Paris in London

THE HOME OF A FRENCH COUPLE IN THE BRITISH CAPITAL IS AN ECLECTIC BLEND OF VINTAGE AND CONTEMPORARY.

Former model and now designer Caroline Sciamma-Massenet, with her husband Arnaud Massenet, financier and co-founder of Net-a-Porter, have all of the right ingredients to create an effortlessly chic living space: Parisian style and fashion pedigrees, delivered with a contemporary London viewpoint. The seven-bedroom Victorian townhouse in London’s Holland Park area desperately needed some warmth and personality. The busy couple enlisted friend and designer Peter Mikic to orchestrate a high-speed, highstyle interior transformation. The color scheme fell into place organically, starting with the mustard velvet curtains in the drawing room that frame the massive space. Anchoring the enormous room was essential, to foster a sense of coziness in a space that might otherwise feel cold. So Mikic designed a bespoke wool carpet based on an Art Deco painting, perfectly proportioned for the room. A pair of mid-century brass starburst chandeliers and an iconic modernist Flemming Lassen sheepskin chair counter the formality of the velvet sofas. The formal European dining room still boasts high ceilings, classic moldings and a working fireplace. The adjacent kitchen continues in its role as a simple family-style gathering place. Upstairs, the master bedroom suite is an amalgam of feminine and masculine, combining mixed metals, tones and textures to create a sense of inimitable poise. The striking four-poster bed designed by Mikic has a headboard smartly upholstered in Hermès Entrelacs-Cedre. Gold leaf bedside tables from London’s Talisman add sparkle against the textured gray grasscloth walls and fitted gray carpet.