Step inside: new Netflix series Amazing Interiors features a bedroom waterfall and a Russian doll-style home within a home

The 12-part series launches on the streaming service today. Prepare to have your minds blown...
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Jess Denham25 July 2018

They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, and the same is true of a house.

From an under-the-bed waterfall to a Russian doll-style home within a home, Netflix’s new 12-part series Amazing Interiors confirms the old adage, revealing some of the world’s most remarkable interiors hiding behind unremarkable exteriors.

Expect to have your mind blown by a full-size doll’s house with a Hello Kitty kitchen and a merry go-round in the living room; homes with their own skateboard halfpipe, snorkel tank and backyard rollercoaster; and an industrial-style property built from eight shipping containers welded together.

TIME TRAVEL

John from Essex, spent 25 years and £1million transforming each of his 13 rooms to reflect a different time and place in history.

Stepping inside his home, named Talliston, is like entering Narnia through the wardrobe, with something imaginatively wonderful at every turn.

Essex's best-kept secret: Talliston is an interiors wonderland
Netflix/Barcroft

From the Fifties New Orleans kitchen and Victorian Christmas dining room to the Cambodian treehouse loft, the attention to detail is impressive.

“Talliston is like a living novel,” says John. “Each room has its own character, look and feel and then you turn the page and start the next chapter.”

TWO HOMES IN ONE

In New Jersey, architect Adam has turned his 19th-century, green-shuttered wooden cottage into a “ship in a bottle” by building an aircraft hangar over the top of it for an extra 3,000sq ft of space.

He describes the mix of traditional and contemporary design as “some fake piece of history”.

It’s certainly memorable; a bathroom has been scaled to three-quarter size for his young children and the former living room is now an outdoor decking space with the original fireplace still in situ.

“In the words of Ben & Jerry, if it’s not fun, why do it?” he says.

WET THE BED

David, an architect, took the idea of a water feature to the next level in his Manhattan apartment by installing a waterfall cascading from his bedroom into the living room beneath.

“During my travels to Japan I used to go to Kyoto to see the temples and I was inspired by some of the water features I saw,” he says.

“Instead of having walls and doors to separate functions, I wanted water to form that transition between work, living and sleeping.”

HIDDEN GLAMOUR

Dino and Marianne from Maastricht in the Netherlands have converted the top floor of an uninspiring Sixties tower block into a luxury penthouse.

The couple knocked through the internal walls of the 6,500 sq ft space, previously used as accommodation for student nurses, and raised the ceilings.

The Seventies-inspired interiors feature warm wood panelling, polished concrete walls, marble bathrooms and retro furniture.

“We didn’t want an ordinary house, we wanted something special,” says Marianne.

Retro flair: Dino and Marianne's Dutch penthouse is on-trend elegant 
Netflix/Barcroft

EFFORTS PAID OFF

Back in the UK, Londoners Rosie and Joel realised that the only way to afford living in the city was to move into a rusty boat on the Thames. They spent two years waking up with icicles hanging over their heads before saving up enough to start restoring it.

The next year involved working 90-hour weeks transforming the 120-year-old former oil transporter into a chic riverside home brimming with personality.

The flooring, complete with old red tape, was reclaimed from a school’s gym floor and cost just £150. The taps were made out of old plumbing copper pipes.

“Every penny we’ve earned has gone into this project,” says Joel.

Tough cookies: the couple put their alls into restoring the boat
Netflix/Barcroft

AMERICAN GOTHIC

Then there is steampunk artist Bruce and his wife Melanie, who converted an abandoned Massachusetts church into a sprawling home and business premises, living in the ground floor while using the main cathedral space as a gallery to exhibit his artworks. One $40,000 sculpture hangs from the church ceiling.

Explore some of the most breathtaking projects in the gallery above and watch Amazing Interiors on Netflix from today, Friday 20 July.