Lucinda Chambers, founding father of Colville and Collagerie, at her house in London.
“I wore lampshades on my head simply so I may get by way of economic system class,” admits Lucinda Chambers. “My husband asks me: When will we be capable of go someplace with out you begging the airline to allow you to deliver your inappropriate baggage?” The issue is that I like every thing! I really like white ceramic. I really like coloured ceramics. I like shiny issues. And I like actually boring issues, you understand?”
However Chambers’ house in Shepherd’s Bush, London, is not only a repository for her issues. It is a celebration of it, a showcase of the chances and ends she picked up within the far-flung souks of Marrakesh and her typical haunts on the Portobello Street. Former vogue director of British Vogue and co-founder of the web market Collagerie And luxurious clothes model ColvilleHer eyes are unparalleled. Chambers pulls off the bolder strikes — and nonchalantly remembers the time she painted her lounge pink and yellow at her youngest son’s suggestion that it match his Lego bricks, or the time she rescued an vintage mattress from a close-by alley.
When Chambers first noticed her home 30 years in the past, it was “shabby and uninteresting, with a small kitchen nearly utterly stuffed by an excellent Aga.” Though there wasn’t a lot going for the place apart from its good dimension and prime location, the park gained Chambers over. She’s spent the previous three many years remodeling a colorless home into a stunning house, increasing the kitchen, then working inside an present Twentieth-century “patchwork” structure, utilizing little greater than paint and her kits to rework it.
Among the many eye-catching gadgets are the numerous curtains she started accumulating at age 12 (“I do not know the place I believed I would reside with so many home windows… Buckingham Palace?”), and at the moment are sewn into cushions and lampshades. And scattered for a snug impact. Plaques clustered on the partitions of the lavatory and kitchen add texture, together with work and pictures from her travels.
The house might appear to be a cheerful mixture of every thing Chambers loves, however in terms of decor, her method is methodical. She carries a pocket book to sketch out totally different choices and take a look at paint passes till she hits the best mixture. She is just not afraid to make errors. “A room can take a very long time, and that is OK,” she says. “Like vogue, it is trial and error. You possibly can all the time begin over or repaint—it is mainly only a fancy clean-up.”
entrance
lounge
Pictured under.
Lucinda Chambers stuffed her London house with finds from all over the world. necklace: Tribute ornament. Rug: Colville. Pillows: wine and Colville. mural: Oka (set of 12 prints), Claire Packer (grouped over mantelpiece).
kitchen
Chambers configured the kitchen in order that “you possibly can chat from any angle with the one who’s cooking.” gentle: Classic, with totally different shadestogether with Rosie de Roig. Metallic chair: stronghold.
Dinner room
“That is Sanderson paint “It is the right yellow colour,” Chambers says. “I’ve the longest code for touch-ups as a result of they do not try this anymore.” desk: Classic, previous cinema. Couch for 2 folks: Specialised in cabbage and roses cloth. flower vase And Pillow: Collagerie for Conran shop.
Major bed room
Vintage textile pillowcases and a “very previous” Victorian comforter create a tranquil area. This “headboard” is 2 double variations fused collectively. Entrance panels: basic, eBay. Lamps: Marrakech souk. desk: Numerous antiques.
rest room
“I really like the dishes,” Chambers says. “It is a reasonable strategy to construct a wall.” bathtub: C. B. Hart (decree). poop: Eames. Lavatory rug: anthropologist. Examination pad: Soho Home.
Courtyard
