REIMAGINED COLOUR Subtle hues and simple charms form the focus of a former worker’s cottage in West London

Reimagined COLOUR

Interior designer Charlotte Boundy has embraced the simple charms of her Victorian worker’s cottage, giving it a new lease of life with an infusion of subtle colour

FEATURE CLAIR WAYMAN PHOTOGRAPHY JAMES MCDONALD

ART CAN YOU INDICATE WHERE THE GUTTER WILL FALL AND ENSURE WE HAVE 5MM GRAB PLS? THANKS

Robert Kime’s Cory Major fabric on a nineteenthcentury Napoleon III armchair was the starting point for this scheme. The ottoman from Nimmo & Spooner sits on an 1880s Agra rug from Dominic Everest. The Marple sofa from Arlo & Jacob has been covered in Nantes Overdye in Madder Celadon by Lewis & Wood. The pair of shellac ink and linseed oil artworks above the sofa are by Charlotte’s brother, Toby Boundy.

A striking 1920s Moldovan Bessarabian rug from Joshua Lumley brings a splash of bold colour and pattern to the dining room. Hand-painted shades by Gavin Houghton sit on top of antique brass candlesticks.

‘I felt like it was mine immediately, so I had to make it happen. It’s very sweet and how I’d always imagined a little cottage would be’

Having often admired the rows of pretty Victorian workers’ cottages with their charming gabled porches on her favourite street in Kensal Rise in London, interior designer Charlotte Boundy could barely contain her excitement when one came up for sale back in 2010. “I’d been living in a one-bedroom garden flat in Shepherd’s Bush and I really wanted to graduate to a little house so I could go upstairs to bed,” she says. “When I started thinking about moving, I knew I would love a worker’s cottage.”

By the time Charlotte found the cottage, she had been house hunting unsuccessfully for a year. “I’d sold my flat, but then couldn’t find anything I liked. I knew I wanted something with character. There was an awful lot out there that was very average,”

ABOVE A relief-cast plaster plaque from Lassco hangs above the space-saving bookcase designed by Charlotte. The Scallop lampshade is by Matilda Goad.

Previously white, the kitchen cabinetry, door and window frame have been transformed by being painted in Ink from Atelier Ellis. A curtain made using ticking fabric from The Cloth Shop softens the space and keeps out drafts on chilly evenings.

On warm summer evenings, Charlotte loves sitting on the cosy back porch in her garden. A useful storage bench has been made using decking boards. The antique French tablecloth is from No.1 Lewes and the wall is painted in Cromarty by Farrow & Ball.

‘It can be scary when you put colour onto something that’s been white for a few years. It might look shocking at first, then you realise it works’

she says. As soon as Charlotte walked into the cottage, she fell for its simple charms – the slightly rounded, uneven walls, light-filled spaces, its layout and the sense of history that permeates every room. “I just walked in and knew I wanted it,” she says. “I felt like it was mine immediately, so I had to make it happen. It’s very sweet and how I’d always imagined a little cottage would be.”

Having renovated various properties over the years, Charlotte could see the worker’s cottage was structurally sound and had a good existing layout. “Aspects of the house were unbelievably basic, including the non-existent kitchen,” she says, “but I loved how the drawing room and dining area had been opened up into one space. It felt like a proper home, and I remember thinking what a treat it would be to have a spacious bathroom. An added bonus, and huge selling point for me, was the back porch off the kitchen, which overlooks the garden.”

During her first year there, Charlotte decorated the house in a pared-back, off-white palette and initially made do with a very simple set-up in the kitchen. “The kitchen had nothing in it apart from a little camping stove on legs, an old sink on a stand and a trestle table with everything on it or below it,” she says.

Charlotte’s biggest achievements during the first phase of renovations were installing a white Shakerstyle kitchen and updating the bathroom, which included adding a much-needed shower and restoring the roll-top bath that was already there. She also removed the tired carpet that was laid throughout the house, and happily discovered lovely old floorboards downstairs, which she painted white to bounce light around the space. Meanwhile, upstairs, she chose smart sisal flooring for the bedrooms.

Over the past 10 years, Charlotte’s passion for renovating has slowly evolved into a full-time career in interior design, in a somewhat accidental way. Having started out working at Christie’s, Charlotte went on to work with two highly regarded interior designers – Rose Uniacke and Max Rollitt – before setting up her own interior design business a few years ago. 

ABOVE LEFT Charlotte stands outside the front of her Victorian worker’s cottage, which dates back to 1867. The front door is painted in Spruce by Little Greene. Charlotte planted the hydrangea when she first moved in, and it has now grown to such a size that it acts as the ideal privacy screen. To find out more about Charlotte’s interior design projects, visit charlotteboundy.com

The walls in the bathroom are in Edward Bulmer Natural Paint’s Jonquil and the bath exterior is in Farrow & Ball’s Railings. The Grignano wall lights by Richard Taylor Designs are topped with shades by Rosi de Ruig.

ABOVE To create a sense of calm, the master bedroom walls are painted in Warm White by Atelier Ellis and the woodwork is painted in Light Blue by Farrow & Ball. On the bed, an antique Suzani from Robert Kime brings a splash of vibrant colour to the space. The flooring is Tiger’s Eye sisal, and the pretty Lacy panel on the window from Nest Design affords privacy whilst allowing light to permeate the room. In early 2019, feeling inspired by her time working alongside such talented designers as Uniacke and Rollitt, and having completed various projects for her own clients, Charlotte decided it was time to redecorate her little oasis. “I was eager to fill my cottage with colour this time round,” she says. “Working with Max encouraged me to be braver with colour and showed me ways to layer various hues.”

Being given some Robert Kime fabric by a friend turned out to be the starting point for the colour schemes. “It’s a beautiful floral linen called Cory Major, featuring greens, yellows and cranberry reds, which are colours that go with everything.” Covering an antique armchair in this fabric proved to be the perfect foil for another favourite of Charlotte’s, Nantes Overdye by Lewis & Wood, used on the sofa. At this time Charlotte also discovered Edward Bulmer Natural Paint’s range of beautiful paint colours and chose a warm neutral called Lilac Pink for the sitting room and dining area. “It’s a sublime colour,” she says. “In some lights it looks pink, then other times it can look pale caramel or putty.” Meanwhile, in the kitchen, which had been entirely off-white for years, she chose a dark blue paint for the cabinetry. “The kitchen was instantly brought back to life with a lick of paint and new knobs, and sanding and restaining the work surfaces,” she says.

Upstairs, Charlotte decided to use pale paint colours in each room to create a peaceful, uplifting retreat. She selected a soft plaster pink for the bathroom, powdery light blue for the guest bedroom and warm white for the master bedroom, with stronger accent colours used in the furniture and accessories. “Because so many houses in my street are all white, I wanted to experiment in this little cottage by using a simple palette of subtle colours,” she explains. “Not wanting to sacrifice any light, I’ve chosen warm tones wherever possible. It can be quite scary when you put colour onto something that has been white for many years. It might look shocking at first and then you realise it does work. You can always change things. It’s fun to experiment and try new things out.”

‘It’s a dream – having colour and layers of textiles all around me has made me a lot happier in the space’

Bringing antiques back to life is another of Charlotte’s passions and she can often be found hunting for treasures in her favourite antique shops. “I’m a big fan of restoring and refurbishing older pieces because it makes you feel part of the process,” she explains. She cleverly combines muted colours and antiques, but also likes to mix in a few modern pieces in vibrant hues to add a sense of playfulness to her schemes.

The cottage being a compact space, Charlotte had to be creative when it came to storage solutions, so she cleverly designed a bookcase set in what used to be the fireplace in the dining room. “The dining room doubles as my home office and it was important for me to have a place to keep my favourite books and keepsakes,” she says. Charlotte’s carpenter also built a series of floor-to-ceiling, Shaker-style cupboards and wardrobes throughout the house to maximise storage space.

An important element in the whole design process was understanding the cottage’s roots and letting its simple, wholesome charm shine. “I didn’t want to make it something it wasn’t,” Charlotte says. “That was quite key. It’s always going to be a worker’s cottage. I love camelback sofas, fine furniture and wonderful chandeliers, but that was never going to work in this house. It’s all about embracing what it is.”

Now that the house is finished, Charlotte is loving her reimagined, colourful home. “It’s a dream,” she says, “and has made such a difference. Having colour and layers of textiles all around me has made me a lot happier in the space. I just love my surroundings and I’m very lucky to be able to say that.” n

ABOVE The guest bedroom walls are painted in Light Blue, and the wardrobe is in De Nimes, both by Farrow & Ball. The headboard in Wheat Flower Border from Bennison is combined with a Kantha bedspread from The Cloth Shop and Club wall lights from Jim Lawrence. The chest of drawers is from Doe & Hope and the Papyrus lampshade is from Robert Kime.