Simple Pleasures

Appearances can be deceptive as this elegant mews house in London’s Marylebone demonstrates. Although it appears to be a modest and compact property from the exterior, the property has surprisingly generous living spaces. The client asked Claudia Ludwig, founder of interior design studio Claudia Ludwig Designs, to help with its renovation as the original layout didn’t work for them, and there was a lack of natural light and limited storage.  Claudia enlisted the help of architecture and design studio Collective Works and, together, they rethought the spatial flow and redesigned every level of the house. ‘We started again, more or less,’ explains Claudia. Key to the renovation was the ground-floor kitchen, the heart of the home, where the layout needed to be reconfigured and more storage incorporated. Practical yet elegant flooring was a prerequisite, as the client has a dog.

Originally, the kitchen was entered by means of a double door in the entrance hall. Claudia decided to reorientate the space by siting the door at the rear of the room and replacing the former doorway with industrial-style metal-framed glazing that helps tease light into the space. A dining nook was then introduced in front of the window with built-in banquette seating and chic Scandinavian mid-century chairs and table. Café curtains allow further light into the room. Clean-lined oak cabinetry is teamed with wall cupboards painted in Mizzle by Farrow & Ball, eliciting a calm, contemporary aesthetic. A reeded oak island with a waterfall edge provides more storage and generous worksurface space, as well as anchoring the scheme. The striking worksurface, Taj Mahal quartzite, is also used on the splashback for cohesivity. Underfoot, our Rialto Terrazzo Veneta Honed tile was selected for its subtle pattern and warmth. ‘We wanted a contemporary flooring, but also the clients have a dog and a young son, so we wanted something forgiving,’ explains Claudia. The flooring’s orange-brown flecks beautifully complement the oak, while its subtlety chimes with the Taj Mahal stone. Such was the terrazzo’s appeal that it was used elsewhere in the house. ‘We carried the terrazzo through,’ explains Claudia, ‘using it on all of the bathroom floors.’