For this generously proportioned apartment near Piccadilly, Kit Kemp, the creative force behind some of London’s most stylish hotels, including Ham Yard, The Soho and Covent Garden, lent mood and personality with a small, but perfectly formed library.
‘My favourite rooms are always libraries – books look so comforting,’ she says. ‘They make a room feel like a home.’ Here, a wall of books surrounds the double-doored entrance to the bedroom, which draws the eye towards its dramatic upholstered headboard. ‘It doesn’t matter if the space is traditional or super-modern, a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf adds depth.’
Nor are the volumes bought by the yard. Instead, they’ve been selected by Ultimate Library and are inspired by the location, Soho’s history and even a dash of its racy past. Combined with novels set in the area and books on the city’s culture, they enhance the sense of warmth and personality in the apartment. Classic furniture is upholstered in woven fabrics in a gentle green-and-white palette and piled with cushions to create an inviting area.
The soft, light mood continues in the colour scheme of the bedroom, where definition comes from the black piping used to highlight the curvaceous shape of the headboard, its black detailing echoed in the choice of lantern above.
Elsewhere in the suite, Mrs Kemp demonstrates her inventive approach with a wall of books finished with a painting in front of the shelves. ‘We often take the covers off books to reveal their bare spines. It’s more decorative.’
Firmdale Hotels (020–3411 9200; www.firmdalehotels.com) The Ultimate Library (www.ultimatelibrary.co.uk)
How weird and quirky period features can be incorporated into modern living
From priest holes to gargoyles, Nicola Venning explores how unusual period features, if well curated, can be the making of
Contemporary library design ideas
A look into how an interior designer achieves a certain look or atmosphere. This week: the contemporary library.
The grand house with the largest library west of Salisbury
The library at Chanters House was designed for Lord Coleridge’s 18,000 books.
-
The century-old enamelling technique used to create Van Cleef's lucky ladybird brooch — which has something in common with Country LifeThe technique used in the jeweller's Geneva workshop has been put to good use in its latest creation.
-
‘The best sleep in the sky’: What it’s like to fly in United’s Polaris cabin, approved by American icon Martha StewartUnited’s Business Class cabin goes by the name Polaris and Martha Stewart is a fan. So, how does it fare?
-
Injecting colour, pattern and character into a once-plain sitting roomBooks, art and textiles transformed a once-characterless space into a warm, inviting sitting room.
-
Say no to boring walls: Six choices of paint and paper which will get people talkingAmelia Thorpe picks out some glorious alternatives to just painting everything white.
-
'Not cheap... but cheaper than a divorce lawyer': Why it pays to hire a consultant to choose the perfect paint colourDriven to distraction by paint charts? A colour consultant could be the answer for anyone befuddled by choosing the right hue, says Giles Kime.
-
Room with a cru — how an 'enduring legacy of lockdown' is the latest must have in interior designLong gone are the dusty cellars of the past. Now is the time to make the place you store your wine as pleasurable as drinking it.
-
The secret to transforming an awkwardly shaped roomCave Interiors turned the awkwardly shaped sitting room of an Edwardian house into a warm and welcoming space.
-
A gloomy kitchen entirely re-created as a cosy living spaceWhen Nicole Salvesen and Mary Graham were asked to redecorate a country house in Berkshire, the first task was to turn a dark space into a colourful sitting room.
-
A living room that's a lesson in how to restore lost character in a historic spaceNicola Harding used rich colours and textures to enhance the historic character of a Jacobean house in Berkshire.
-
The slipper chair: How one of America's great designers produced a classic of armless funThe slipper chair might have its roots in the 18th century, but it owes its compact, convivial appeal to Billy Baldwin, a giant of 20th-century American interior design.
