Tucked under the eaves at the top of a Notting Hill townhouse is a flat that was once an artist’s studio. From its double-height windows the view north across the capital’s rooftops takes in the brutalist beauty of Ernö Goldfinger’s Trellick Tower. It’s like a bird’s nest, a feeling that designer Rachel Chudley deliberately cultivated for its owner.
‘This was a six-month project, which, believe it or not, is pretty quick for us!’ she laughs. ‘It was designed to serve as a pied à terre for the family, including adult children going to university in London.’
Rachel relished the challenge of keeping the simple nature of an artist’s loft while adding a sense of cosiness. ‘Obviously it needs to be comfortable, but I wanted the library steps and the corkscrew winepress to be nods to creative space,’ she explains.
What's everyone reading?
‘The owner favours modernist design and he’s a big traveller, so it was about mixing it into an eclectic whole. Most things were bought specifically for the flat, but I wanted the collection to feel like him.’
Despite her client insisting he wasn’t going to get involved, Rachel was delighted to find he was a colour fanatic who kept urging her to be bolder. ‘We’d be thinking “maybe he wants to tone it down a bit”, and he was like “it should be brighter!”’ she recalls, adding ‘he was up for everything. I find it life-affirming because we’ve all got creative spirits and everyone is made happier with colour and art.’
The biggest logistical challenge was the narrow, twisting staircase that leads to the flat and links its two levels. It gave them all some heart-stopping moments, such as when, Rachel recalls with a shudder, a beautifully mounted piece of suzani fabric proved half an inch too large to manoeuvre around the stairs’ corner.
The skill and patience of the team from Images in Frames in Wanstead (plus the ingenious use of a kettle to steam the wooden frame) meant they eventually got it into place.
The owner’s flat-pack sofa – the only one they could confidently get up the stairs – got a bright-blue velvet makeover, which Rachel contrasted with a deep oxblood red on the windows that frame the cityscape like a picture. An antique rug in the same shade wraps the room in saturated colour.
‘I guess you don’t see a lot of red and blue together,’ she admits, ‘It’s quite a tricky combination!’ The final touch is a sculptural Murano glass chandelier by Silvio Piattelli, not quite the vintage Calder mobile of Rachel’s dreams – ‘we all live within the reasonable bounds of reality!’ she laughs – but strikingly beautiful nonetheless.
While the living room is just as she envisaged, the main bedroom– with its Turner-esque, cloud-filled ceiling – was more of a gamble, with Rachel assuring her client it would all work out while secretly wondering if she’d gone too far. Luckily, ‘it looks great, so peaceful and gorgeous, and he loves it,’ she smiles.
‘It’s freeing to design something that is supposed to be fun for a whole family,’ adds Rachel. ‘It feels generous, like you’re not holding back.’ A client who took a risk on hiring the wild card in the interior-design pack has been amply rewarded with a liveable, soulful home. ‘It feels safe, like a little bird house. London’s there, but you’re untouchable up here.’ rachelchudley.com
