Decorator index Sarah Peake of Studio Peake shares her tips on how to combine colour and pattern in a home
Growing up around country houses and training in architectural interiors informed Sarah Peake’s classic-with-a-twist style
Who is she? Following careers at Alidad and Todhunter Earle, Sarah Peake set up her Parsons Green studio in London at the start of 2019. ‘At Alidad, I began folding rugs and fabrics and worked my way up. I learnt a huge amount about proportion and scale,’ recalls Peake, who took evening classes at The Interior Design School at the same time. ‘Todhunter Earle was fast-paced, with an emphasis on architectural interiors. I honed my technical skills and, as an associate director, saw projects through from the initial layout to the final lampshade.’ Peake grew up next to some of the grandest properties in the country – her father was an estate manager at houses such as Castle Howard and Cornbury Park – but it wasn’t until a post-university stint of work experience at Knight Carr & Company, an American interior design practice in North Carolina, that she decided on her career path. What’s her style? A mix of traditional and modern, Peake likes rooms that ‘aren’t overly curated, so they feel as if they’ve been built up organically over time to reflect the personality of the client’. For instance, she might pair a contemporary kitchen with antique furniture or add colour and pattern in unexpected places, such as inside a cupboard or on curtain linings. Diverse references range from Vanessa Bell’s hand-painted wardrobes to Christian Bérard’s murals used in projects by 20th-century French interior designer Jean-Michel Frank.
What are her recent projects? Her first solo commission was a complete refurbishment of a Georgian cottage in Vauxhall. ‘It was really interesting because it wasn’t a case of ripping everything out and starting again. We did lots of restoration, from painting the kitchen and adding new worktops to French polishing the handrails on the stairs.’ She has also completed an apartment in an Edwardian mansion block in Barons Court, decorated to a ‘Parisian Chic’ remit, with a turquoise bathroom and a dark study. ‘We steered slightly away from some of the frilly elements that the brief could have led towards, to create something timeless.’ What is she currently working on? Projects range from a country house in Surrey to a four-storey townhouse in Chelsea. ‘The young clients in London are letting us stretch our legs creatively with designs inspired by nature with Japanese references,’ says Peake. ‘There is so much that’s exciting about this project, especially the bathroom, which has scallop-shaped ceramic wall tiles and cloud wallpaper on the ceiling – when you lie in the bath it’s like you’re looking up at the sky!’ She says: ‘Being brave with colour is so important because it adds character to a home.’ studiopeake.com
‘I LIKE ROOMS THAT
AREN’T OVERLY
CURATED, SO THEY FEEL AS IF THEY’VE BEEN BUILT UP ORGANICALLY’
‘BEING BRAVE
WITH COLOUR IS
SO IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT ADDS
CHARACTER’