Tucked along a quiet street in Clapham, this elegant family home by interior designer Sophie Garland marries timeless charm with the freshness that comes with contemporary design. Nowhere is this feeling more apparent than in the house’s living room, which truly feels like the heart of the home.
Coming into the project with an open mind, Sophie’s client gave her a wonderfully easy-going brief; a rarity that Sophie took full advantage of. ‘They showed me images of a few spaces they liked, including a couple of my designs,’ she admits cheerfully. ‘It was a very freeing project.’
An ottoman upholsered in Claremont’s Ikat Stripe sits at the centre of the sitting room’s scheme.
Astrid Templier
As luck would have it, the structure of the house was already in good shape and brimming with original details, so Sophie could dive straight into decoration. On the ground floor, a generous double room was divided by beautifully stripped-back wooden doors. These doors and other wooden details in the rooms, such as the parquet floors, formed the foundation of the entire scheme.
As the rooms are adjoining, Sophie chose ‘Dimity’, a warm off-white from Farrow & Ball, for the walls as well as matching soumak hemp rugs and pendants from Eloise Scotland Lighting in both to help make the two spaces feel more cohesive. These neutral touches, combined with the wooden details, create a calming backdrop against which she could add colour with furniture and artwork. This approach aligned perfectly with the clients’ desire to introduce colour and pattern, without the house being overwhelmed by it.
A vintage martini table with playful cartoons.
Astrid Templier