The best Beata Heuman rooms from the House & Garden archives
Attempting to distill Beata Heuman's unique style into a singular description seems to become more impossible the deeper you dive into the Swedish-born, London-based interior designer's work. The reason, perhaps, lies in the fact that her interiors are unapologetically – to the point of eccentrically – personal. It's something that she hones in on in her book Every Room Should Sing, in which she quotes Billy Baldwin as saying: ‘Nothing, and I mean nothing, is interesting unless it is personal.’
Beata worked with designer Nicky Haslam for nine years before opening her own studio in 2013. Over that time she has forged a decidedly anti-trend approach to design, meaning that a Beata Heuman interior is often imbued with a vibrant cocktail of colour and meaningful details pulled through from collected artworks to bespoke furniture and found objects. An innate sense of playfulness and humour also runs through her work, where typical design ‘rules’ are thrown out in favour of what makes people feel happy and truly at home.
Below, we've collated some of our favourite Beata Heuman rooms from the House & Garden archives that demonstrate the true breadth of the designer's talent.
Micheal Sinclair1/10In the upstairs drawing room of this musician's London house, Beata installed a plaster hood and created a backdrop of Swedish Green marble for a display of beeswax candles. It is surrounded by artwork, sofas with cushions in Beata's ‘Palm Drop’ fabric, vintage side tables and an ottoman made in Sweden.
2/10The living room of her own London home features in this extract from Beata Heuman's book Every Room Should Sing and combines bespoke pieces (part of Beata's own collection), with West African art, and is separated from the breakfast room by a bookcase and sliding doors.
3/10In Beata's garden house at her London home, fondly known as ‘Chatsworth’ she juxtaposes contrasting prints on the wood-panelled wall and the floral sofa to striking effect.
Owen Gale4/10When Beata designed House & Garden's Emily Senior's bedroom, she opted for an elegant and bohemian aesthetic, built around a ‘flattering’ pink, Farrow & Ball's 'Nancy's Blushes'.
Simon Brown5/10In this Beata Heuman-designed London apartment the kitchen was inspired by a trip Beata made to Swan House in Atlanta. The colour is Farrow & Ball's ‘Oval Room Blue’, the door knobs again are from Beata's own range, and the butcher's block trolley table was bespoke.
Simon Brown6/10Pinch ‘Moreau’ sofas sit opposite one another in this London apartment living room, with a bespoke Beata Heuman ottoman inbetween, while patterned Yinka Ilori cushions introduce a pop of colour. The other chairs and side tables were vintage finds.
Paul Massey7/10Beata brought her bold and playful style to this Sussex cottage living room, juxtaposing a Matisse-style tapestry on the wall with an antique sofa and cushions in ‘Victor Hugo’ linen mix by Le Manach.
Rachel Whiting8/10The bathroom makes a statement in this theatrical home, with cabinets decorated in Fornasetti ‘Nuvole’ wallpaper, (customised by Beata with sky-blue paint), and a free-standing bath, inspired by a 1920s design.
Simon Brown9/10The modest dining room in Beata's small London flat features mismatched dining chairs, bought at Portobello market for £15 each, plus artwork that she created herself.
Elsa Young10/10At her Hammersmith Road house and showroom, Beata Heuman's office has walls lined with the designer’s nostalgic 'Willow Tree' wallpaper. ‘It feels a bit like being in a sugar bowl, which I love,’ she says.
Each room Beata designs feels delightfully individual, and the title chosen for her book, Every Room Should Sing, is clearly the mantra that lies at the heart of her design process. Part of the beauty of her work is that you never quite know what you're going to get, which might just be the secret to the success of her uniquely expressive and deeply layered interiors.
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