A Victorian terrace in north London, decorated to reflect its owners’ Chinese and British heritage
In theory, good renovations reward patience. This one, however – a full overhaul of a Victorian terrace in Queen's Park, north London – took just six months from brief to the clients moving in; and yet nothing about it feels hurried. Instead, the cleverly reimagined spaces are considered, cohesive and wonderfully personal.
The credit goes to Annabel Harrison, who, as founder of design studio Fare Inc, is also responsible for the interiors of some of the capital's most talked about eateries, among them the Sri Lankan spot Kolamba in Soho, the Palestinian restaurant Akub in Notting Hill, and the City outpost of pasta emporium Lina Stores. Each was masterminded alongside a stream of equally smart residential jobs, and so when the owners of this three-bedroom house asked Annabel to design it (having found her through The List by House & Garden), they got a designer used to working precisely and at pace. ‘It was a major challenge, and the fastest project we've ever done, which was great because decisions were made quickly,’ says Annabel. ‘It also pushed us to be really creative.’
The previous owners had used the house as much as a workspace as a home, and had stripped it out accordingly. ‘It was very stark and grey. There were no original features and spotlights everywhere: a classic rip-out-and-do-as-cheaply-as-possible job,’ Annabel recalls. As such, the brief was to bring in a neutral palette with hints of blue and green, and to restore sympathetically what might once have been there, while at the same time adding in elements from the couple’s Chinese and British heritage. ‘They met in Singapore and have lived all over the world. They still travel all the time, so creating a sanctuary that they could come home to was important, as was creating a space where both sides of their narrative come together,’ Annabel notes.
The hallway, painted in Atelier Ellis's ‘Tea & Toast’, is home to a vintage Chinese console shipped from Belgium. This sits beneath newly reinstated cornicing and architraves, while a stripped-brick wall, which was already in situ, runs the height of the staircase. The formerly orange-toned floorboards and stairs were sanded and stained a rich espresso shade.
In the sitting room, doused in ‘All White’ by Farrow & Ball, an awkwardly placed modern chimney breast offered an excuse to build a long shelf and a large, built-in bookcase that runs along the wall into the TV area, which is subtly separated from the rest of the room by a bespoke angled sofa. ‘We wanted to divide the space, but for it not to feel like there was a very harsh line to your left as you walk in, hence the angle [of the sofa],’ says Annabel. ‘We also used a textured paint on the shelving. It’s got a chalky, concrete-like surface that creates contrast with the walls.’
The kitchen, at the rear of the house, already had a good layout, so rather than altering it too much, Annabel designed a bank of custom cabinetry painted in ‘The Tobacconist’, a deep forest green by COAT Paints. She then installed a large island with huge drawers topped with richly veined Arabescato marble. A bespoke, plastered hood conceals the extractor, while at the other end of the open-plan space, a built-in bench with storage is teamed with a handsome made-to-measure dining table and neat stools from Fare Inc’s own collection. Next to the kitchen, the loo features textured wallpaper by Coordonńe that depicts Chinese trees in ochre and dark browns. ‘It's a small room, but the ceilings are high, so it was an opportunity to wrap it in something really striking,’ says Annabel. The oval mirror is another custom-made piece.
Upstairs in the main bedroom, the existing wardrobes were reconfigured internally, then covered with a textural woven fabric. The minimal headboard was custom-made and upholstered in green Dedar velvet. In the en suite, the Belgian blue marble and Carrara marble floor tiles anchor the look. ‘We put them forward in the concept very early on, then designed the rest of the bathroom around them,’ says Annabel. ‘The floor does the talking, and there are some beautiful blue stone mosaics in the shower, which we built out to make it feel more architectural.’
Finally, a bedroom in the eaves was deliberately designed to shift easily from a guest room and occasional sitting room into a nursery – a transformation that happily is now on the cards as the couple are expecting their first baby. Currently, the room has a sofa bed and adaptable shelving, along with a small adjoining bathroom, where alcove storage was removed to make room for a bathtub.
Annabel puts the project's impressively quick timeframe down to swift decisions and the fact that many pieces were commissioned rather than sourced, which in turn helped them sidestep lengthy lead times. ‘There’s a limit to what you can get off the shelf, but we knew exactly what we wanted, so we made it,’ she explains. Yet despite the rapid turnaround, the result feels serene and deeply rooted in the owners' lives. ‘We really clicked, and our styles aligned,’ she reflects. ‘It was fast, but it was fun, and I'd love more collaborations like that.’
Milo Hutchings1/16Next to the kitchen, the loo features textured wallpaper by Coordonńe that depicts Chinese trees in ochre and dark browns.
Milo Hutchings2/16At one end of the open-plan kitchen space, a built-in bench with storage is teamed with a handsome made-to-measure dining table and neat stools from Fare Inc’s own collection.
Milo Hutchings3/16In the kitchen, Annabel installed a large island with huge drawers, topped with richly veined Arabescato marble. Kitchen hardware is by Pineapple Traders.
Milo Hutchings4/16Annabel designed a bank of custom cabinetry for the kitchen, painted in ‘The Tobacconist’, a deep forest green by COAT paints. The pendant lights are by Ochre.
Milo Hutchings5/16The kitchen colour scheme in Farrow & Ball's ‘Schoolhouse White’ and ‘Slipper Satin’.
Milo Hutchings6/16
Milo Hutchings7/16In the main bedroom, the walls are painted in Little Greene's ‘Portland Stone’.
Milo Hutchings8/16The minimal headboard was custom-made by Fare Inc and upholstered in green Dedar velvet.
Milo Hutchings9/16The armchair in the main bedroom is from Zara Home.
Milo Hutchings10/16Throughout the house, sanitaryware is by the Cast Iron Bath Company.
Milo Hutchings11/16'There are some beautiful blue stone mosaics in the shower, which we built out to make it feel more architectural,’ says Annabel.
Milo Hutchings12/16Another room is painted in Atelier Ellis’s ‘Chambray’.
Milo Hutchings13/16The guest bathroom is painted in Farrow & Ball's ‘Lime White’.
Milo Hutchings14/16A bedroom in the eaves was deliberately designed to shift easily from a guest room and occasional sitting room into a nursery. Currently, it has a sofa bed by Andrew Martin, and the walls are painted in ‘Lily Lawn’ by Atelier Ellis. The wall light is from MG&Co.
Milo Hutchings15/16The loft bathroom is painted in ‘Silent White’ by Little Greene.
Milo Hutchings16/16
