Making A Family Home
A family home it was not. 'It was a real challenge,' says Chloe, who clearly relished the daunting task of converting the bachelor pad into the fabulous family flat it is today. But then she is very familiar with the refurbishment process, having worked on a number of projects in recent years. 'We've moved around a lot in recent years, so I guess I'm quite used to it,' she concedes. 'I find I become terribly involved with every project I tackle and can only ever focus on one thing at a time. Whenever I design a place, I have a stage when the whole process keeps me awake.'
Credit: Verity Welstead/Redcover.com
Stainless-steel worktops and chrome steel stools (you can buy similar at The Conran Shop) give the walnut kitchen units a more industrial edge.
Chloe set about improving the spacious three-bedroom apartment by first replacing the 'horrid strip floors' with solid oak and filling in the 'nasty open-tread staircase' that leads to the gallery. The children’s two stone bathrooms were considered to be fine and are about the only rooms in the apartment not to succumb to radical treatment. Next, Chloe raised the seating level at one end of the living room and placed the kitchen at the opposite end. The latter is now made up of two main components: a wall of cupboards that cleverly conceal built-in appliances and an enormous walnut island unit, topped in shiny stainless steel. Behind, there's an old pine refectory table, some contemporary chairs and a glorious antique Hindu shrine.
Credit: Verity Welstead/Redcover.com
The compact office area is divided from the master bedroom by a vertical blinds made of a woven, knitted fabric. Chloe discovered their makers, Salt, at the Oxo Tower in London, and got them to make something to suit this space. Head to Ebony & Co for a range of handcrafted solid-wood flooring.
'I love the juxtaposition of old and new,' says Chloe, who daringly coupled a 250-year-old copper bath with a cutting-edge Vola tap. 'I really didn’t want this space to look like a typical bathroom, which is why I went for a feature bath in the middle of the room.' The finished room is truly spectacular and, like the master bedroom next door, leads straight off the gallery to command the most wonderful views. 'On clear days I can see all the way to Canary Wharf and on Bonfire Night we like to sit out on the balcony and watch the firework displays over west London,' she adds.
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