Laura Parkinson, founder of the east London-based interior design studio Palmer & Stone, had only a handful of projects under her belt when she was tasked with transforming this four-bedroom house in Clapham, south-west London. The owners had just welcomed their third child and had bought the property after five years of renting it. ‘Now that it was going to be their permanent home, they wanted it to represent them,’ explains Laura.
The clients, who are Australian and discovered Laura’s work via Instagram, were drawn to her ethos of creating a ‘collected’ aesthetic through a blend of antiques, bespoke and long-cherished pieces. ‘I always imagine clients having friends over and explaining all the details to them,’ she explains. ‘Ultimately it’s their story to tell, rather than about me – the designer.’
The elaborate Edwardian-style entrance door is painted in Mousson by Argile.
Chris Snook
The Edwardian terrace had been modernised but it felt soulless owing to spotlights blighting the ceilings and builder-grade white paint throughout. It had also been extended to the rear, but the downstairs didn’t flow well. Thanks to Laura’s efforts in smarter space planning, the ground floor was tweaked to improve the transition between the hallway and the living areas. ‘We came up with a new kitchen design and the downstairs now feels so much bigger and better thoughtout,’ she explains. Glazed pocket doors with fan lights help cast more natural light and improve the sightlines between the hallway and sitting room to the garden.
Laura then set about filling the home with sentimental and deeply personal details. To reference the family’s love of the sea, she commissioned the decorative artist Eliza Downes to paint a border of waves around two of the children’s bedrooms (there are also beautifully intricate sailors’ valentines dotted around the walls). Both client and designer share an appreciation for the handpainted furniture at Charleston Farmhouse in Sussex, which explains Eliza’s’ trompe l’oeil handiwork on the wardrobes in the eldest child’s bedroom.
“It’s the unifying thread around the house,” says Laura of Mousson by Argile, which tempers the stained-glass accents of the front door and continues around the hallway skirting boards and doors, as well up the staircase.
Chris Snook