Our Designer of the Year Sophie Ashby on decorating her rented Georgian house | Design Notes

[jazz music]

Decorating a rental has just been liberating,

because I didn't have to worry about

the architectural framework of the property.

I walked in the door when we came to have a look at it,

and I just couldn't believe my eyes

that something like this was available to rent.

This was the once home of Jocasta Innes.

She lived here for about 30 years.

She wrote lots of books, and she wrote them here,

and she was a decorator, a cook, a maker.

And she bought this house as a complete wreck and ruin,

and over time slowly renovated it.

And we just love living here, you can feel the history.

I was born in London.

My mum is South African, and my dad is English.

It's hard to articulate how South Africa

has influenced and inspired me.

It's a love of space and volume and scale.

I like things to feel like they've got space to breathe.

I had a lot of art, and bought a lot more art.

That's as usual with my philosophy of start with the art.

That's where I began.

I'm quite impatient and go really fast,

and so I think things that I planned to go in one place

ended up somewhere else, but that's how I like to do things.

It's just about collecting things that I love,

and then finding a place for them to all layer in together.

This is my office where I spend so much time.

Particularly during the pandemic,

I was here every day, all day, late into the night,

but it was such a special, gorgeous room to be in.

I love being in here.

This is a piece by Anico Mostert.

She's a young, emerging South African artist.

I bought this first, and I pulled all of the colors out

for the room.

The joinery came in this black and yellow combination,

which at first I thought was quite hectic,

but actually dressed with all the books and objects

and brought to life through the furnishings,

I really love it.

These are our chest chairs from Sister,

which swivel, as you can see.

And they are upholstered in an amazing flame stitched,

Fadini Borghi fabric from Pierre Frey.

The desk chair is a bit of a joke,

because my mother loves leopard print,

and it's a very Marmite pattern.

My clients, generally speaking,

don't ever let me use leopard print,

and Charlie hates it too.

So for my own desk chair and my own desk,

I had my little leopard print moment.

[jazz music]

In the sitting room, I wanted to start with this artwork.

This was in our old flat, and it had pride of place.

It was the focal point of the room,

and I put it above the fireplace.

I knew I wanted it to go there.

And then I extracted the yellow from his hat

for the banana yellow sofa.

Sustainability is something that I'm

really passionate about, and trying very hard

to incorporate, particularly in my own home

where I had the freedom to experiment.

This coffee table is by Dirk van der Kooij,

and it's actually made of recycled fridges.

The rug, as well, is made of vintage key limbs.

And they've been patch worked together

to create a new design.

I love reusing, refurbishing antiques.

Most of the armchairs in the house are all vintage

and have been recovered as well.

This is Wooly the Sheep,

and he is Rainbow's very best friend and pet,

and she's a allowed to sit on him, braid his hair.

Gaia also loves to mainly pull his hair out,

but he's a very willing participant.

[jazz music]

I love the informality of having the dining in the kitchen.

We're not very formal people,

and Charlie does most the cooking.

I mainly just lay the table.

The kitchen was one of the things that just really

sold the house for me.

The amazing, original brick flooring, the cabinetry.

That run of cabinets is made of old

chemistry lab iroko tabletops.

A Degournay screen in a kitchen

is a pretty extravagant purchase,

but it's a west facing room,

which is quite dark most of the time.

And so I really wanted something that was going to

be golden, and reflect the light,

and give the room some real warmth.

And then the chairs, I just chose the fabric

based on the screen, I just pulled out

these rich, tobacco tones and the golds.

And it's a Le Manach African design that I've always loved.

This door leads to the pantry,

which is about the coolest thing to do with this house.

We put all of our dry goods and machines

and ugly things in there,

and it's just amazing extra storage.

It's really messy in there.

My husband, Charlie Casely-Hayford, is a fashion designer.

Is very stylish.

But luckily when I met him, all he came with

was lots of suits, lots of shoes, tons of books,

some sculptures, and artworks.

It wasn't too complicated for me

to incorporate all of those things,

and the things that he did have were exquisite,

and are some of my favorite things in the house.

This is actually Charlie's wedding suit,

which is so beautiful.

And it's a fabric that he designed and had made

especially for the big day.

He was very hot in Portugal. [chuckles]

[jazz music]

I started with this artwork, which is by Lakin Ogunbawo,

who's a fashion photographer from Nigeria.

It's from his Nigerian Bride series,

and I love the attitude and the color and the vibrancy.

I love the idea of sleeping with this

amazing woman above our head.

I love the pinks from this photograph,

and so pulled them out, and they trickle through

with the fabrics, and these Kaffe quilts,

and other artworks.

This is Dedar's Tiger Mountain fabric, which is now iconic,

and just so cool.

This is Rainbow's canopy bed,

which is basically what I always wanted as a kid.

And she now loves it and uses it as a stage,

and does puppet shows and hides and makes dens.

And it's actually been a huge success.

This is Ian Mankin's cotton stripe, which is brilliant.

I needed tons of fabric, so it worked really well.

Every room has a fireplace, actually, pretty much.

And this one had the internal pink tiles painted by Jocasta,

which is lovely.

[jazz music]

We didn't know what we were having, boy or girl,

so I designed the room with that in mind.

It's this lovely green color called The Final Furlong

from Little Greene.

It's a lovely, fresh, happy, apple green.

The vintage chair I had recovered in a Spenston fabric.

And we're actually very good friends, me and this chair,

because this is where I nursed Gaia when she was born.

[jazz music]

The dressing room is definitely

one of my favorite places in the house.

It feels like the ultimate luxury,

and one I'm not sure I'll ever have again,

so I luxuriate in it.

It all started with this vintage kimono that I bought

in Japan on my honeymoon.

I just love the freshness and vibrancy and the palette.

And it's just so beautiful.

And everything in here has taken on

a bit of an Asian influence.

I've got some photographs by Salva López,

one of Japan and one of Korea,

and then Chinese chinoiserie fabrics.

These are actually Ikea wardrobes,

which I had spray painted in a beautiful color

called Pollen by Atelier Ellis.

Just feel like the glamness of those mixed with Ikea

is just the perfect balance.

We spend so much time in here as a family.

Bath time for the kids, the washing machine and stuff

is in here.

And I really wanted it to feel like a room

rather than a bathroom, because it's so big, that, yeah,

I decided to just put furniture

and artwork in here, basically.

This is a family home for me,

Charlie, Gaia, Rainbow.

Things get messed up, things get stained,

and I don't really care.

I think it's just about creating a very relaxed, easy vibe.

When we moved into this house,

I just had no idea what was coming down the tracks.

We've had a baby here.

I started United in Design from my desk here.

I started Sister here.

It's been a place that's worked so hard for us,

and just been the most amazing backdrop

for us to live our lives.

[jazz music]