When Bee Janaye first saw this townhouse in a buzzy south London neighbourhood, it hadn’t been touched for many years. The family who previously owned it had split it into several living spaces – creating an apartment on each floor which each sibling had shaped to fit their own needs. ‘I had the chance to meet some of the family members, and it was clear that the house held many memories for them. It was very sentimental,’ the founder of design studio Janaye recalls.
Bee’s clients were a couple who wanted to take that sentiment and build their forever home. They asked her to design them a house that blended warmth, nostalgia and storytelling with a refined, modern approach — ‘a place that feels both brand new and deeply familiar at the same time.’
She wanted the home to feel bold, unapologetic but sophisticated. One particularly striking space is the lounge, where a deep aubergine paint on the joinery amplifies the statement art piece by Babajide Olatunji.
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Bee’s clients are big fans of the diverse array of tones and patterns to be found in encaustic tiles, which gave the designer an opportunity to create a bespoke tile collection for the property, spending hours selecting the pigments and playing around with stencil designs. ‘It had such a unique and organic influence on the design process and resulted in a beautifully playful space,’ she says.
With statement tiles being such a central feature throughout the home, weaving those contrasting patterns together to form a cohesive scheme was a challenge. ‘We tackled it through careful use of colour,’ she says. ‘Many of our spaces are colour drenched and statement joinery takes up space so that pattern didn’t take over.’
Bee says it was important that this house would elevate her clients’ lives, and she paid close attention to every last detail: ‘clever storage was a non-negotiable, so you will glimpse storage nooks all throughout the home.’
Spatial reconfiguration was central to Bee’s concept, too; the main bedroom on the top floor is her favourite example of this. ‘We flipped the property upside-down and pulled the utility room up to the top floor so that it was conveniently accessible from the bedroom and concealed by a reading nook wall and mirrored flush door,’ she explains.
She also sacrificed one bedroom, turning it into a large ensuite bathroom and walk-through dressing area. Most controversially, Bee converted the biggest bedroom in the house into a home gym. ‘This project breaks all of the rules because it is so carefully tailored to the clients,’ she explains of her radical choices. ‘It was not about designing a space for resale potential, it was all about curating a forever home.’
‘The primary suite is the crown of the house. The ensuite, in particular, holds this dreamy, timeless quality. The light here is pure magic – warm southeast sun that filters in gently, never too harsh. It’s got that perfect golden haze.’
In the bathroom, Bee leaned into the softness with curves everywhere, from the custom tile pattern to the wave of the pendant light, the bubbled brass knobs and the gentle arc of the bath and vanity feet. ‘There’s a rhythmic, almost sculptural language here that just flows,’ she notes.
The suite balances softness with strength; beyond the bathroom, Bee layered in leather, bold artwork, studs and mixed metals to bring in a little bit of tension. ‘It’s feminine, yes – but it’s got bite. That unexpected edge is what really makes the space sing.’
You could say the same for the whole house, which naturally her clients are delighted with. ‘It feels like a play between nostalgia and newness,’ she says of a home that has successfully stepped into its next chapter. byjanaye.com
