West London Family Home

As the arrival of the new CMID blog draws near, we pause to reflect on designers that are of particular appeal one way or another.   We are drawn to the residential works of the Charles Mellersh Design Studio for its enduring commitment to simplicity without draining rooms of warmth and comfort.  This is evident in an older post looking at previous Charles Mellersh work - see here  - as it is with this more recent West London effort, as seen above and below.  Though each interior is site specific and styled in different ways, both are undeniably warm and layered with eye-catching visuals that do not burden the limited space.  It's a good balancing act and effective interior design can often be reduced to finding balance. 

Interesting sidebar:  Charles Mellersh started his design career as a journalist and stylist, including a stint as an interiors editor with the influential magazine, Wallpaper*.  This would have provided ample opportunity to hone his style and, perhaps, approach his own design work with a practiced critical eye for what works for the broader  readership/audience.  And indeed, the rooms below have a certain unifying appeal to them that could cut across various demographics: male/female, family home/professional couple without kids etc.  It's both versatile and smart politics!

Words by Craig Greaves and photographs via Charles Mellersh Design Studio

This Week's Office Happenings...

 

This richly embroidered Jane Churchill fabric called Santana has been ordered to create new cushions for a client.

This lovely fabric will be tying together a range of colours and textures in their living room, including a newly

re-upholstered sofa in cream zebra stripes!

Another week in the office has whizzed by and some lovely jobs have been coming together - here are just some of the things that have been happening. Have a great weekend all.

 

This Cole and Son wallpaper, Columbus is going in a client's new powder room. Their new house has lovely views
of the sea and this room happens to be at the back of the building so why not take the view with you?



I saw these lab bar stools in white while having coffee with my boyfriend in a café and knew they would be perfect for
a client's new traditional style kitchen that I've designed for her - even better that they are available in duck egg blue,
her favourite colour.

 

I was given this divine T-lab rabbit as a gift of thanks from a friend - (whispering) who may be opening a cool new store
in Wellington. Don't worry I'll keep you posted! She's looking sweet on my book shelf.

 

Useful Coffee Table

 

Here's a useful coffee table we recently installed in an extensive interior renovation. The client was keen to have extra seating available when the occasion arose that there are more people than usual in her living room. These footstools doubles as seating  and when not required, are neatly tucked away under the table which saves space and looks great. We used tactile velvet on these seats and they tie in with colours from a painting that is hanging above the fireplace. Result.

 

Photographs by Charlotte Minty.

Colour, Pattern and Texture

Loving the texture, colour and patterns coming together in this cosy corner. This is from a recent job where we fully renovated the living room in time for the upcoming winter season.



Photograph by Charlotte Minty.

Updating a Fireplace

Here's a nice detail from a job that I am managing at the moment.
When I first met with my client, she wasn't too keen on this fireplace in her living room and I agreed with her. It didn't produce much heat and the surround was rather large, almost overwhelming for the space that it was in. In essence, we wanted to make it less of a focal point. So we got the top half chopped off, put in a new gas fire insert for better heat output and painted it white. It looks much better, don't you think?

Photographs by Charlotte Minty.

Screen Backdrop for Wedding

The one thing I love about my job is the variety of briefs that I receive. Last year a client approached me to do the layout for their wedding reception!
The reception was at a vintage style hall and we did the overall planning of the whole space. One of the details I suggested was a feature backdrop - this would create a focal point of the whole space. I suggested that this where the speakers would stand when they do their speeches, where the band would play in front of and generally set the tone of the wedding. The theme of the wedding was vintage with an art deco feel so we found this perfect wallpaper for the screen. It is called Imperial Pheasant and it was designed by Catherine Martin for Mokum. The black background with metallic gold pheasants looked striking and made great impact up close and from afar. My client sent me the above photo of the one of the screens - they had two side by side to make one larger one. I think it looks great!