CITY MANSION FLAT
Designer Peter Mikic has reinvented a top-floor 1920s apartment with a contemporary take on glamour that also works for family life
This comfortable and contemporary reworking by designer Peter Mikic enhances original architecture in this family space
‘There’s a beauty to spaces that were purpose-built – they all have a story,’
says interior designer Peter Mikic, who has added a further layer of glamour to this 1920s apartment in west London. It belongs to Gia, Edmondo and their two sons and proved an inspiring jumping-off point for Peter’s imagination. ‘I like to think it was first used as a pied-à-terre, perhaps by a bachelor or an elegant couple who dined out lots and then retired to a country home at the weekends,’ he smiles.
The original layout reflected this kind of lifestyle, with a small, functional kitchen at the rear of the building, which was darker and felt separate from the entertaining spaces at the front. ‘Gia was keen for the rooms to work for modern family life, so we moved the kitchen to the front, where it is open to the dining room and feels connected to the living room. Then, the cosier spaces for watching TV and sleeping are at the back,’ he says.
These front-facing rooms also benefit from art-deco ceiling mouldings that Gia and Edmondo wanted to preserve, but Peter has added new architectural touches, too. ‘Doorways have been widened and lined in wide ribbons of bronze to bring in a contemporary feel,’ he says. The original parquet was too worn out to save, so he replaced it with oak flooring set in a herringbone pattern ‘which feels as if it’s always been there’.
Such gentle additions are typical of Peter’s approach, which is to add luxury in a subtle and appropriate way. In the living room, for instance, he has given the room’s decorous mood fresh relevance, combining deep-pile textures (velvet, a silk-threaded rug, dense woollen curtains) with more upbeat elements, such as the curvaceous sofa that, as Peter puts it, ‘almost seems to usher you into the space with its sinuous shape’.
He chose a neutral shade for the sofa as a foil to the brighter colours in this space – the burnt orange, deep blue and pinks that Gia loves. ‘Given the apartment scale, I needed to create a balance between stimulating colours and calmer neutrals,’ Peter adds.
Then he used darker, moodier colours in the snug for the boys and the media room/study for Gia and Edmondo, which he lined in deep chocolate-brown cork. ‘This material insulates the sound while making the space feel really cosy in the evenings.’
In the kitchen, harder textures come into play with the brilliant sheen of brushed brass on the island, set against raw oak flooring. ‘The way the surfaces bounce the light around makes this kitchen feel spectacular, even on a wet autumn day,’ says Peter.
Across the corridor, the dining room is centred around a chandelier that calls to mind the fringing on a 1920s cocktail dress, but was actually inspired by Harry Bertoia’s designs. ‘Aside from his iconic furniture, Harry created sound sculptures with wire spindles so fine that when you stroke a hand along them it makes a tune, like a harp,’ says Peter. ‘In the evenings, this chandelier gives a subtle glow and, from the window, you can see the lights of the city twinkling.’
Gia and Edmondo couldn’t be happier. ‘There is not one material, colour or piece of furniture in our new home that does not fill us with joy,’ says Gia. Almost a century on from when it was built,this apartment looks set to enjoy its second of era of 1920s glamour.
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