Tour a charmingly colourful Notting Hill flat designed by Sarah Vanrenen
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When a young family decided to move back to England after living for a period in Miami, they realised it was time to give their London flat a proper refresh. At a quick glance, the pied-à-terre overlooking an idyllic square in London’s Notting Hill had all the trappings of a charming Victorian terraced house, at least from the outside. Inside, however, presented a very different story. “It was in really bad nick, and all the original features had been taken out,” says interior designer Sarah Vanrenen, who was tapped by the clients to reimagine the apartment’s dark warren of rooms into a sumptuous abode for the couple and their two young daughters.
The clients were eager to breathe new life into the space. “We wanted there to be a grand atmosphere, and this meant reinstating its former character with cornicing, bookshelves, and even a fireplace, which it didn’t have,” they add via email. “We wanted [the space] to be impactful but needed a bit of hand-holding with introducing colour.”
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Vanrenen was more than up to the task. Mixing and matching colour and pattern is second nature to her, if not in her genes. The brilliantly hued collection of wallpaper and fabrics she designs is a mainstay for Penny Morrison, the textile and home-accessories company founded by Vanrenen’s mother. (Quite a few of these products can be found gracing the furnishings and walls of the Notting Hill apartment, including her Lilac Fabric in the sitting room and her Daisy Chain wallpaper in the master bedroom.)
The clients were admittedly a bit nervous when it came to colour but put their trust in Vanrenen’s expertise. “I tend to only choose blue and white but was told by Sarah it may end up being a little cold in London,” the client recalls.
Taking the client’s feedback into consideration, Vanrenen deployed colour judiciously: boldly when needed, such as in the windowless bathrooms and cozy bedrooms in the basement, and then more sparingly in the main living area on the first floor, where neutral walls and the Sisal Bengal flooring are offset by pops of pinks and reds from the fireplace’s club fender and an ottoman upholstered in Le Manach’s Tombouctou fabric.
The project also called for more substantive interventions, from opening up the cramped interior to fabricating architectural details, including cornices and mouldings, that were lost in previous renovations. To create a “more fluid and cohesive” space, Vanrenen and her team ripped out all the existing flooring, which was at different levels, and put in parquet and wood floors in the hallway and living room. The result is one capacious open area that allows for seamless movement from one room to the next.
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From the get-go, the goal, Vanrenen says, was always to make the interiors “glamorous but functional.” There’s no doubt that by the end of the nine-month renovation, she had checked both those boxes. The open-plan kitchen, for instance, is a nod to neoclassicism, with its pediment and green marble backsplash. Across the way, the sitting room features a new, elegant fireplace. The basement level, with its scant natural light, presented one of the more formidable challenges for the design team. But thanks to some “re-jigging of the layout,” as the designer puts it, they were able to turn these rooms into airy, inviting spaces. And the clients have taken note.
“We were particularly pleased with the transformation of the two bathrooms, which were horrible, cluttered, windowless caverns,” the clients say. “They managed to extend them by gaining space within the walls and reconfiguring the layout, and adding huge warmth and character.”
The family is settling into their newly renovated home and they couldn’t be happier with the outcome. “We were so thrilled when we came back [to London] to see the project as it was just completed. They curated all the art and framed it, and their attention to detail was amazing.”
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1/8The entrance hall, Vanrenen says, was designed to make a “bold and dramatic” first impression. To achieve this, she custom-designed several pieces, including the red Augustus console table with a Carrara marble top and the heart-shaped armchair covered in Pierre Frey’s Marquis de Seignelay fabric. The Fernholme wallpaper by George Spencer adds luxurious texture to the hall, which has become one of the client’s favourite spaces in their home. “The entrance hall really makes me happy when I walk in—the boldness and the beautiful table with [the] traditional gilt mirror really makes an impact as you enter the house,” one of the homeowners says.
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2/8The sitting room boasts high ceilings and a large window peering out into a nearby square. Vanrenen balanced colours and neutrals to create a calm, elegant space for the family. She designed the Percy armchair, covered in her green Horizon Stripe fabric, and the Obi side tables in indigo blue.
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Mike Garlick3/8In the kitchen, traditional design elements mingle with modern accents. The pediment, designed by Vanrenen, is complemented by a marble green backsplash. An antique French farmhouse dining table, paired with antique Gothic chairs, provides a cozy eating area. On the opposite side, Vanrenen’s Connie table offers a splash of colour.
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4/8The master bedroom is a bright symphony of pattern and colour. The Daisy Chain wallpaper, curtains, and blind fabrics are from Vanrenen’s collection for Penny Morrison. The headboard, upholstered in Canoa fabric, is flanked by Pooky’s Mason wall lights with gathered emerald green silk shades.
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5/8Another look inside the master bedroom.
6/8For the couple’s two young daughters, Vanrenen offset the room’s small footprint by designing a sleeping nook—with the beds end to end—running vertically along one wall, creating what she describes as a “cozy and magic world” for the girls. The bed curtains and shaped pelmet were made by Vanrenen in her Jaipur Berry fabric for Penny Morrison; the blind fabric is Scrolling Fern Frond in Indian yellow by Soane. See more children's bedroom ideas.
7/8The bathrooms, once described as “basement dungeons,” have been transformed into colourful, cheerful spaces. The walls in Edward Bulmer’s Milk White provide a nice counterpoint to Vanrenen’s custom-designed pink-and-black encaustic floor tiles and Aspa curtains in raspberry. The arch of antique plates mirrors the bathtub’s circular panels and floor tiles.
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Mike Garlick8/8The shower room is a festival of pinks and greens, from the diamond-tile flooring and mirror to the painted woodwork and walls.
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