Lunch in a Paris restaurant led interior designer Guy Goodfellow to an unexpected find in a shop window across the road. ‘I spotted a beautiful brass-and-copper Moroccan fireplace and mirror, designed in 1960 by the American designer Tony Duquette for a Parisian apartment,’ he recalls. He called home to check the measurements: ‘They fitted so perfectly that I had to buy them.’
The two were soon installed as the central feature of a cosy sitting area, a side ‘wing’ of the large drawing room of the early-Victorian house in Chelsea that he shares with his partner, gardener and florist James Anderson. ‘The main room is light and airy, but this corner has a change of tempo,’ he says. ‘It’s designed as a dramatically dark and comfortable area for watching TV or for after-dinner conversations into the small hours.’
'We fell in love with the distinctive matte finish of the paint and the staggering depth of colour'
The walls – and cabinet with pop-up TV screen – were painted in Olive Colour by Little Greene, chosen to work with the metal fireplace. ‘We fell in love with the distinctive matte finish of the paint and the staggering depth of colour.’
The sofa is upholstered in green velvet, to reduce its visual impact on the space. Brass nailing and gold piping add a touch of glamour, echoing that of the decorative fireplace, and the bolster-cushion arms pick up on the Ottoman-meets-Moroccan inspiration behind the design of the room.
Guy’s love of textiles is evident in the mid-20th-century Uzbek ikat fabric used for the blind and the handwoven cushions on the sofa. The stools are upholstered in Fez, from the Guy Goodfellow Collection, woven to a design inspired by traditional Moroccan embroidery.
Paris wall lamps from Robert Kime cast a warm glow and uplighters in the hearth are reflected by the metal fireplace. ‘The mood is intoxicating at night.’
To discover more about Guy Goodfellow and his work, visit www.guygoodfellow.com.
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