THE PROPERTY
Matthew Williamson's home is a ground floor apartment in a mid-1800s Italianate-style semi-detached house in north-west London. The modern home (opens in new tab)has a living room, kitchen, two bedrooms and two bathrooms, plus a storage room.
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LIVING ROOM
The style of fashion designer, Matthew Williamson's vibrant London home summed up in two words? Organised bohemia. The flamboyant, lavish apartment features a mix of upmarket and bargain buys. This is a place where an Ikea table used as a desk sits next to a lavish-looking velvet buttoned sofa, a Venetian mirror and intricate Turkish wall sconces.
The interiors might be a mad mish-mash of butterflies, peacocks and flamingos, yet the overall result, despite the infusion of electric hues and tropical flourishes against a backdrop of pale greys and blues, is really calming.
In terms of renovation, the apartment, which was structurally sound, needed very little work, with original parquet flooring and much of the original cornicing intact. And luckily, the living room (opens in new tab) has such grand proportions, great light and beautiful architectural details that it made dressing the space relatively easy.
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It might look like it’s all been casually thrown together, but actually everything is in its place. The metallic gold wallpaper (opens in new tab) above the fireplace keeps the room from looking too serious, whiletreasures from trips and markets around the world add quirky, personalised touches.
Nothing in this home, except perhaps the Seventies chandelier, in the living room cost a fortune. Even the candelabras on the fireplace in the living room were picked up from Kempton antiques market for a bargain price.
It's a lesson in how a little treasure hunting and flea market digging can go a long way.
HALLWAY
As the hallway (opens in new tab)isn’t a space where you'd spend a lot of time, the space can afford for a more intense colour.
Painted in a shock of pink neon, this hallway (opens in new tab) has a great impact when you first walk into the apartment.
The walls are filled with collected items from travels.
It's like a memorabilia hall of fame.
KITCHEN
The kitchenwas originally a large bay-fronted room, which was divided into three to accommodate a guest bathroom and bedroom.
This space is intentionally more minimal than the other rooms –white units providing a calm contrast to the other spaces.
MASTER BEDROOM
An en suite was removed to make the master bedroom (opens in new tab) larger and therefore feel more elegant and tranquil. It meant having a smaller, galley-sized bathroom next door to the bedroom, but it was worth the compromise.
There's an airy tranquillity that filters around the double-height proportions of the main bedroom. Touches such as the ostrich-feather lamp and mirrored furniture add a grandeur and decadence.
GUEST BEDROOM
Space from the existing kitchen was sacrificed to create a guest bedroom (opens in new tab) and shower room (opens in new tab).
BATHROOM
The apartment features many personal, hand-made touches too, like the decoupage of Fornasetti-inspired butterflies disguising a black boiler cupboard in the master bathroom.
For more about the designer's work, visit matthewwilliamson.com.
Photography / Paul Raeside
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