close

The Househunter: A stunning house on one of London’s garden squares

Oh I know I’ve said it before (no, not quite every week) but this time I mean it. No I really do. This is the one. The one that I want… woo hoo hoo… etc. This Georgian house sits on one of London’s garden squares and well, look I know it’s £3.75m (read it fast and don’t say it out loud) but I wouldn’t have to spend a penny on redecoration… so there’s that.

image via inigo

It’s on with Inigo (how do they find all the best houses) and is arranged over five floors with six bedrooms and lots of original and restored features. Now it was designed on a diagonal (by a descendant of Samuel Pepys) and while that might feel awkward initially, the vendors have been clever with it and replaced some of the walls with internal glass windows so the hall doesn’t feel as long and dark and you can see into the rooms either side.

image via inigo

See what I mean. Also, the other reason for choosing this was the checked floor. While I ponder the idea of covering my kitchen in checks – I’m worried it might be too much so am looking at other rooms to see if it works – I thought this looked great although there is unquestionably a lot of it.

Leaving aside my personal decorating dilemmas, this house is also ticking a few of the other trends I mentioned yesterday. Note the tongue and groove hall wall which softens that checked tiled floor. Also – tiny point – it’s all ivory rather than white which a) fits a period house better and b) is muc warmer.

image via inigo

Above you can see into the study and, crucially, whoever’s in the study can see out. Now I know that not everyone has the luxury of a home office and, even fewer of us, have the choice of where to put it but having swapped bedrooms with almost everyone in this house in the quest to find my perfect home office I now find myself in the (second) smallest room in the house, at the top of the stairs so I can see who’s coming and going. So this room by the front door would be perfect for me … when I move in.

Another tiny point to note – the pale blue ceiling in there (not Bright Skies I’m sure but of that genre) and the soft pink one in the hall which aren’t dominating the rooms and their warm ivory walls but just adding an extra something to the overall scheme. If you like pale walls and want to add a little black pepper then a contrasting, but still light, ceiling, can be the way to go. Just to zzzzip it up a bit.

image via inigo

Following the checks into the kitchen where the warm wood and zingy orange table adds more zip to this base colour scheme of black and ivory. And you can see how the black window frames help define the space and also emphasise the floor.

image via inigo

Obviously the joy of black and white/ivory is that you can throw in any colour if you want to change things up or refresh the look. Today orange, tomorrow pink or emerald. And don’t forget that a tablecloth will do the job too – you don’t have to buy a new table every few months. You could also paint the tabletop if you fancied. Just make sure that you give it a reason to be that particular colour – so here the orange star picture over the fireplace brings the whole scheme together and makes sense of it.

image via inigo

Now let’s leave this joyous kitchen and move upstairs – all posh London houses had upstairs sitting rooms and this is no exception. Remember it’s a diagonal floor plan so this room is like a sort of bent L. This means it has a lot of windows and allows you to zone it really well. So you can have sitting at one end and working at the other and both are equally light and bright.

image via inigo

Below there’s a change of pace with this half-painted wall and this is a great way to bring in a strong colour without making the room dark. This deep burgundy is lovely with the ivory walls and the long curtains unite the two colours perfectly.

image via inigo

This colour, which could be part of the earthy colours trend I mentioned yesterday, is in the bathroom as well and here’s it’s joyous with the red fireplace tiles. That’s a bold move and I am here for it (as they say). I feel like some matching tiles behind the basin might have pulled that wall together fully but that’s a tiny detail.

image via inigo

Finally, we’ll end up in one of the bedrooms (do visit the link to see lots more pictures as well as a full description) and once again the ivory base walls have been teamed with yet another colour – this time orange, which links up from the kitchen downstairs. Now I’m going to bet that those of you of a certain age – ok us – thought we’d never do orange and brown again after the 70s but suddenly, with the addition of lots of cream to take it all down, it looks delicious doesn’t it?

image via inigo

Whaddyafink? Anyone talking to the bank this weekend? I fear mine may just put the phone down but it’s nice to dream…

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.

13 Comments

  1. I appreciate, if you can have the Turkish rugs on that checkered floor. I loved the brick fireplace in the wooden like cabinet in the washroom.
    I agree that the deep burgundy is lovely with the ivory walls and the long curtains unite the two colours perfectly, but there should be more in the room, as it looks very empty. It should look fuller.
    But still lovely. Cheers

  2. Orange & brown ! Yummm. Without consciously reverting to the 70s, I have gravitated to these and other Earthy colours since the 2000s (after living in white-walled rented in New York for 5 years). I agree with you – the key is to make sure your whites are only ever creamy. I enjoy your humour in these househunter pieces. In all your peices, actually !

  3. I will take the room at the top with the grey/green walls and the small arched window. Perfect as it is! Is it the size of the checkered tiles that causes one to hesitate? In this house there is lots of floor space and the patterned checks flow to the garden entrance, and from one room to another. In a small space, a bathroom, small checkered tiles work very well. There are also the coin dot tiles, which are still installed in one daughter’s bathroom. One thought, suggestion, is to lay out on paper first, a reconfiguration of the traditional checkered pattern into one of your own design and size which would comfortably fit your room and your lifestyle. I have every confidence you will come up with something fantastic!

  4. I agree about the checked floor that it is a lot of it. I would like to have seen some great rugs in the kitchen and under the table to break up the pattern a bit. I guess that if you can afford this really lovely place you will be able to afford some great big rugs as well. 🙂
    A real dream place! Thanks for sharing!

  5. Oh dear, I would grow to hate those checked floors. And I would soon be telling people not to touch the inside windows. Perhaps I could rent space on the second floor – help you pay the mortgage? Cheers from Canada!

  6. I should like a far better kitchen for my investment. Hate the wall tiles in there and what’s with the homey deep pink curtain?

  7. Well Im not sure I like this. I usually love Georgian anything but if feels a bit spartan and cold. Im not sure the glass walls work either and I love a glass wall. At this price tag the front door and inner staircase are pretty underwhelming too. I did look at the other photos but nothing really grabbed me . I do like the windows and the old radiators below them but sometimes I can’t imagine people living in certain spaces and this is one.

  8. Absolutely delicious!! I think the owners must have been listening to the podcast. So many gorgeous details.

  9. OMG, this is one of your best finds yet. Love the hallway – is that a gold radiator? The check floors are fantastic and the light and space is amazing.

Comments are closed.