TAILORED TO PERFECTION
This apartment in a former clothes factory incorporates lots of clever ideas that make the most of its small but lofty rooms
In a former clothes factory in east London, this apartment has retained its style credentials
This apartment already came with well-dressed credentials, as it is in the former Burberry factory in east London
‘It dates back to when this area was the centre of the rag trade,’ explains Lucy Currell, who bought her flat when the building had just been converted. ‘There’s still a Burberry shop on the ground floor along with lots of other fashion stores – which can be a bit too tempting, especially when there’s a sample sale!’ she adds.
Buying her two-bedroom home off-plan meant she had a reasonably good idea of how it would look and was also able to choose a few of the final finishes. Lucy immediately loved features such as the Crittallstyle windows, which hark back to the building’s original factory roots. ‘They are a really cool way to retain the industrial look – especially paired with the exposed brick walls,’ she says.
That said, as Lucy is an interior designer she had plenty of ideas at the ready for making the new apartment feel more personal.
The first thing she did was rethink the paint shades. ‘It was very much a blank box, so decorating the walls was my priority,’ she explains. For example, she chose a muted pink, Calamine by Farrow & Ball, for the hallway: ‘I wanted to soften some of the hard surfaces.’
Then, although she liked the texture of the bare brick wall beneath the window in the main bedroom, the colour felt a bit too bright, so she painted it a more restful dark grey. ‘Now, it recedes into the background, while still keeping the look of bricks,’ she says. Having chosen a fresh palette for the flat, Lucy set about finding curtains to soften things up, and replaced spotlights with pendants, to lend more character.
An upside of moving into a just-finished development was side-stepping the dusty, messy work that usually comes with a renovation. But a drawback was not being able to design key elements, such as the kitchen. ‘I’m more used to starting a project from scratch, so I have to consider every part of it and make sure it fits together. Here, I had to work around what was already in place and still make it feel cohesive.’ But this made Lucy think creatively and work with a tight budget.
‘There’s a lot you can do with PAINT and by adding your own ART and FURNITURE’
‘The result is proof that there’s a lot you can do with paint colours and by adding your own art and furniture,’ she says.
An important consideration for Lucy was the scale and shape of the rooms. ‘The building’s past function meant that although the main room is skinny, the ceiling is very high, so I selected paintings that are big enough to hold their own,’ she says. Lucy also chose furniture that works in the compact spaces – the apartment is about 840 square feet in all. ‘The main living room with a kitchen-diner is essentially one long rectangular shape, so I placed the dining table widthways across the room to subtly zone the two parts,’ she says. She also went for a table in an unobtrusive style. ‘Rather than bringing in too-bold colours or textures that would stand out and dominate, I put together a vintage table and chairs in natural timber tones that are easy on the eye.’
Similarly, in the seating area at the other end of the room, the long sideboard is a winner because it doesn’t impinge on the space. ‘It’s a vintage piece that adds interest but doesn’t look heavy or make the room feel too full.’ And because it’s raised on legs, more floor space is visible, which helps the room feel larger. A glass table is another
‘I had to WORK AROUND what was already in place to make it feel COHESIVE’
clever choice: ‘A dark or heavy coffee table would have interrupted the flow, whereas this surface almost disappears,’ she explains.
Lucy has a lovely collection of ceramics, which offers impact but doesn’t take up too much space. A number of pieces were bought on a trip to Kyoto, while others were picked up in local charity shops. ‘You can always find interesting British studio pottery from the mid-century onwards,’ she adds.
Similar period furniture also features in Lucy’s bedroom in the shape of a pared-back and pretty bedside table she sourced from a local east London dealer. In the hallway, she’s gone for a more
1980s piece – a standout chair by Mario Botta. ‘It’s not the comfiest, but I couldn’t resist its sculptural shape,’ she says.
With this apartment’s urban setting and its industrial touches, it was important to Lucy to add plenty of natural foliage into the mix. ‘I can’t walk past a plant shop or stall without buying something,’ she says. With this final leafy ingredient, she has added life and personality to what began as a plain off-plan apartment. ‘This home is in the heart of the city but also feels really calm,’ she says.
To see more of Lucy’s interior design work visit studioiro.co