The new owners of a five-bedroom terraced house in north-west London (the result of a shrewd combination of several flats) turned to Tiffany Duggan of Studio Duggan with something of a tricky brief. The clients’ three older sons had just left home, so the couple wanted a space that could host their family without feeling vacant when the nest emptied again.
The pair love colour, but wanted their home to feel serene. Drawn towards the contemporary, they also didn’t want it to feel too expected. To combine these elements without compromise, Tiffany rolled up her sleeves.
Instead of keeping a more open-plan format for the big space, she designed a series of smaller nooks and snugs with a few larger rooms for entertaining. ‘At the beginning, they were a bit worried,’ says Tiffany. ‘They were like, “Is it just gonna feel really small?”’ She assured them it would not. ‘Knowing what a rabbit warren it was when we started, it feels well laid-out and orderly now.’
Just as important as getting the proportions right was nailing the palette. Colour was used as a tool to strike a balance between the formal and more casual spaces of the home, with cosier rooms packing a powerful punch and larger ones decorated with a more restrained approach.
Take, for example, the grey-blue snug. It is colour-drenched in ‘Vert Antique’ by Argile Paint and paired with a bright-red painting by William Turnbull on the wall – a ‘moody, rich, saturated scheme’ – while the drawing room next to it is more neutral. One of the most sensational design elements is the new sculptural staircase. ‘It really brings the house together,’ says Tiffany, who notes how the owners wanted it to be the calm core of the home.
The games room, in contrast, was an opportunity to be playful and glamorous. It had to be ‘teen-proof’, Tiffany says, ‘which is almost a higher bar than kid-proof’. Other unexpected colour moments come in the spaces that are more transitional. The hallway is a warm, pinky-mushroom colour – ‘Terre Calcinée’ – and the boot room is a shocking apple green called ‘Spiruline’, both by Argile Paint.
‘Why not have fun?’ asks Tiffany, whose joyful style will be on full display as part of this year’s WOW!House in Design Centre Chelsea Harbour (2 June to 2 July), where she will be collaborating with fabric brand Romo on a colourful courtyard room. In this grown-up family home, there is something to appeal to all generations; a place that encourages gathering. Not an empty nest, but a welcoming one. studioduggan.com
