Grey Shadows

Status: Completed

Location: London SW18

A dated and tired Victorian terraced house in London was given a new lease of life.

The original outline of this project was to revamp the living room, provide more light and introduce a contemporary scheme throughout the house. After attentively reviewing the client’s needs, we recommended focusing on a few key areas for improvement, namely the living room, kitchen’s side return, entrance, master bedroom, and guest room.

TA+ studio finds itself once again working with existing features and a palette of colours to integrate into the new scheme. Grey and all its nuances were the client’s preferred palette for the project, with contrasts of white and pink: pure white on the banister and pale pinks for living room furniture.

In the living room, the straight lines and sharp corners of the bespoke shelves balance with period features. Flat hues dress the walls, ceiling and mouldings without hierarchy or accents. The new features are the accents: Tadelakt, the bookcase with reclaimed wooden handles and the contemporary fireplace.

Light flows from the adjacent kitchen and the full length skylight over the side extension.

The same concept runs through the Victorian staircase where original lines have been straightened using engineered wood to create a solid effect replacing the original spindles, a subtle yet firm element climbing up the stairwell. A gentle curve at the newel invites you to ascend.

The guest room was a blank canvas with no existing requirements other than to retain the original floor boards. The client’s brief was to create a room that could occasionally turn into a bedroom but that was mainly an additional and flexible living space.

We thought to create an intimate guest room that could also be used as a reading room, meditation/yoga room, or to just hang out with a friend and chat.

A darker colour palette was picked for this room, we chose black tinted MDF (Valcromat) brightened by bronze inlays and papered wall.

Half of the room is a platform concealing a pull-out bed beneath the meditation/reading zone. On one side is a functional storage wall comprising storage, bookcases, and guest wardrobe. Acorn lamps and a slatted screen finish this intimate space.

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Photography: Kasia Fiszer