “Some members still prefer to do direct swaps but I prefer the flexibility of the credits system,” says Erika. “Everyone who uses the platform has to share their own home so you can’t just take money, which I think keeps it respectful and encourages trust,” she says. This is just as well for Erika, who says her most valuable possessions are her furnishings — not so easy to squirrel away from visitors. Her one-bedroom flat is elegant and minimal and the objects she does have are thoughtfully chosen. Erika bought the property in 2021 through Modern House, attracted by the juxtaposition of its Edwardian façade and industrial interior. The internal walls had been completely removed from the first floor and ceilings were knocked through to create a double-height space. Having spent her career converting industrial architecture for artists, Erika saw the potential instantly. “I knew the feeling of living here would be exactly what I wanted and that I’d have the space to grow into it and the flexibility to have an iterative approach to the design — it could grow with me based on my interests and what I was up to,” she says. “It was converted in the 1980s and I know I would never have got planning permission for this now so it felt like an opportunity I didn’t want to miss.”Neil PerryIn line with most renovation advice, Erika lived in the space for a year before doing any work on it. She tackled the garden first, adding fences on either side to increase privacy, as well as clay pavers. On the ground floor she installed solid oak boards sourced from Devon and, despite her appreciation of the open-plan design, added a wall — “you could see through to the garden from the front door and I found that a bit too much”. The bedroom was initially on the loft level but Erika converted the entire first floor into a double-height bedroom, using the top floor as a home office. She has since secured planning permission for a roof terrace on that top floor, at which point she says she might switch the layout back so the bedroom opens out onto the open space. Neil PerryFurnishing the space has been an exercise in restraint. “I wanted the volume and light to be the defining characteristics of the house so designing has been as much a process of holding back as of adding things,” says Erika. “At the same time I wanted it to feel a certain way so the furnishings are where I’ve added softness.” Long sheer linen curtains exaggerate the height of the space but soften it at the same time. Hans Wegner dining chairs feel crafted and sculptural. An antique Italian Carrara marble pedestal dining table and Maker & Son Song love seat are other prized pieces. “These softer elements are balanced with brutalist pieces in keeping with the architectural nature of the space, such as concrete side tables and a stainless steel bench, both from Monument gallery in Leyton, which I absolutely love,” says Erika. Another of her favourite destinations is Spazio Leone. Neil PerryUnsurprisingly, Erika’s attitude of restraint extends to souvenirs from her travels —no collection of gaudy trinkets here. “I travel super light so I don’t tend to carry that much around,” she says. “I have some nice volcanic rocks I’ve picked up on my travels and a few wooden vessels and a candlestick holder.”That said, when she cashed in some of her credits on her return to Europe for a five-night stay at a rug designer’s apartment in Palermo, Sicily, she enjoyed swapping design tips with her host. “I was thrilled with it. It had some similarities to my place in that it was quite vertical with a big void and light flooding through. The bones were industrial but it was very layered with beautiful textiles, European antiques, charcoal drawings on the walls, even the bookshelves were incredible — I was torn between seeing more of Palermo and seeing more of the house,” says Erika. The entire five-stay cost her about £220 in fees, which Erika reckons might have just about covered one night in an equivalent level of hotel or holiday let. Neil PerryThe home-from-home aspect of house swapping has other benefits too, including access to genuine locals’ tips — from host’s listings or, as in Erika’s case in Palermo, via Whatsapp — and a more domestic set-up. “I’m very into health and nutrition so it’s nice having a good kitchen and space to exercise, compared with being cooped up in a hotel room. On long travels I found I really took a hit, physically,” she says. While Kindred says it welcomes everyday comfortable homes, it does say it is lucky to have some very beautiful, design-led properties on the platform (including Gustaf Westman’s Sweden flat, which the designer listed last year). These are certainly the ones you see in marketing materials. Erika thinks this aspect combined with its map-view searches — as opposed to the location-based searches of other holiday let sites — has probably worked in her home’s favour given that, outside footballing circles, Tottenham is not exactly London’s top tourist hotspot. With credits still to use, Erika is eyeing up potential swaps in Paris, Marseille and Corsica this summer and plans to keep listing her home too — “but there’s no pressure either way,” she says. Members can even list dates when they are open to enquiries and then decide whether or not to commit if someone shows interest in a swap. “London is a pretty year-round destination so I’m pretty confident it would get booked whenever,” she says. Suddenly holidays seem even more appealing...