ALL THAT JAZZ
Cool walls and work surfaces, colourful notes on floors and furnishings: that’s how things swing in this London townhouse, where the vibe is always upbeat
Bold, bright, wacky and playful, this West London Victorian home is an adventure for the eyes. Its yellow front door is a clue to what lies beyond: the hallway says it all. Colourful floor tiles approach a vivid stair runner and wallpaper patterned with pink and red leaves.
While it’s a lot to unpick, the design doesn’t overwhelm, thanks to the white walls which add balance. Katie Glaister – founder of the interior design studio that created the striking scheme for the townhouse’s owner, a Parisian property specialist – says, ‘Look up the stairs and you’ve got very fine panelling, calmness and light, so it allows it all to play very intensely just for a moment.’
Green paint (Tabernacle by littlegreene.com) recurs throughout. It starts in the hallway, framing the explosion of brightness on walls and stairs with its aqua tones, popping up in the painted backdrop to the main bedroom and on the walls and floors of the bathroom. ‘It’s not a lot,’ says Glaister, ‘but it pulls the scheme together.
‘For us, typically there are around 70 colours in a project,’ she explains. ‘Thanks mainly to the stair runner this one has more like 168 – it was mindblowing as we put it all together.’
The white walls have allowed Glaister to use dramatic shades as a focus: a rug with a motif in strawberry red and green for the living room, a jazzy-wallpapered reading nook in the family room. Each space forms a colourful vignette, supported by an expansive pale backdrop.
The owner was first drawn to this four-storey townhouse for its high ceilings, large windows and flow of natural light. Its vibrant redesign is simply the cherry on top. As Glaister says, ‘It’s like a sweetie jar for the senses.’
This is an edited extract from Kaleidoscope by Amy Moorea Wong, published by Hardie Grant, €40