{"id":713113,"date":"2026-07-27T06:32:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T06:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/713113\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T06:32:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T06:32:10","slug":"a-designers-artfully-layered-london-home-with-the-most-charming-garden-studio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/713113\/","title":{"rendered":"A designer\u2019s artfully layered London home with the most charming garden studio"},"content":{"rendered":"

From Virginia Woolf\u2019s writing lodge at Monk\u2019s House<\/a> to Henry Moore\u2019s summer house in Perry Green<\/a>, there is something inherently appealing about a garden studio, a room of one\u2019s own in which to think and work. But it is not often that you find such an escape tucked behind a Victorian terrace in London<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2018We wanted to avoid the generic London garden room and instead create something that we\u2019d genuinely enjoy seeing every day from our kitchen,\u2019 says interior designer Laura King, as she leads us through her Richmond home and out to this charming timber-clad house in miniature. \u2018We wanted the exterior to evoke a New England<\/a> style,\u2019 she adds, explaining that she has long admired the work of American architect Gil Schafer<\/a>. While the vision was hers, the building was the handiwork of her husband Fred Martin-Dye, an automotive engineer and racing driver. \u2018Aside from the final electrical and plumbing work, he did everything himself,\u2019 says Laura. \u2018My interior designs evolved alongside the build as we made decisions and refined the details together.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Image<\/p>\n

Laura\u2019s desk in the studio was an antique find on Ebay and the lampshade is from Compton Marbling<\/a>. The curtains and blind are in a chintz from her own homeware brand Aurane London.<\/p>\n

Elliot Sheppard<\/p>\n

It has become Laura\u2019s very own creative retreat. From the antique desk in the window \u2013 a proper sash left over from the main house \u2013 she runs Laura King Interiors<\/a> and her homeware brand Aurane London. \u2018It had always been an ambition to do something on my own, but I wanted to give myself time to build the experience and confidence first,\u2019 she says. \u2018By the time I decided to take the leap, the timing also marked a natural shift in my life,\u2019 she adds, explaining that the birth of their daughter, Cecily, left her wanting greater flexibility and autonomy. After nine years at Todhunter Earle<\/a>, where she worked on everything from yachts to country<\/a> estates, and a further two at Salvesen Graham<\/a> as head of design, she was more than ready, and the garden studio provided an excellent place to get started.<\/p>\n

Furnished with antique finds and layered with glorious pattern and colour, it is an incredibly inspiring place to be. In fact, the chintz on the sofa bed (it doubles as a guest room), curtains<\/a> and blinds, the assorted cushions, and the plates on the dresser are all Laura\u2019s own designs for her brand Aurane London. Everything in the collection is hand-block-printed, woven or painted in India and Portugal<\/a>, with a focus on sustainability. Alongside these are a few vintage finds that Laura collects on design trips, putting her degree in textiles and business studies to good use. More of her pieces have found their way into the main house, which feels like the studio\u2019s older, slightly more sensible sister \u2013 but with the same country-in-the-city<\/a> spirit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From Virginia Woolf\u2019s writing lodge at Monk\u2019s House to Henry Moore\u2019s summer house in Perry Green, there is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":713114,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,7884,1120,20782,96,13905,7886,7887,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-713113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-city-houses","tag-design","tag-designers-houses","tag-entertainment","tag-london-houses","tag-traditional-city","tag-traditional-houses","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=713113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/713114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=713113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=713113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=713113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}