House and Garden the List
House and Garden cover June 2020

A Bold and Sophisticated Scheme for a Village House

We are delighted to share our latest project, a rewarding four-year renovation involving extensive structural remodelling and refurbishment throughout.  The brief was to create a home that would give a young family the space they all needed for their busy lives, three active boys, parents working from home, and a generous central entertaining space.   Above all, to create an interior style using colours and patterns to reflect the client’s sense of fun and the need to not take life too seriously.

Ground Floor Flow

The entrance hall is covered with an organic wallpaper design by Lewis and Wood, a beautiful pattern, which gives a presence to the house, a welcome to guests, and a sense that you’ve arrived. The colour palette is neutral, tone on tone putty colour – a very liveable, timeless classic.

The new staircase with a dark stained handrail makes a statement, finished with a smart herringbone stair runner from Roger Oates in beige and indigo.   The entrance hall scheme flows seamlessly into the adjoining sitting room, painted in Farrow & Ball Light Grey. There is always a view through, because of the glazed French doors, so it was important that the two schemes worked well together, whilst feeling that each space has its own character and style.

Sitting Room Splendour

The sitting room scheme is based on indigo and hot pink – and we selected bright bold patterns from Kit Kemp’s fabric range at Christopher Farr Cloth – a nod to the client’s love of brave taste and playful style. The sofa is a bespoke piece from sofa.com upholstered in a smart blue and cream weave contrast piped in indigo velvet. The armchairs are upholstered in blue velvet and trimmed in hot pink piping and traditional in style, in keeping with classic country living. The artwork in the room is a mix of traditional seascapes – a true love of the client’s – and bright colourful contemporary pieces. The pink lampshades are from Fermoie, and the bamboo lamps from Pooky Lighting. We used a sofa table behind the sofa to resolve  an awkward space, allowing us to include decorative pieces under the picture as a focal point in the room. To dress the space we used pretty glass candlesticks with grey candles, and a crystal hobnail vase, from our own retail collection, filled with wild garlic from the local woods.

Multi-purpose living Space

Adding a substantial extension at the back of the house added a boot room, and laundry room, as well as a spacious kitchen – dining – living – entertaining space. We chose F&B Inchyra Blue for the kitchen cabinets supplied by Tom Howley, and Phillipe Starck masters bar stools from Kartell in contemporary white as a contrast.

More than ever, clients are choosing to combine hip, contemporary items, with traditional heirloom pieces. Here we’ve retained the client’s own antique chairs, dining table and grandfather clock, which sit so well amongst the modern art, contemporary fabrics and skylight.

We chose Kit Kemp’s cactus design for the curtains, which work beautifully with the kitchen and TV cabinets, tied in with cushions in cactus on the sofa and ochre coloured velvet armchairs. The client’s own contemporary artwork blends with the colour scheme and creates the focal point for the space.

Statement Playroom

This light filled room is a favourite, covered in jungle themed wallpaper with monkeys and parrots from Cole and Son. It’s brave and playful, and in keeping with the client’s daring sense of fun, and three lively sons. In contrast we chose a neutral weave for the sofa, whilst the bespoke footstool picks up with teal green in the wallpaper – a favourite called Wicker from Fermoie. The wide width curtain fabric is a plain linen weave from Romo and is trimmed in a smart teal velvet from Lewis and Wood for a sophisticated edge.  I love the textured lamp, the client’s own, to which we added a sunny yellow lampshade from Fermoie to pick out the yellows in the wallpaper.

Playful Guest Loo

The guest loo is a project highlight, papered in an iconic Cole and Son design, bold dark background, with large colourful fish.  We chose a dark framed round mirror which works well in the space, making it feel more spacious and bouncing light and reflections around the room, and a high cistern loo to add a little flare.

This was such a rewarding project, so gratifying to collaborate with such a responsive client who, trusting in us, was keen to push her own creative boundaries to achieve this sophisticated scheme for her home.

To see more images of the project please go to our gallery, and visit our shop for seasonal homeware accessories, gorgeous, limited edition cushions and throws, and colourful decorative glassware.  For any enquiries or an informal design consultation please contact the studio on +44 20 7971 1245 or email enquiries@lucymarshinteriors.com