MODERN HISTORY

Indian antiques sit beautifully alongside a modern aesthetic in this early Victorian home

Inside the sleek white box of Majeda Clarke’s vast kitchen- diningliving space in the basement of her period home in Islington is a corner with an altogether di !erent vibe. In front of a dark canvas sits a well-worn and ornately carved old Indian daybed, upholstered in so", mossy- green velvet. On a side table at each end sits a fern in a silver pot, underneath a low-hanging antique Indian brass lantern.

It’s an inviting space for curling up and leafi ng through the magazines that textile designer Majeda keeps piled under the side tables, and offers a soft contrast to the marble surfaces and concrete floors. It’s also a masterclass in incorporating antiques and heirlooms into a modern family home.

‘ I had so much antique furniture from India and Bangladesh,’ explains Majeda, who spent her early childhood living with her grandparents on a tea plantation in Bangladesh, before moving to England when she was #ve. ‘ Those brass lamps belonged to my grandfather. I kept them boxed up and they moved with me through three di !erent homes, until I # nally found the right place for them here.’

When they moved in, the kitchen was in its original location at the front in the basement, the darkest part, while a crumbling Victorian conservatory got all the light

Since moving into this !ve-bedroom early Victorian house 13 years ago with her husband Gary, an angel investor, and their three children, Zahir (17), Israar (15) and Amara (11), Majeda has found a place for all manner of collectables and inherited trinkets, as well as an impressive inventory of mid- century furniture and lighting.

‘ We love the space and grandeur, and the original features you get in these old houses, and we wanted to keep all of that, but we also needed it to work for us as a family,’ she says. When they moved in, the kitchen was in its original location at the front of the house in the basement, the darkest part, while a crumbling Victorian conservatory backed onto the garden and got all the light. With the help of Bristol-based architects Emme" Russell, they took out the conservatory

and created one enormous, light-! lled kitchen- dining-living room, with sliding doors on to the garden. At this point the couple had three children under !ve and Majeda had the foresight to incorporate a wet room and built-in wardrobe into a utility room to the side, so the children could shower, get into pyjamas and brush their teeth, before the long climb up three "ights of stairs.

‘ We made the basement into the main living area, with everything we needed to hand,’ Majeda explains. ‘ The basements in these houses were never given much a#ention so that was the obvious space that we felt was OK to completely restructure.’ The space was also ideal for displaying Majeda’s treasures. ‘Some were in the family, and others, like the daybed, I bought from the antiques market in Dhaka. It’s an incredible place, full of old colonial beds, lamps and heritage from the shipping industry. My Indian silver collection is mainly from my

March 2021 Majeda sourced the daybed from an antiques market that she regularly visits in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The canvas on the wall is a detail from Storm at Honfleur by Alfred Stevens, a painting in the National Gallery, which she had blown up and printed by Surface Print.

ABOVE A dark purple velvet corner sofa from SCP, featuring one of Majeda’s geometric textile artworks and one of her handwoven Welsh blankets, provides a family seating area in the large basement kitchen-diner. The clock on the wall was inherited from her grandfather and is one of her favourite objects.

RIGHT The grand proportions and period features of the house on this quiet, tree-lined street in Islington appealed to Majeda and her husband Gary.

LEFT Textile designer Majeda Clarke.

Majeda sourced the 3m-long marble countertop for the island from a stonemason in Hertfordshire. ‘It’s really hard to find pieces of marble that big, but I knew it was going to be the centrepiece of the kitchen, so I went to a lot of trouble to find it,’ she says.

ABOVE Majeda had two shelves put along the kitchen wall for displaying her collection of antique and vintage china and Indian silverware. Many of these items were inherited from family members, but she has also added to the collections herself.

ABOVE The staircase from the ground floor to the basement was moved from the front of the house to the back during the building work and is used as a gallery space. Paintings by professional artists sit alongside those done by their children when they were small. The ceiling light is Italian mid-century and was sourced from a dealer on Church Street.

RIGHT The couple wanted something simple and elegant for dining and chose Eero Saarinen’s classic Tulip table and chairs, which they bought from The Conran Shop.

ABOVE Overlooking the roof terrace and garden, the back living room is a light-filled, elegant space. The curtains are from Designers Guild and the rug is an antique Iranian carpet from Nassir Oriental Rug Gallery in Kentish Town. The vintage Venetian glass chandelier is from Alfies Antique Market.

LEFT Ceramic vases by Steven Geddes decorate the front living room mantelpiece. Majeda bought the bureau from an antiques market in Dhaka.

Majeda has gone for a calm, light and airy feel in the ground floor back living room, with walls painted in Elephant’s Breath by Farrow & Ball. Over the fireplace is an original handcoloured Bollywood film poster. The chair (one of a pair) is Swedish c1910. Majeda found them in an antiques shop and had them re-covered. March 2021