Creating travel adventures rooted in sustainability is Vanessa Boz’s day job, so, when it came time for the BozAround Private Travel founder to decorate her family home, it’s no surprise she turned to Retrouvius. The interior-design and architectural salvage firm’s co-founder, Maria Speake, is a friend, and her values resonate with Vanessa’s own.
‘I wanted our home to be a beautiful dialogue between our multicultural family, our collections and the way we live together,’ explains Vanessa, who is French and shares this Grade II-listed Georgian townhouse in leafy Primrose Hill with her Turkish husband and their three young children.
The couple purchased the property just before lockdown and it had been untouched for years. Aware that big changes were needed, Maria had a suitably large suggestion to make, one that Vanessa was not expecting. The idea, to relocate the kitchen from the ground level to the first floor, felt ‘radical’ at the time, recalls Vanessa. However, this rethink allowed the space to take full advantage of the building’s grand Georgian drawing rooms and means it is now drenched in sunlight.
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‘Maria knew how we lived at our house in France,’ says Vanessa. ‘We spend a lot of time in the kitchen, so to have it centred in the middle of the house was a brilliant idea.’ The double exposure, treetop views and connection to the dining room/lounge ensure this central living space is the beating heart of the Boz family home.
When it came to decorating decisions, Maria’s approach was similarly radical. Taking Vanessa’s career in travel as a foundation, she suggested an earthy tone of pink Tadelakt for the kitchen, reminiscent of Marrakech. ‘It is our pink cocoon,’ says Vanessa, smiling. ‘Maria encouraged me to be daring and paint everything, including the ceiling, in one colour.’ Salvaged cigar moulds are reused as handles on the cabinets, which are clad in a soft nubuck leather, while a pleasing slice of salvaged Calacatta Viola marble was cut to fit the worktop.
‘There was a breadth of references to work with,’ confirms Maria. ‘Colours, countries, artworks and food… It gave us broad and beautiful ideas, and the house feels more chic in the right sense of the word.’
India was Vanessa’s guiding inspiration for the ground-floor sitting room, where a soft pink resonant of Jaipur sweeps across the walls, ceiling and cabinetry, with added spice provided by the vibrant turmeric yellow picked out on the architraves. A light fitting made from natural loofah, French sofas and a vintage Algerian rug all contrive to cradle the family’s collected books and artworks.
In the bathroom upstairs, copper salvaged from a 1970s office extension is carefully repurposed on a bespoke washstand and paired with Chateaux Vert marble and tiles found by Vanessa at Galleria Elena in Naples. The dusty-beige Tadelakt on the walls here evokes the ambience of North Africa.
The influences in this home may span the globe, but the design dialogue is a very personal one, weaving in the most important elements of both women’s work. A considered journey of friendship, trust and sustainable design, this home’s transformation has been a unique and beautiful experience. bozaround.com; retrouvius.com
