Private Lives

Everyone has their dream space in this London house designed by Yoko Kloeden

Words EVE HERBERT

Yoko Kloeden Design has recently completed the interior design and decoration of a 1930s three-story terrace house in southwest London.

The clients, a couple who both work in finance with two young children, completed a major house renovation including the ground floor rear extension and loft conversion when they moved into the house; however, having moved from a one-bed flat and both working full-time, they still didn’t feel at home a year later as most of the rooms were still bare and underused. After having interviewed five interior designers, the couple engaged Yoko and her team. The brief was to pull the family together in the open-plan family area, while the husband and wife each have a break-out room that reflects their individual needs and personalities.

Yoko and her team used colours and textures to express each individual’s style while giving a practical solution for the young family. The result is an elegant and contemporary family home that still feels comfortable and practical while everyone has a space of privacy and aspiration . ‘Knowing that our clients now have a home they will enjoy for decades to come keeps us going every day‘, says Yoko.

The clients embraced dark and moody colours and their bold choice of colours starts with the hallway. With the inky blue colour as a background, Yoko selected an abstract landscape painting that reflects the clients’ love of nature but in a contemporary and stylized expression. Slender frames and legs of powder-coated steel furniture give a chic and airy appearance.

The bespoke kitchen from Wooden Horse London was designed to fit the space with lots of storage. A marble island takes centre stage and plain white surfaces were chosen for other cabinets and worktop to let the island stand out. The dining table and chairs sit at the centre of the open-plan area and they had to be elegant, understated, and unique. A bespoke live edge oak dining table with classic Wishbone chairs demonstrates the philosophy of using real materials and understated elegance.

The family includes two children under three, so the space had to be practical and safe without compromising on sophisticated aesthetics. Yoko schemed the area around two key features – a framed artwork of bespoke wallpaper from Calico Wallpaper and a bespoke media unit made of black stained oak with brass detailing. She says: ‘In Japan, we have a culture of developing taste buds at a very early age. The concept of kids menus in restaurants is nowhere as ubiquitous as here in the UK as people believe babies and toddlers need to eat real foods that adults eat. In the same way, children need to grow up with real materials to develop their senses. Family rooms shouldn’t be all about wipeable surfaces.’’

The bespoke rug is made of soft jute that is hardwearing but soft to crawl on. Coffee tables of different sizes are made of mango wood. Yoko’s team designed a media unit that consists of low units to store children’s books and toys and a slim tall unit to store files etc.

The starting point of for the reception room, also as known as ‘Her Room’, was an Art Deco-inspired drinks cabinet bought by the client at the beginning of the project.

This is her grown-up haven where she winds down with a glass of wine after the children are finally asleep, where she entertains her friends on weekends and during her maternity leave.

Yoko custom-made a Millennial pink velvet sofa and selected an artwork from a Sydneybased British artist Caroline Collom to anchor the colour palette. The team filled the room with sumptuous, tactile and real materials such as marble, brass, steel, velvet, wool and sourced indoor plants to liven up the room.

‘His Room’ is referred to as the ‘games room’ and this is where her husband winds down by playing a computer game at the end of his long day at his demanding job in finance. Originally a garage, it is the smallest living room and he opted for the darkest shade of grey to feel cozy and cocooned as he uses ‘His Room’ mostly in the evenings. A Fornasetti mural makes a perfect backdrop and the rich moss green of the velvet sofa pops against the dark walls.

The newly converted loft houses a master bedroom with an ensuite shower room. The wall behind the bed hides a walk-in wardrobe and dressing table.

Here again, the inky blue was chosen for the calm and serene haven. Dreamy white waves and a dawn sky of a photography art shot on a remote beach in Iceland sums up the mood. The alcove above the bed is a practical alternative to a pair of bedside tables in this tight space.

yokokloeden.com

Children need to grow up with real materials to develop their senses. Family rooms shouldn’t be all about wipeable surfaces