Hugh doesn’t have space for a painting studio in his one-bedroom London flat. So he set up an easel and an antique drafting table in the corner of the living room, where he works on landscapes and portraits while the light shines.
The antique deep-buttoned Chesterfield sofa upholstered in a coral-and-cream-colored damask-patterned linen from a shop on Portobello Road faces the spectacular but purely decorative fireplace -- a far cry from the original 1930s concrete hearth. “The woman who sold us the apartment had an arrangement of dried flowers in front of it, if you get the picture,” says Hugh, “and the mantel was so narrow you couldn’t even put anything on it.” Hugh had the current mantelpiece built at a specialty shop on Golborne Road, and painted it in an inky high-gloss black lacquer. He added turquoise floor tiles and a blue sculpted facade he found in front of a junk shop for five pounds. The blue-and-black color scheme is echoed in the generously proportioned hallway.
A low child-sized armchair upholstered in multicolored floral fabric, a red Oriental rug and a crystal chandelier that a friend brought him from the south of France create an inviting and timeless room that shows off the British flair for using bold, uplifting mixes of pattern and color.
Hugh’s source list:
Chesterfield sofa, Trude Weaver Antiques on Portobello Road
Flowered armchair fabric bought at the Chelsea Harbour Design Centre
Oriental rug: Sotheby’s
bathroom overhead light fixture, antique shop near Columbia Road Flower Market
drafting table, Clingnancourt flea market
Crystal chandelier: l’Isle sur la Sorgue in the South of France
- Kristin Hohenadel blogging from rue Vieille du Temple, Paris, France. She can be reached at kristinh @ apartmenttherapy . com
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
I love the crystal chandelier and fireplace. A great timeless look and feel. All of the woodwork mades it feel warm and inviting. Thanks for sharing.
view sugarplum's profile
Absolutely beautiful. Reminds me of christopher Alexander's A Pattern Language.
Age makes such a difference.
view wannabe minimalist's profile
This is absolutely lovely.
view ditchwitch in ATX's profile
I like old bathrooms.
view Kurt's profile
This is most gorgeous AT house tour I've seen in a year at least. Fantastic Space.
view Laurie's profile
I have a huge crush on your apartment.
view GoddessofPurple's profile
that paneling is STUNNING....
view Bridget212323's profile
Wait, is it ALL the paneling trompe l'oeil ? It's AMAZING!
I love the proportions of the spaces - the width of the halls and the doors. Just beautiful.
view Jaze's profile
The faux wood is amazing.
view LaDonnaNichole's profile
what are those boxes on the wall in the hallway? are they light boxes? are they miniature dioramas?
view annalyssa's profile
I'm going to sneak in some night and steal that wacky Toby jug off the kitchen counter.
view Charlotte's profile
I want to see more. Much more!!!!
view erinorea's profile
I can't believe that wood paneling is fake. I am amazed! Absolutely gorgeous and very comfortable too, I might add. Congratulations.
view betsbillabong's profile
Wow... belongs in a magazine. Soooo good. Now I want to see the rest of the house!
view Graham's profile
I was completely fooled by the faux wood. What a great place. This is the kind of great, old plus new, luxurious plus rustic, very individualized place I used to love reading about and looking at in UK Elle Deco, but they've sadly moved away from that and I don't buy it much anymore.
How the hell did you do that "wood"?
view Pixie's profile
I agree with Laurie above. One of the most delicious house tours to have come along in a while on AT. Many thanks for sharing. And please... may we see more?
view deepa's profile
I agree with Laurie and deepa, definitely one of the best AT house tours in a long time. More please!
view nycjenny's profile
Very lovely indeed! Toby jugs are evil tho! They must be stopped [shudder!].
view tin_angel's profile
I have to say... I really thought it was real wood, too. I thought that perhaps you had ended up in an apartment that had once been some kind of palace, that had gone into disrepair, and had been bought by a developer and chopped up into condos and that you had happened to have had some kind of inside track that gave you first dibs on what had originally been the library, which had originally been painted a sage green in the 1700's, and so how could you have known it was knotty pine until you stripped and sanded it, and then fallen in love with it just like that.
Lots of words, but that's the story that immediately grew in my mind. Anyway... very nice faux wood.
view Curtis's profile
and I was thinking how good Curtis would be at painting this faux wood!
view Pixie's profile
I thought it was real wood! Amazing.
view wannabe minimalist's profile
I would love to see a photo of those shadow boxes! What is inside? Also, I would have been afraid to put them in the hall!
view eden*'s profile