A mid-century Holland Park house is given a colourful update by Lonika Chande
When interior designer Lonika Chande first entered this mid-century house in the elegant west London neighbourhood of Holland Park, it was perfectly preserved and “deceptively spacious”. Built between the 1950s and 1960s, the house is a true emblem of the era's functionalist architecture. While beautiful, the house was still “dark and dated", something Lonika was keen to tackle head-on. “We needed the house to be more comfortable, more contemporary, more functional… something that really worked for the client's family”, she says. Sentiment added another layer to the project, as the house is the owner's childhood home, “full of lovely memories and stories”. After gathering initial impressions of the house and holding many a meeting with her new client, Lonika understood her design mission: “breathing new life” into the house whilst still preserving its history.
Before beginning the decorating process, Lonika and her team first needed to transform the layout of the house, where a series of small rooms was preventing the flow of daylight. “Lightening the downstairs area and opening it up was a natural first step,” she says. After stripping away the existing dark parquet flooring, Lonika worked closely with LAB Architects and a skilled team of contractors to combine the galley kitchen and sitting room into a unified, light-filled space. To maximise this newfound light, Lonika opted to keep the walls throughout the house a neutral colour ('School House White' by Farrow & Ball), one certain to reflect any and all sunbeams. A skylight was installed on the second-floor landing, disseminating much-needed light downwards, rays falling onto the below landing, on which sits “a lovely little antique table, linen curtains and that bright red lamp – the perfect vignette” (and Lonika's favourite spot in the house).
After the structural changes came the intense “pops of colour” which Lonika slipped into each room. Working closely with the client, together they chose a myriad colourful pieces from the high street to add to the client's own collection of antiques. The streaks of bright orange in the still life that hangs above the sideboard in the dining room – a painting that holds sentimental value to the client – particularly influenced the space's colour palette: “we knew we wanted to use orange, as it offsets the kitchen and gives the room a contemporary feel". "Also", Lonika reveals, “it is the client's favourite colour”. Tucked away in the built-in niches that flank the sitting room's fireplace sit sculptures made by the client's husband, Johannes von Stumm (the fireplace's stone surround, too, was built by Johannes). It is small, personal details like these that Lonika returned to again and again when designing. Each room is filled with colour, decorative objects and “meaning and family connection," says Lonika.
Indeed, the artwork and antiques throughout the house hold special significance to the client and her family. As well as her husband's sculptures, it was “important to the client to make use of her existing collection of antiques". Together, she and her client “worked quite hard to look at what there was,” says Lonika, both relishing the opportunity to “mix and marry different periods, finishes and fabrics” from the client's archive with newer pieces Lonika and her team sourced from high street shops, vintage markets and trusted dealers. In one bedroom, a vintage bamboo headboard was repurposed into matching headboards for twin beds, a detail Lonika particularly loves (“so much fun!”). Vintage fabric found whilst rifling through her client's textile collection was used to reupholster pieces throughout the house. “Mixing periods and furniture so you are not wedded to just one period makes for the most interesting houses,” says Lonika, “and this project is no different".
As with most projects, it is important for a designer to incorporate different approaches to the decoration of a space that add to the overall spirit of her design. “We had to introduce character in different ways,” says Lonika, so, beyond colour and antiques, she felt that “bringing in pattern in different forms was especially crucial” in this pursuit. In the bedrooms and bathrooms, Lonika introduced lightness and colour “mostly with fabrics, textures and pattern.” From the colourful striped tiles in the bathrooms to the kilim rugs which hang above the beds, each room was transformed into a cheerful, contemporary space, stripes and all.
The re-design of this mid-century Holland Park house, says Lonika, was quite different from the others in her portfolio. “I feel it is important for designers to never remain static and to evolve with each project,” she reflects. Indeed, the same can be said for houses, this mid-century in Holland Park being a prime example. Packed with happy childhood souvenirs and rich history, Lonika's design made space for new memories full of colour, pattern and joy, honouring its past all the while.
Lonika Chande is a member of The List by House & Garden, our essential directory of design professionals. Visit The List by House & Garden here.
Milo Brown1/9The round lift up storage ottoman is a bespoke design, repurposing vintage fabric from curtains in the house's original entrance hall. The custom fire surround was made for the space from fossilised stone and bronze by the clients’ husband, sculptor Johannes von Stumm. The sofa is dual-fabric (mustard yachting for the frame and seat and back cushions upholstered in painted stripe linen by Helene Blanche).
Milo Brown2/9The console in the sitting room is from Chelsea Textiles. The artwork that hangs above the console is a vintage Morandi-inspired piece that Lonika sourced from Lorford Antiques.
Milo Brown3/9In collaboration with furniture maker Alfred Newall, Lonika and her team designed the custom table with curved ends and reeded base. The red chairs with corded seats are by Carl Hansen.
Milo Brown4/9In the kitchen - ‘Shaker’ by deVOL - cabinets are painted in Pantry Blue and the worktops are Siletone. The splashback was tiled with Zelliges tiles. The island is painted in a bespoke orange colour as a nod to both the client's favourite colour and the still life which hangs above the sideboard in the dining area.
Milo Brown5/9The first-floor landing is "probably my favourite vignette in the project,” says Lonika. The table is an antique inlay tilt top table that once sat in the client's sitting room. The table lamp is the Shoreham from Vaughan and the striking artwork that centres the space is a limited-edition Serge Poliakoff lithograph.
Milo Brown6/9The custom wave headboard and bed base are upholstered in Studio Atkinson’s traditional red ticking and a series of Lucy Naughton framed abstracts sourced by Lonika hang above the bed. A Penny Worrall vintage Ewe cloth cushion sits atop a vintage Kantha quilt from Nushka. The leading edge on the linen curtains is a red grosgrain tape from Samuel & Sons. The antique folk art marriage bench is the clients’ own. The rug under the bed is from Nordic Knots.
Milo Brown7/9In a second bedroom, the twin headboards were original to the house and had been pushed together to make a double bed. The blue bedspreads were made from one large Caravane quilt. Lonika and her team sourced the Arts & Crafts bedside table, which is topped with a Bibbings & Hensby lamp base fitted with a custom shade. The blue glass tumblers perched on the bedside table were made by Johannes. The curtains are made from Ocean heavy weight cloth shop linen with a yellow C&C Milano leading edge. The abstract artworks that hang in the room are from Retrouvius.
Milo Brown8/9In another en-suite bathroom, Lonika once again played with pattern, using the Mustard striped tiles from Otto Tiles to both serve as a backsplash and flooring. The vanity unit is painted in Farrow & Ball’s Oval Room Blue.
Milo Brown9/9The utility room was a necessary addition to the house. With LAB Architects, Lonika brought more natural light to the space by installing a skylight. The utility room's doors have a decorative fretwork that acts as ventilation. Inside, cabinetry is painted in Yellow-Pink by Little Greene and the worktop is a sky-blue Formica. The flooring is a chequerboard linoleum.
