We were asked to resolve a problem with the layout of a house in the Whitehall Park Conservation Area in Islington. The house had wonderful high ceilings and well proportioned reception rooms, but the kitchen was very compromised. It was housed in an old side return extension and accessed through a warren of other rooms. It was too small and low, didn’t relate well to the dining room and was cut off from the other rooms in the house, accessed down a small flight of steps. The owners wanted a generous, multifunctional family space where they could enjoy time together. Our solution was to take out the side wall of the rear reception room, reconstruct the side return completely and join the two spaces to create a lateral kitchen dining space. Behind this space the old dining room, with less access to natural light, became a utility room, cloakroom and music room. We flipped the kitchen into the old reception room and lowered the floor to create one seamless room level with the garden. This gave the kitchen a huge ceiling height and meant we could increase the size of the French doors which open out onto the garden, making them very grand and a real focal point of the room. The extension itself has a fully glazed roof to bring the most amount of light into the space, including electrically opening rooflights for ventilation. To avoid the dining room being overlooked by the neighbours upper windows, we designed a series of louvres made of oak to line the underside of the roof. These allow filtered light into the extension whilst maintaining a sense of privacy and enclosure. They are openable to allow the glass to be cleaned and we used them to inform the rest of the interior. The extension contrasts to the more traditional kitchen area with its high ceilings and ornate cornice, using oak panels as a lining around the walls. The opening into the kitchen forms a datum line, above which the oak is clad in battens to create texture and tie into design of the louvres. A bench containing storage runs all the way around the dining room and a large pivot window frames views from the music room into the garden. The window can be fully opened to connect the dining room to the outside. The rear wall of the dining room is finished in natural clay plaster, continuing the warm earthy tones of the oak cladding. Externally we used a traditional yellow stock brick so the extension feels like it belongs to the house, but we used the brick in a sawtooth bond, laying them at 45 degrees to create a triangular pattern which create interesting shadows throughout the day.

This large family home in Brockley had incredible proportions & beautiful period details, which the owners lovingly restored and which we used as the focus of the redecoration. A mix of muted colours & traditional shapes contrast with bolder deep blues, black, mid-century furniture & contemporary patterns.

Séquence Home Staging pour cette maison des années 70.. Couleur et Décoration Ambiance mi Ethix Chic, mi Industrielle de ce salon avec vue sur le jardin Agence Inside DECO

Christine Besson Aménagement intérieur d’une villa familiale en région parisienne, pensée pour une vie avec enfants, les moments de partage et la réception d’amis.

Sébastien Siraudeau (delavolvo.fr)

A harmonious colour palette of blacks, beiges and golds allows works of art to be brought into dramatic relief.

A 5 floor family townhouse refurbishment, including a basement, rear, side and 5th floor addition. A warm purple-grey micro cement hallway floor strikes one straight away, picking up on the special stain glass front door and the purple heart and bronze console table. Polished plaster walls above painted paneling threads itself through the core of the house – a lovely backdrop to a special contemporary art collection. Every room off this staircase presents a slightly different decorative feeling, from a basement clad in felt walling, to the master bedroom’s raw silk wallpaper and the bathroom’s dirty pink polished plaster and bespoke terrazzo vanity, to dark grey painted boys bedrooms and a limed Douglas Fir floor and screen divider in the 5th floor study and library. Ali Robinson designed a black and perforated steel room divider between the family room and kitchen to display some lovely ceramics and nick nacks – large enough to do its separating job but transparent enough to view the rear garden from the kitchen. The family room’s library unit hides a TV and so doesn’t dominate what is a very relaxing seating, socializing and reading area. Our clients are avid readers and so special attention has been made to create reading spots throughout the house and in particular in the 5th floor library where we designed a screen-cum-library on a split level to shield the study from a designated reading area. Ali Robinson was very fortunate to be commissioned by our clients to design 3 original pieces (Haymerle, Woodview and Drakefield) that all became, in due course, part of his new collection and from which he has won a number of international furniture awards. Further to that his Twyford shelving unit was adapted for the basement and his vitrine and elliptical console refined for the reception.

The drawing room and library with striking Georgian features such as full height sash windows, marble fireplace and tall ceilings. Bespoke shelves for book, desk and sofa make it a social yet contemplative space.

Masfotogenica Fotografía | Carlos Yagüe

Chris Snook

Double height Penthouse Apartment living room, with built in cabinetry surrounding the fireplace. Photography - Mark Scowen

The living room at our Crouch End apartment project, creating a chic, cosy space to relax and entertain. A soft powder blue adorns the walls in a room that is flooded with natural light. Brass clad shelves bring a considered attention to detail, with contemporary fixtures contrasted with a traditional sofa shape.