Never Been Seen: The Hackney Townhouse interior with a jewel in its crown

The images of the room being described are currently only available to those on the Never Been Seen mailing list. When you sign up, the latest edition will be automatically sent to you. You’ll also get all future editions if you stay subscribed. Get the current edition here. 

Imagine a classic Victorian townhouse that gives no clues from the outside as to what is going on inside. As you walk in, as soon as you cross the threshold, it is a feast for the senses.

Our lovely client wanted to turn her house into a truly unique space - a sensory feast in every way. The house was finished two years ago, but we’ve recently been invited back to design two rooms which needed to be transformed for new purposes.

Thanks to our client, I am lucky enough to share a room from the original designs with you. A room that I believe to be the jewel in the crown of this project. 

It is an unexpected room to be a jewel - it’s the basement. 

Heading down, you walk down a set of stairs through stripes - all over the ceiling and all over the walls. Come out the other end and you're in the softest room you can imagine, with neon bright furniture standing against chalky black walls. It’s positively womb-like. Despite it being one of the only rooms where there is no fabric on the walls, its softness envelopes you. 

One thing that inspired the design of this room was “conversation pits”: sunken sitting spaces popular in the 60s that were designed for relaxing and creating an ‘enveloped’ feeling. The sofa and ottoman take up most of the room for this reason - they are designed to wrap you up in the room and hug you.

Our client wanted to go dark on the walls, so we had an opportunity to go for very bright colours and create magic with the darkness. Jewellery is often placed on a black backdrop, so we took inspiration from this and created jewel-like elements that are illuminated against the black walls. Our client also had such a desire for bright colours that we ended up asking Sally Toughton of Liberake to hand-dye the velvet on the furniture because nothing existed that was bright enough!

The clash between the curtains, cushions and sofa was a tricky element. It took many goes to get the exact tones of pink and orange to work together. Getting the right clash is one of the hardest combinations to land on. You know when you’ve got it right because the colours arrest and appease your eyes. It gives them something to feast on and draws you into the room. 

The initial challenge with this room was to design something that was both a sophisticated and beautifully styled cinema room and a fun, approachable, bomb-proof space for the children. The furniture is big, squishy and “jumpable” and is inspired by the shapes of a climbing frame. It is also all made bespoke by Roy Coles, an expert sofa maker who employs traditional modes of sofa making to create complete gems. A handmade, bespoke carpet from Stark adds to a feeling of luxury, which may as well be velvet, as it is so fluffy.

The black walls nod to 80s cinema while the custom neon lights create a fun and cinematic feel. One of the neon lights is an exact replica of a drawing done by one of the children of the family, a beautiful abstract artwork in its own right!

We also designed a hatch in the wall where the toys are stored which has dual usage - a place to tidy toys away which also transforms into your own shop front! The doors are in two parts so you can “open up” a little stripy shop from inside. 

I had forgotten what a special room this was until revisiting it recently, so it's great to be able to share it with you. Thank you so much to our wonderful client for inviting us back - it was a real pleasure to get lost in this precious jewel box once again.

More images of the room being described are available on the Never Been Seen mailing list. When you sign up, the latest edition will be automatically sent to you. You’ll also get all future editions if you stay subscribed. Get the current edition here.