Ben’s London house

Ben and Charlie live on the top floor of an old Georgian house in Bloomsbury that now provides the headquarters to a renowned artistic society. The flat was added and extended out of old attic garrets in the 1920s, and now provides a stunning, light-filled interior with a view over the leafy square.

The flat, in contrast to The Old Parsonage, uses layers of more contemporary fabrics, furniture and lighting – but combined with a bold use of antique furniture and engravings to create a mood that is at once modern and traditional, restful yet richly-coloured.

An early Georgian House

This house is more of a cottage – with tiny rooms and a wonderful, diminutive scale – in a fabulous terrace of listed early Georgian houses on the edge of Highgate, then just a small country village now consumed into London.

Our clients are a young family who had lived in the house for a number of years and loved it, but needed to make it better fit for their lifestyle. A dark galley kitchen was ripped out and we tore off awful rear extensions before remodelling to create a new lower-ground floor kitchen and, at the ground floor, an octagonal bay bookroom/study in place of a miserable and barely-used WC.

Listed building permission was achieved and we moved slowly into construction phase and then to decoration. The owners had a sense of fun and adventure but no preconceptions, and we worked with them to achieve a house that was full of charm and surprise. As we worked together, it emerged that they had a love of colour and pattern and the living rooms are richly coloured and packed with fun. Bedrooms are calmer and more restful but belong happily with the whole ensemble.

A London Pied-a-terre

This decoration project took a bland, recently renovated apartment in Chelsea and transformed it, with a brief to create a warm, cozy and interesting interior for a couple who visit London occasionally.

The drawing room has stunning views looking across the rooftops of Old Chelsea. The large room was divided to create two separate seating areas, one centred on an existing fireplace, the other around a large television. Background colours, at the client’s request, were kept simple, airy and neutral, but pattern and texture brought in to the room in cushions, lamps and other furnishings.

The dark entrance hall was painted a deep plum colour and hung with 18th century architectural engravings to provide a dramatic arrival in the apartment. A series of bedrooms were decorated to provide soft, restful, gentle interiors for the owners.