Art and friendship drove the design of this west London home

Sometimes, life comes full circle and you realise how much you’ve grown. That was the case for Sophie Ashby when the client who gave Studio Ashby its first project asked her, years later, to design his dream home. What began as a business relationship evolved into a close friendship, so taking on such a personal commission was a daunting but ultimately rewarding prospect.

Sophie admits she was nervous, explaining, ‘I don’t usually work with friends, but it was absolutely fine: he’s so relaxed, I’m pretty relaxed, he trusts and respects me. All the things I was worried about needn’t have been concerns. It was a real collaboration because he’s au fait with design and architecture; he knows what he wants.’

Flanked by Gubi’s ‘Cobra’ wall lamps by Greta M Grossman, The Alarm Was Set by Californian artist Ben Crase brings rich colour and energy to this transitional space.

The task was to transform a four-bedroom, white-stucco Victorian villa on a quiet, leafy street in west London. ‘It was not in great condition,’ recalls Sophie, explaining how the original layout was all wrong for her client. ‘He’s really tall, and the home just didn’t suit his personality or the way he entertains. He didn’t want to spend his life in a series of little box rooms.’

On the ground floor there are two distinct lounges – one formal and the other more casual – both defined by custom rugs, similar in style from Christopher Farr

So, the designer opened everything up, turning the ground floor into an open-plan layout holding the kitchen, dining room and two living areas (one formal, one casual), with a large extension creating a new sense of spaciousness.

Studio Ashby worked alongside Bond & Hunt on the structural work and, once that was complete, there wasn’t much left of the original architecture apart from the historic façade. That gave Sophie a blank slate to work with. She turned to her favourite source of inspiration: art.

In the kitchen, blackened-oak cabinets contrast crisply with the white quartzite countertop and splashback from Domus. The ‘Plaster Cone’ lights are by Rose Uniacke

‘He had this beautiful, hand-painted golden Japanese screen, and a Howard Hodgkin piece that we wanted to go above the fireplace. I also convinced him to buy a Tesfaye Urgessa (one of my favourite artists) via the Newchild Gallery. It’s a huge painting, and so rich and vibrant. I love its attitude – it feels quite masculine but also really dynamic.’ That took pride of place in the dining room, with Sophie using it as a starting point for the colour palette.

Getting the four zones of the newly reconfigured home to work together was perhaps the biggest challenge, but one that Sophie tackled using a few simple tricks. ‘It’s about creating a little bit of soft structure and framework around the spaces,’ she explains, adding that she used two rugs, similar bespoke pieces by the same brand, to subtly differentiate between the two lounges.

Crittall doors open onto a dining area complete with Ethimo’s ‘Costes’ dining table and 10 ‘Teka 171’ dining chairs from Roda. Elizabeth Tyler created the lush planting scheme

With rooms that appear almost American in their scale – ‘quite greedy, but in a brilliant way’ – the house now feels as generous as its owner. ‘Nothing makes him happier than hosting,’ Sophie says. ‘He’s got loads of nieces and nephews, and I can’t imagine what they must think when they get to go over to their uncle’s house with its basement cinema and a gym with a boxing bag!’ studioashby.com