An adaptable Herne Hill house with a country cottage feel
“The clients were unsure about whether to stay in London," says interior and furniture designer Pandora Taylor, “so this house had to be a compromise." And so the designer focused on bringing in the village-in-the-city feel of Herne Hill. With its charming high street and tree-lined roads, the area is an almost miraculously rural spot, sandwiched between bustling Brixton and Camberwell, so Pandora set about to create a scheme which could play upon this feeling. "It really takes you out and transports you to the country," details Pandora.
The kitchen is particularly successful in this mission, where the coherent rural aesthetic feels “juicy and all-encompassing,” with lush 'Beech Document Green' wallpaper from Lewis and Wood bringing the leafy garden inside. This is reflected in the Edward Bulmer ‘Invisible Green’ cabinetry and cottagey furniture, including the vintage dresser and ceramic wall lamps from The French House. Pandora chose The Cloth Shop's ‘Washed Linen' fabric for the curtains, which adds a tactile finish and creates a cocooning warmth in the evening. She converted a 1950s fireplace cover into a hood, which – along with the vintage chairs and bespoke Pandora Taylor table – creates a Victorian ‘scullery’ look.
Pandora strove to “inject a historic feel into the property" to add to its cottage feel. The exterior of the house is striking, with an elegant gable roof and arched porch entryway, which are both echoed in the custom, pitched book shelves in the living room. As a modernised extension, the kitchen was a particular challenge here; “I didn’t want it to stand out as a plain, modernised box,” Pandora says. The consistent cornicing, heritage windows and panelled seating bank all ensure that the room feels not just historically accurate, but also authentically layered and textured. “The fireplaces also add a sense of provenance," explains Pandora. “The client wanted the space to feel very decorative and original,” she says “and whilst some of the fireplaces aren't totally in keeping with the property itself, they feel congruous and interesting.” Whilst they're all made of natural timber, each one is unique, adding a point of difference in each room.
Pandora's influence is clear throughout the project; rural England is in her DNA, and she takes inspiration from the English country houses and National Trust properties she visited as a child. And the clients were familiar with her design language before the project, which Pandora credits for ensuring the project ran extremely smoothly: “They referenced other projects I'd done in the initial design process, and we knew that we all had a real affinity for blue.”
But Pandora was also incredibly invested in how to make the house work hard for the clients' needs. As all great designers should, Pandora took the time to get to know the routines and rhythms of the young couple who would live and grow in the house: “it was about trying to achieve what was the best use of space for them and the way that they lived.” She discovered, for example, that one half of the couple wakes up significantly earlier than the other, so having a separate dressing space allowed them to start their day without waking the other.
From necessity grew inspiration: “the dressing room ended up being my favourite space in the house,” Pandora explains, adding that “the glossy green and perfect proportions make it a really pleasing area.” She also built enough space for separate offices: “if we designed this house three years ago then we wouldn't have designed it in this way, room usage is very different, and working from home is such an important aspect for so many homeowners now.”
Also carefully considered were the clients' future needs. “You have to build in flexibility,” she instructs. One way to do this is to resist overfilling the rooms with uneccessary decoration, but instead leaving the family and decoration room to evolve. This not only helps the clients' quality of life as they grow and adapt, but also the budget, which they had to be conscious of on this project. Both factors mean “you have to search harder to find those really special pieces,” says Pandora.
Pandora explains that using plenty of antique and vintage furniture ensures versatility, as rooms can be reconfigured and reimagined over time. Though the colours within the property range from green, pastel blue, the warm white ‘Slipper Satin’ from Farrow & Ball and a pastel pink in the bedroom, the colours all come from the same tonal family and are all quite muted. This allows for clients' changing tastes, and for new pieces – from art to furniture – to be added to the scheme. It creates an embracing canvas for characterful antique finds. Pandora also had to build in several eclectic pieces from the clients' existing collection, which she reports was remarkably easy given the congruity and muted nature of the wall colours.
Pandora has carved out a versatile and eclectic home that successfully blends functionality with the clients' desired notions of rurality: a lesson in balancing continuity with contrast, urban and countryside.
Pandora Taylor: pandorataylor.co.uk
Astrid Templier1/18They kept the existing checkerboard tiles in the entryway, which saved on budget and felt historically relevant to the house. The dusty blush of Edward Bulmer's ‘Jonquil’ (at 40%) softens the monochrome floor.
Astrid Templier2/18Pandora disproves the ‘blue and green must never be seen' theory here, using milky shades to create interest whilst remaining neutral. The living room scheme also anticipates the use of blue and green (in stronger shades) in the kitchen. The paints are ‘Parma Gray’ and ‘Calke Green’, both Farrow & Ball.
Astrid Templier3/18The reclaimed timber mantelpiece sets the tone for the rest of the house, which features different shapes and forms of timber fireplaces. The wood is picked up in the antique armchair, whilst the ‘Otto Cabinet’ from Fiona McDonald adds a more ‘finished' look.
Astrid Templier4/18Blue walls and a white ceiling in the living room are reversed in the study opposite, where Pandora uses Farrow & Ball's ‘Slipper Satin’ on the walls and ‘Parma Gray’ on the ceiling. The glass pained doors allow light to travel through into the study, whilst also giving the option for a dedicated work space.
Astrid Templier5/18The collection of vintage furniture all belongs to the same family, all sharing a knotty, pine-like finish. The fern, blue vintage plant stand and green-painted timber fireplace continue the pallet.
Astrid Templier6/18The panelled hallway in Edward Bulmer's ‘Jonquil’ (at 40%) adds to the cottage feel, complimenting the existing glass window above the door.
Astrid Templier7/18The copper hood is fashioned from a 1950s fireplace cover.
Astrid Templier8/18The lush greenery of the garden is underlined by the natural Lewis & Wood wallpaper. The cabinets are painted ‘Invisible Green’ by Edward Bulmer and the worktops are black Belvedere granite.
Astrid Templier9/18A Pandora Taylor bespoke table complements the antique chairs. They built in a panelled seating area in the same blue as the window frames, but the other furniture can be changed over time. The light above the table is the ‘French Milk Glass Pendant Light Shade’ from Stowaway London.
Astrid Templier10/18The ‘Sisal Oriental’ carpet in Topaz E100 from Crucial Trading is a natural, neutral through line in the property.
Astrid Templier11/18The lamp in the upstairs study is an antique find, with blinds and the ‘Digby’ desk in oak by Susie Atkinson.
Astrid Templier12/18The romantic canopy bed is constructed from ‘Washed Linen’ fabric from The Cloth Shop, and the headboard is ‘Tendril Vine’ from Soane. The sofa is antique, with upholstering in Susan Deliss' ‘Sprig’ in red and blue. The curtain add to the comfortable, enveloping atmosphere; they are ‘Pomegranate Fresco’ in Marina by Lewis & Wood.
Astrid Templier13/18The tiled fireplace in the bedroom brings in the watery tones of the downstairs scheme. Pandora says that the “client liked the idea of it being fresh bright and light, but not white” and after a few experimentation phases, they landed on a toned-down version of ‘Jonquil' by Edward Bulmer, which is a “really soft version of pink.”
Astrid Templier14/18Pinkish tones in Farrow & Ball's ‘Dimity’ create continuity into the main bathroom, whilst the green doors are made more elegant with a high gloss finish. They added the ‘Orford Bath’ from Heritage.
Astrid Templier15/18“The master bathroom was really fun to design because I’ve always wanted to do an antique chest restyled as a vanity unit” says Pandora, “and this was the perfect space for it. The piece adds to the old country house feel, as do the valance curtains and traditional sanitaryware." The wall lights are ‘Seaton Storm’ lights from Vaughan.
Astrid Templier16/18Pandora says she wanted to add drama and depth as she went up the house. The slanted roof feels like a doll's house and the thoroughly quaint feel is echoed in the green wallpaper, which is ‘Artichoke Green’ from Långelid con Brömssen. The bed was the client's own, and the blind is ‘Heritage Washed Linen’ from The Cloth Shop, with tape by George Spencer Designs.
Astrid Templier17/18Like a deeper version of the blue tones downstairs, this bedroom is painted in ‘Selvedge’ by Farrow & Ball. The bed is by ‘The Original Bed Co.’ and is upholstered in Beata Heuman's ‘Palm Drop Fabric.’
Astrid Templier18/18The tiles in the guest bathroom are laid in elegant stripes and are ‘Felini Gloss’ in Pianta and Cream by Claybrook.
