Discover how choosing neutral tones made the classical bones of this Regents Park home shine
London’s light makes designing a neutral interior challenging, says Charu Gandhi. ‘It feels very flat; you lose contrast and depth, especially because an overcast day is not unusual!’ she explains. But ‘neutral’ was the brief her clients – an international family putting down roots in the city – gave her for this home.
On a sweeping Nash curve facing Regent’s Park, the property they found had imposing proportions and lofty windows, making it the perfect gallery-style showcase for pieces including Raphaël Navot’s ‘Moon’ sofa for Domeau & Pérès, which sets the tone in the formal living room.
‘The theme for the project was quiet luxury,’ says Charu, adding that the clients’ direction was ‘very much about creating a haven, celebrating the scale of the space while bringing it inwards a bit without making it feel cluttered’.
Nailing the seating arrangement was crucial: ‘We intentionally went for this large, open curve so it’s not enclosing but does bring the space in.’ She adds, ‘the wool armchairs give depth. With tone-on-tone interiors you always have a risk that it can feel a bit washed out, so we relied heavily on texture to bring it to life.’
The wall light is Hannah Woodhouse’s ‘J’aimes’ design, the ‘Lob’ coffee table is by Christophe Delcourt for Collection Particulière and tucked between the Jørgen Wolff ‘Wulff’ armchairs from &Tradition is Pieter Maes’s ‘UR’ side table. The floor lamp is from Arteriors.
Dining room
Charu created a clear distinction between the living and dining areas in this huge room by choosing two different Holland Cassidy rugs to demarcate the spaces, as well as hanging a striking chandelier by Il Pezzo Mancante over the Christophe Delcourt dining table. ‘We created a real centre of that area under the chandelier,’ she notes.
The ‘Mast’ dining chairs are by Atelier Pendhapa, while the paint used throughout the apartment is all by Argile – the shade here is ‘Argile Grisee’, with the upper and lower mezzanine rooms painted in ‘Blanc de Meudon’. ‘We had lots of paint trials,’ Charu says. ‘With neutral colours you can see the base come through and they are very reflective, so we did big swatches on the walls before we confirmed a colour.’
Family room
In this more casual living area adjoining the kitchen, Charu and her team wanted to visually reduce the height of the ceiling, ‘so we chose the floating fabric ‘Tense’ pendants by New Works that sit lower. They have quite large diameters, so it’s almost like creating another surface at a distance from the ceiling. We felt with the quite strong kitchen that we inherited that another neutral, tone-on-tone seating arrangement would feel completely washed out, so we were very proactive about wanting that intense dark-green Arteriors ‘Turner’ sofa to bring depth to the space.’
On the Holland Cassidy rug stands the ‘Torrington’ coffee table, also from Arteriors, a Pierre Augustin Rose ‘Polus’ chair, with Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance’s ‘Retro’ lamp on the side table. The floor lamp is Arteriors’ ‘Putney’ design.
Kitchen
The Molteni & C kitchen and Gaggenau appliances that were already fitted in the apartment were in great condition, so Elicyon decided to keep them, incorporating the grained wood and stone surfaces into the rest of the room.
They added a Damien Langlois-Meurinne ‘Good Day Sunshine’ table for more relaxed family dining and worked with Norfolk-based firm Bill Cleyndert & Company to craft the bespoke curved bench seat. ‘We find it immensely useful to work with a British joiner so that we can be closely involved with the making of pieces,’ says Charu. The ‘Polus 002’ dining chairs are by Pierre Augustin Rose.
Hallway
Charu introduced an up-lit plaster arch to the home’s entrance. ‘We wanted an interesting lighting effect when one stepped into the apartment. Putting in that archway, softening it and illuminating it, felt like the right thing to do.’ The ‘Tight’ console by Florence Louisy for Æquo brings tone and texture; it holds a pair of Porta Romana ‘Danseur’ lamps.
Study
Two of the five bedrooms became offices, reflecting the family’s focus on studying. Bill Cleyndert & Company made the shelving in light oak with walnut drawer fronts.
Charu chose pieces that hint at mid-century design, like the Bodo Sperlein ‘Contourline’ desk and Michel Amar’s ‘Swan’ lamp, saying, ‘this project, unlike those focused on wall finishes, is more about a curated collection of beautiful furniture, very mindfully placed together.’ The desk chair is by HAG, a ‘Circuit: 7’ pendant byApparatus hangs overhead and the rug is by Holland Cassidy.
Guest bedroom
Colour makes an unexpected appearance in this resolutely tonal scheme in the guest bedroom, where Boris Klimek’s ‘Pebbles’ pendants for Bomma pop against the linen headboard. ‘The owners like very quiet interiors but any time we showed them something that had clean lines, and a childlike playfulness, they were drawn to it!’ says Charu.
Main bedroom
A striking element in this scheme is the pair of marble-topped, light-oak bedside tables with their distinctive hammered-timber textured drawers, a finish that continues across the headboard.
‘There’s a risk with these sorts of projects that they can feel too slick,’ says Charu, adding, ‘in that context we love bringing in that slightly unexpected tactile element, with a very natural grain. We worked with Bill Cleyndert & Company to develop this texture, which we thought brought in some movement. The remit was very much to keep the materiality singular, so you want then to rely on this tactility to add depth.’
By the Naturalmat bed stands BDDW’s ‘Abel’ sofa, while a large Holland Cassidy rug brings softness and interest with its different pile heights. The ‘Halo’ bedside lamps are by Grès Ceramics and the ‘Out of Line’ coffee table is by Bieke Casteleyn for Ormond Editions.
