Zoe's Apartment

Set on a quiet residential street overlooking the open expanses of Paddington Rec park is the apartment of Zoe V, a young fund manager who moved to London from her native Croatia in 2008. She found an Edwardian era mansion block apartment that hadn’t been refurbished in over 40 years, and being someone not to be daunted by any challenge, she set about hiring a team of builders and decorators to tear down walls, rip up floorboards, and bring it bang up to date. For the next 6 months, her life revolved around this project. Her evenings were spent overseeing the work and her weekends seeking out furnishings, artworks, and decorative objects, not to mention fireplaces, baths, window blinds and door handles. Her personal odyssey became a labour of love, and the results are stunning – a feeling of freshness, lightness and airiness flows around the spacious rooms, each decorated with taste and style. Bright sunshine permeates the spacious living area, a comfortable and welcoming room featuring, earthy tones, and a variety of textures, enhanced by the glow of the fireplace and the warmth of the oak floor. The kitchen is epitomised by the sleek and minimalist black granite and steel of modernity, and the apartment also features an outdoor terrace and an office for Zoe to work in... view feature

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Thread Of history

By interweaving new features with old, designer Michael D’Souza has breathed new life into a 17th-century tapestry works on the banks of the Thames. There are those who say a real home is a place with a past, where memories are made and cherished. If this is so, Michael D’Souza’s South London flat qualifies easily, for it is steeped in history, some of it of D’Souza’s own making, the rest stretching back through the centuries. Once a tapestry works patronised by Charles I. The 17th-century bones of the building are visible in its dark wood, rib-like beams. D’Souza renovated and restored the place, realigning and refurbishing the wooden window frames and shutters and adding a contemporary Alno kitchen. When he asked about replacing the bowing beams in his bedroom, an architect advised, “Leave them be. They’ve been there for over 400 years and won’t be going anywhere fast.” view interior feature Pin It Now!