Christinas Interiors - Dialogue with Space

Design Consultation Video

A new build family home, generous, light & personal

Show Home Virtue
We often live our lives in pre-formed patterns, both emotionally and physically, expressed in how we choose to create our homes, often becoming predictable, even static. It is my passion to create fabulous, happy spaces for people where life is fun and welcoming. 
This is a show home, a proud quality build where the interior underlines the character of the building, to be light, easy and personal. 
Show home interiors come at a strict budget, still, the aim was to signal style, relevance and quality. It had to be ‘different’, yet had to appeal to the many, a fine line to thread. It was a highly enjoyable project as I was given much freedom by the developer. 
We wanted to use a minimal amount of furniture to let the space ‘breathe’ while still giving it a personal connotation, a sense of presence and warmth, supporting the architecture, promoting quality and accessibility while allowing space for the future owner’s personal expression.
The project run through the two-year Pandemic with all interior choices made off site from drawings only. It was a bit ‘nervy’ to get it all delivered after a long storage period, to finally see how it would present itself in the space.
Prior to my engagement it had been decided to paint all walls white. My advise was to use a pallet of light, warm colours, including a softer tone of white for the ceiling. The colours suit the light character of the house, creating a pleasing transition between the rooms, giving a united ease to the layout. The house has 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms, a gym and two TV rooms on 3 floors with 2 terraces and a garden.
When entering, a bright, generous space meets the visitor. The hallway is kept clean with its swiping walls. Here we decided to place only a welcoming bench with a framed fabric print, enough to set the flavour of the house.
The kitchen with the large dining space leads onto a generous terrace. The kitchen cabinet colour in green, situated across the generous window space, was chosen to harmonise with the opposite garden. The kitchen was designed by the architect of the project, all fittings in the house were chosen by the developer.
Next to the entrance is a family TV/playroom, leading into the generous living room. Here would be plenty of space for a large sofa arrangement, instead we chose to adapt a lighter furniture setting, giving the room a slight formal, yet easy angle.
The furniture for all rooms including bedrooms was chosen to complement one another in character, to be of quality and timeless appeal. All room settings are kept simple, for the space to visually be able to ‘breathe’.
All in all, the home was built for a family to be enjoyed for many years to come and making for a good investment.





A soft colour palette brings visual flow to a Bloomsbury pad

Bloomsbury is one of central London’s hidden 'in-between' gems, offering much history and great places to live, with many purpose-built flats from the beginning of the last century. 
When refurbishing such spaces, it is vital to reflect the charm of the original without the need to be nostalgic. It's about small details, material choice, proportions, fixtures and fittings, kitchen and bathroom style and all over quality of execution. 

The apartments in the building at hand had already been desecrated through previous refurbishments, now the task was to find a contemporary visual tone well suited for the style and character of the flat.  What we were looking for, was to bring some of its intended gentle personality back to life in a contemporary fashion. A basic requirement to make a space work is to look at its proportions and material choices of fixtures and fittings, colour, wallpaper, tiles and of course furniture. This might be obvious, but it is surprising how often the subtle differences are not observed and therefore not beneficial to the space.
I finish the slide show with a few images showing the flat at start of project.

For this small 2-bedroom top floor flat we initially looked at previous added false architectural elements we could remove, 'opening' the space visually. Then it was decided what contemporary character the space would benefit from and listened to what would make the client comfortable. The owners general brief was to present the space visually as ‘clean’ as possible with a warm touch. 
To create this, we chose one base colour throughout,  same colour for doors, doorframes, skirting, joinery work, wardrobes, etc. A similar tone of couleur was chosen for transition spaces, bedrooms and bathrooms. We gave the entrance and kitchen cabinets their own colour to create a gentle dynamic in the flat. The made to measure kitchen by Kent & London was chosen for its style and quality of craftsmanship, well suited for the small space and character of the flat. It has good proportions with simple handle detail, no added fixtures to keep the visual impression uninterrupted but offering a colour contrast and point of interest. 
 
The client preferred window treatment were venetian blinds, we found a version in same colour as the walls, this way the visual impression of the background stayed non interrupted.
In the master bedroom we moved one wall towards the shower bathroom to free some space to fit a super king size bed. Both bedrooms received new built-in wardrobes with sliding doors, well suited for small spaces.
The bathroom tiles and furniture where chosen in matt ceramics, creating an easy visual transition with the over-all colour of the flat. The sanitary ware and fittings are light in character of perfect proportion for the space with a timeless feel. We installed underfloor heating in all rooms to free wall space.
The furniture had to be tone in tone to keep a ‘quiet’ flow. To create variety, we chose different surface textures. 
Now art- work will add highlights and dynamics to the space. 
All in all, the result was delivered on time with slight budget additions due to changes requested during the process, everyone is happy, and a new home is enjoyed by its owner.






A home in Kensington

This was a substantial rebuild , making a home out of what essentially was, one big room, The ceiling was taken down to reveal a8m high ceiling in total with beautiful stucko work. A 'second' floor was built to hold the bedroom and bathroom with bathtub on the upper part,simple stairway put in place with dining space and adjacent kitchen built underneath on entrance floor. The wall to the balcony/terrace was taken down and replaced with a window wall to add a sense of more space to the room as the entire window/glass wall can be opened up.  We retiled the balcony/terrace floor. The parquet flooring in the room was restored, giving the home some character. The furniture had to be classic, simple in design as the space was limited and had to hold a variety of functions, so keeping the space fluid in character, yet interesting enough not to be too monochrome. Across  the entrance under the stairs we have a white table with light, chairs so the space feels not so cramped, into a white kitchen with an orange wall. The orange, so the kitchen is not too sterile, having its own character. The large sofa placed centre in the room works like anchor round which all activity is placed. The space accommodates numerous needs very well. All artwork chosen together with the client.

Creating an open one bedroom in Kensington

Mid century modern in St. Johns Wood, London

The owner of this beautiful family home was looking to create a modernist setting in this Edwardian building. We chose not change the built in shelving, but left these off white as all wood work throughout the house. The subtle grey/blue wall colour works well with the style of the building, the fireplace and golden wall light. The furniture is uncomplicated, yet stylish with a timeless modernist flair, making for easy living both for the family and welcoming guests. The sheer linen curtains are set on poles which were already installed when the client moved in. These work with the space why we reused the already existing setting. All artwork was researched and selected for the client with the ambition to make it versatile and personal, brining individuality and a point of view.

Mid century modern St. Johns Wood, London

Family life in a period building

Family home Regency style building, The entire house was renovated, choosing all wall colours from entrance trough every room. For the bedroom we decided to use wallpaper as the room was large and needed a soft touch paper so well is able to add. The wallpaper chosen was 'non decorative' meaning neutral but with fine design element to suit the other room and the house at large in character. All cabinets and wardrobes where custom built . The reception room was small and divided in a seating area and study area. The owners wanted good quality furniture lasting a lifetime, something that would work with the historical house in character and proportion. The seating is midcentury Swedish, the coffee table had to add a contemporary feel but blending well with the seating. We produced this to suit the setting and the requirements. The rug is a Andrée Putman rug, Christopher Farr produced for us, adding to the style and whilst simple in design, it is not boring, but light and accommodating. All artwork was the owners, we rehung some pieces to give the space a better flow.

A young woman's city pad

This was a full home renovation, a 1990s built with open plan kitchen, two bedrooms and a balcony. The building was an early 1990's built, with no character.
The task was to give it a better flow with colours and textures but not overload it, keeping it simple, yet interesting. The light grey works well with eh white kitchen in the open plan of the living space where we chose light linen curtains on drawstring to give the curtains a soft flow to soften the space, rather than strict appearance.
The bedroom got Woodnotes panels all along the 3 window walls.The panels add lightness to a low ceiling room, keeping a dull outside view out of sight, whilst adding interest and structure to the room. Wallpaper wall behind the bed adds a point of view, so the room becomes less boxy. The owner needed a lot of additional storage so as bed side units two chest of drawers in different heights where chosen, adding some playfulness and unexpected element. The owners few antique pieces where mixed with new furniture choices.

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“Great design is for everyone, small or large budget, there is always a solution to be found. We help create uplifting spaces supporting an inspired life.&quot;

— Christina Schmidt

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