SOFT POWER PLAYER
Awash with natural light, the 1930s home of lampshade designer Alice Palmer showcases her understanding of subtle understatement
As a self-confessed lover of the layering approach, Alice Palmer has peppered her home, which she shares with husband Nicholas and their three children, with watercolour artwork, printed fabrics, Moroccan rugs and personal travel mementos.
A palette of blush pink, soft green and sunshine yellow prevails, while an abundance of bold stripes, as seen in
Palmer’s own Insta-glam lampshade and cushion designs, creates a theme she calls a ‘Mediterranean-Caribbean hybrid, with a dose of classic English country style’.
Fittingly for a house built in the 30s, at a time when Arts and Crafts principles still held sway, it is filled with artistic touches, from the woodwork to the walls. ‘A lot of people value Victorian buildings for their ornate period details, while
30s terraced houses tend to be plainer,’ says Palmer. ‘The benefit is that they offer a solid backdrop to a variety of styles.’ Ideal, then, for her love of colour, which is anything but conventional.
The children’s bedroom features a circus-tent trim; the sitting-room mantelpiece is hand-finished in wide oxblood stripes by Palmer; and exterior window frames bordered in soft green bring the country inside. ‘These rooms were not nearly as colourful in the beginning, but I painted as I went along,’ says Palmer. ‘It’s about finding the right balance for you.’
The kitchen extension, which Palmer designed and limewashed herself, is the heart of the home and an unexpected addition to a regular 30s suburban build. Eschewing the usual Crittall-door aesthetic, Palmer designed wooden sash windows and French doors with painted borders that open out on to the garden. ‘The idea was to flood the space with natural light, while avoiding swathes of plain glass.’
For her bedroom, in the newly converted loft space, Palmer chose similar floor-to-ceiling paned windows to overlook the garden as opposed to the classic french-door-and-Juliet-balcony combo. ‘I wanted something a little different from a classic 30s terrace,’ she says.
This is an edited extract from London Interiors by Emma J Page, €49.99, lannoopublishing.com