Jill & Chris……………… |

Who are you? Jill Pantony, yoga teacher and artist. Chico Salter, music quiz master & DJ (any resemblance to university lecturer Chris Anderson is purely coincidental)

Why Margate? The Return of the Natives.

How do you define style? Just watch Mad Men.

If you were an animal, what would you be? Jill: A monkey. Chico: A duck – it can fly and it can swim. What more can you want from life?

Favourite place to think? Jill: Meditate instead, on my yoga mat. Chico: In the downstairs toilet – a place of exquisite tranquility.

Object of desire? Jill: A decent etching press. Chico: A Technics SP-10 turntable (as used by the pre-digital BBC)

Favourite Shop? Jill: James Decor Ltd, Cliftonville, for all my DIY and timber needs. Chico: Grammar School Records, Rye. My suggestion that they move to Margate old town fell on deaf ears.

What building would you like to be locked in overnight? Jill: In one of the Maunsell forts off Whitstable with lots of candles and a camera. Chico: Peel Acres near Stowmarket home of the late John Peel’s record collection.

Where do you go for a nightcap? Jill: Fort’s is on our way home, a cuppa and some warm treacle tart with ginger ice cream. Chico: Fort’s, Barnacles, The Lifeboat, my wine cellar (the cupboard under the stairs).

What would buy if you won the lottery? Jill: Northdown House and Park. I would house the Thanet museums there, make the gardens appeal to all generations and fill the ponds with fish. Chico: A future for Margate.

What do you collect? Jill: I have lots of collections and I’m trying to stop. . Chico: Vinyl records.

What couldn’t you live without? Jill: Yoga, it won’t die on me Chico: My wife Jill.

Best and worst thing about your renovation experience? Jill: Worst thing: Admitting Chico was right about replacement windows. Best Thing: Seeing the house transform into an art gallery last October for Hazelwood Open House. Chico: Worst thing? Sanding floorboards. Best thing? Finishing sanding the floorboards.

First Margate memory? Jill: Having an operation in Margate hospital Chico: Bobby’s Department Store and their pneumatic tube system.

Biggest extravagance? Jill: Shoes, feet are so important Chico: Restaurant fine dining: 3-4 times a year keeps my gluttony at bay.

Best advice you’ve been given? Jill: Listen to your inner voice. Chico: When you move into a new house, make up your bed before anything else.

Favourite space in your house? Jill: My studio, I can lose hours in there. Chico: each space has its turn throughout the day.

Would you say that your house is now finished? Jill: No, I don’t like endings. Chico: We are but custodians of the never-ending project.

Describe your perfect day? Jill: A walk at low tide from Botany Bay to Margate, then Jean’s roast dinner at Bebeached, looking across to Margate and a film at the Carlton. Chico: A good sea swim in Westgate, a good meal in the old town Margate.

What are your goals for 2013? Jill: each day to meditate for fifteen minutes and have one creative endeavour. Chico: To lose enough weight so I can fit into Breuer & Dawson’s fine vintage tailoring.

ROUND UP: Jill & Chico have created a light, bright, calm home in this Victorian property, where creativity is key. A space to create, work, meditate & live. Their home is warm and welcoming and reflects both of their passions, a space has been sensitively created for each. This home is about a union of a live / work lifestyle & creating a calm serene environment in which to do both.

WHERE TO BUY: James Decor Ltd, 292 Northdown Road, Cliftonville, CT9 2PT.

FIND OUT MORE: Jill teaches yoga to small groups in a private studio in Cliftonville and above the Carlton Cinema Westgate. Tel 07800501494. Find her on Facebook: Jill Yoga Thanet. or visit her website www.jillsyoga.jimdo.com

You can arrange to visit Hazelwood Open House www.hazelwoodstudio.co.uk

Chico hosts a monthly music quiz at Fort’s cafe www.fortscafe.co.uk