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The Househunter: a four bedroom maisonette

Now this is lovely I hope you will agree. It’s a four bedroom maisonette located minutes from the OId Street roundabout in London (make it very central for those who aren’t familiar with the city) and is on the market with Aucoot for £740,000.

Spread over the second and third floors of a low-rise modernist style block minutes from The Barbican and The City, it was decorated by Anna Murray of the wonderful Patternity, whose distinctive designs can be bought here and have also been stocked at John Lewis & Partners.

It’s a really great example of the joy of monochrome. Here the black and white palette has been enlivened with lots of green plants but you could take that further with green accessories or even add in different colours altogether.

The joy of a black and white (or charcoal and ivory if you wanted to soften it a little) is that it is friends with all the other colours and you could completely change the look by repainting one wall or adding a different sofa and keeping the black and white patterned accents.

The other great detail is the dark, possibly vintage, wood used on the kitchen worktop and bar stools as well as the dining table. Black, white and wood is another classic and you have only to imagine how different it would look with black, white and perspex for example which would give a much more modern, and cooler feel.

The cork flooring is also warm underfoot and is a brilliant sound absorber making it perfect for a flat where you you might have neighbours. If you live in a terrace house with thin walls a giant cork noticeboard is a good idea.

All four bedrooms have full width windows making them light and airy and there is a communal garden outside and there is a small balcony outside the sitting room.

Whaddyafink?

Kate Watson-Smyth

The author Kate Watson-Smyth

I’m a journalist who writes about interiors mainly for The Financial Times but I have also written regularly for The Independent and The Daily Mail. My house has been in Living Etc, HeartHome and featured in The Wall Street Journal & Corriere della Sera. I also run an interior styling consultancy Mad About Your House. Welcome to my Mad House.

7 Comments

  1. It is refreshing to see a table lamp in the kitchen. That neat opening to just step outside for a moment is cool. Agreed this is a lovely space to call home. Perhaps for well to do professionals who do not want the bother of the maintenance of a house, and/or those seeking to downsize with space for visitors and accessibility to services.

  2. I am googling cork floors now and dreaming about how I might use it when it comes to redoing the flooring. You have to buy a waterproofed grade for bathrooms, which means you should probably do the same for kitchens, and it’s not a cheap option, but I am intrigued by its warm and soundproofing qualities. I wonder if it works on stairs? I do like this flat, which seems to escape the boxy and charmless bedrooms that a lot of mid-century/modern developments have. Not crazy about the PVC windows but practical. Storming location. Not much storage in the kitchen. Like the black and white walls and fittings, probably wouldn’t have extended the theme to the soft furnishings.

  3. For the price of £740,000 I would expect to have my washer and dryer hidden behind matching unit fronts.

    1. I was thinking the exact same thing. And not just for the price but in general. They are directly in line of sight from the living room and it would be very easy to conceal them. feels like a missed opportunity. Maybe even stacked units behind the tall door, which would open the space where a washer is for a dishwasher.

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