Joanna Plant imbues a glamorous Victorian house with an easy elegance
'This house had been ill-treated,’ says the interior designer Joanna Plant. ‘When developers get hold of a place, they rip things out.’ So, when she first saw the house, in an 1840s terrace in west London, all the original features had been removed. The Victorian staircase had been replaced by a mid-century version in brass, and the architraves and skirting boards were in a modern, stepped design out of keeping with the architecture. ‘It was clumsy,’ says Joanna, who had been told by the owner Clare Hornby they were keen to move in. ‘They’re very busy. Clare is in fashion and her husband is in advertising, and they have five grown-up children. The brief was: ‘‘Do it quickly.’’ They wanted to get on with their lives, so we did little bits to soften it – rather than a full-blown building job.’
The first softening element (aside from replacing the architraves around the windows) was to paint the walls throughout in Farrow & Ball’s ‘Dead Salmon’. ‘It has that greyish tint and the pink is very flattering,’ says Joanna. ‘I had the idea of a glamorous Forties feeling in my head for the house.’ As you enter, there is a wide opening to the kitchen/dining room on the right, with a whole wall of what appears to be dark gloss reddish-brown panelling. In fact, bi-fold doors open all along its length to reveal a work surface, larder cupboard, fridge, freezer and bar, as well as plenty of storage. Joanna chose the strong colour to counterbalance the existing orange-hued floorboards. In the dining area, a wall-length banquette in garnet corduroy is a perfect fit for the simplicity of Rose Uniacke’s ‘Drapers Table’, with its metal legs and raw-wood surface.
The drawing room upstairs is glamour incarnate. ‘The whole scheme hinges on the Nick Knight photograph of blown roses,’ says Joanna. ‘I put an image of it in the centre of the mood board I presented to the owners, as I had just been to see Nick’s show. I love the evening light of the image, that slight decay, the decadence…’ she trails off. Although the couple collect photography, she feared this piece would be a substantial investment. ‘By an incredible coincidence, I’d already had my eye on that exact picture, through Nick’s dealer, who is a friend,’ says Clare. ‘So when Joanna recommended it, I was delighted. It meant that we could justify buying it.’
The colours of the bespoke Jamb fireplace in Breche Violette marble and Soane’s ‘Simplified Crillon Chair’ in claret leather, were chosen to complement the tones of the photograph, as was Claremont’s dusky ‘Sackville’ silk damask used for the curtains. Joanna singles these out, without hesitation, as her favourite item in the room. The fabric hangs like a dream from black poles with brass rings – a typical Joanna touch. The Forties influence can be seen in the brass and glass tables and the lamps. The double-ended chaise longue is another Joanna stalwart; it is the perfect perch on social evenings, or for reading a book on lazy ones. It completes the seating area without blocking it from the rest of the room and was, like all the upholstery, made in Joanna’s workshops.
In many London houses, there is a narrow area at the back of the main drawing room and the temptation is to turn it into a study or a library, which is then often underused. But here, there is a down-filled sofa that runs the length of the whole area, with an ottoman of the same length and height on the opposite wall. This can be drawn up against the sofa to make a delicious lounging bed for watching television. The luxury of this room is deliberately tempered by the thick jute floor covering, a modern distressed rug and Rose Uniacke brass wall lamps, with an unlacquered finish so they will age over time.
Upstairs, in the main bedroom, the glamour is unconfined. The walls are covered in Watts’ ‘Walzin Chinoiserie’ – a digitally reproduced copy of a late-18th-century hand-painted Chinese wallpaper. The details close up are delightful – the little slips of the painter’s brush, a tiny water run – but the general effect is also breathtaking, as the paper is combined with a statement headboard, designed by Joanna and handmade by Ensemblier, and an extra-tall bed with a quilted silk bedcover.
Through mirrored pocket doors there is the Carrara marble bathroom, where an underlit, wall-sized mirror hides storage. The walls are in Edward Bulmer Natural Paint’s ‘Cuisse de Nymphe Emue’. ‘It makes you look about 12 years old,’ Joanna enthuses. The gently filtered light, from soft Roman blinds and pleated half curtains in gauzy Volga Linen, also helps.
In other rooms, too, Joanna has filtered the light, using split bamboo chik blinds in the small study area off the entrance hall and in the smart downstairs cloakroom nearby. This space is hidden behind panelling, which also conceals coat cupboards: ‘In a house like this, every inch must work.’ This house really does work. ‘Joanna listens to how you want to live,’ says Clare. Joanna adds, ‘Houses in cities are more often messed around with.’ As this one was, before Joanna arrived to soften it and make it beautiful as well as practical for a busy family.
Joanna Plant: joannaplant.com
Joanna Plant is a member of The List by House & Garden, our essential directory of design professionals. Find her profile here.
Paul Massey1/12In the kitchen, the panelled doors conceal a worktop, breakfast bar and shelving.
Paul Massey2/12A mid-century Stilnovo chandelier hangs above a ‘Drapers Table’ by Rose Uniacke, with Thonet bentwood armchairs, Howe London’s ‘Camembert’ chairs and a banquette by Joanna’s workshop in Rose Uniacke’s garnet ‘Jumbo Corduroy’
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Paul Massey4/12Panelling in ‘Georgetown’ by Paint & Paper Library is the backdrop for a vintage leather chair on a Sinclair Till rug.
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Paul Massey6/12Joanna has used a mix of Claremont fabrics, with curtains in its ‘Sackville’ silk damask, and a sofa and double-ended chaise – both her own designs – upholstered in its ‘Sibton’ linen velvet and ‘Toile Chevron’ striped linen-mix respectively
Paul Massey7/12Walls in Farrow & Ball’s ‘Dead Salmon’ feature in a scheme inspired by a photograph of roses by Nick Knight, which hangs above Soane’s ‘Simplified Crillon Chair’ in claret leather.
Paul Massey8/12An L Ercolani desk, a Sixties Stilux floor lamp and Joss Graham chik blinds furnish this space overlooking the garden on the ground floor.
Paul Massey9/12A ‘Constance’ headboard, made by Ensemblier to a design by Joanna and upholstered in Claremont’s ‘Damas Chinois’ silk in blue vert, is complemented by a quilted ‘Windsor’ silk bedcover from Gingerlily. The wall-mounted ‘Paris Light’ in antique brass is from Robert Kime. An elegant Murano glass and brass ‘Column’ lamp from Valerie Wade stands on the painted mahogany ‘Avalon’ bedside table by Trove
Paul Massey10/12Watts of Westminster’s ‘Walzin Chinoiserie’ wallpaper is offset by curtains in ‘Strie’ in french blue from George Spencer Designs and Sinclair Till’s jute flooring. An antique chair from Hilary Batstone is covered in Rose Uniacke’s gold ‘Mohair Velvet’.
Paul Massey11/12The Carrara marble counter and floor are softened by walls in ‘Cuisse de Nymphe Emue’ by Edward Bulmer Natural Paint and a blind and half curtains in ivory linen from Volga. The underlit mirrored wall conceals storage and is echoed by mirror-fronted below-counter drawers
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