An elegant Notting Hill home softly harmonised by Scarlett Supple

For Scarlett, the house was the dream canvas to work with. ‘It’s an 1800s beauty, with elegant details, high ceilings and big sash windows,’ explains the designer, who already had developed a great shorthand with its artist and writer owner, having worked with her on her previous flat nearby as well as on a handful of projects for her family before. ‘She has really refined taste and a real love for antiques,’ Scarlett says of the client. ‘We brainstormed together and spoke about every corner in quite a lot of detail before we started pulling together schemes.’ Structurally, the house was in good nick and the layout didn’t require any major rethinks, with a centrally positioned staircase – effectively splitting the house into front and back – linking the three floors. There is a kitchen-dining room, living room and little loo on the ground floor, a main bedroom, including a dressing room and en suite, and additional drawing room on the first floor, and another couple of bedrooms up on the top floor.

An island, made from reclaimed timber, has a softening effect in the kitchen-dining room and ties in with the textures of the floor, which has been lined with bricks, sourced from Heritage Ceramics.

Martin Morrell

While perfectly functional, the house’s core needed some attention. Scarlett prioritised honest materials to ground the space and give it a soulfulness. ‘We needed a base to build on, because that’s ultimately what helps a home feel lived in and settled,’ she says. As such, aged wooden floors were laid throughout, walls painted in textural limewash, high skirting boards and chunky cornices installed to match the grandeur of the rooms, and terracotta floor tiles – sourced from Heritage Ceramics – put down in the kitchen-dining room. In this room, it was a case of creating breathing space, swapping claustrophobic high units for low ones from DeVol and an island made from reclaimed timber that feels as if it could have always been there. A built-in bench, piled up with movable mohair cushions and positioned next to a beautifully aged antique Italian table, doubles as a place for piles of books and other objects. ‘It’s based on a lovely inspiration image our client had of a long bench, stacked high with books,’ adds Scarlett. It's peak comfort.

The dining table was sourced from Scarlett's husband James, who runs Thurstan. A built-in banquette is topped with dark green cushions.

Martin Morrell

Green zellige tiles provide a pop of colour in the otherwise neutral kitchen, with low level units by DeVol and an island made from reclaimed timber.

Martin Morrell

She was also on a softening mission upstairs, adding details such as an arch to the doorway leading from the heavenly little dressing room – papered in Nicholas Herbert’s ‘Bhavani’ – to the en-suite bathroom. On the top floor, Scarlett and the client decided to turn one of the bedrooms into a studio space where the client could work, which is now fondly known as the art room. It can easily become a bedroom again if required, but for now, it’s a space for creative experimentation, with an antique dresser, sourced from the Decorative Arts Fair, providing storage and also accommodating a reclaimed Belfast sink that can be used for washing brushes.

Deep coloured walls provide a cosy backdrop in the first floor drawing room, which the client often reads in.

Martin Morrell

The whole house has that feeling of being effortless in its curation, no doubt aided by the fact that the client brought many pieces with her from her previous flat. In the ground-floor sitting room, for example, a pair of antique armchairs from Dean Antiques and reupholstered in Rose Uniacke's ‘Cotton Velvet' in gingerbread, sit alongside a mid-century coffee table the client bought previously, and a charming rug that the client’s mother gave to her. On the wall hangs a painting by Leonardo Devito, which, like much of the art throughout, was already part of the client’s collection, and is picked up beautifully in the teal linen curtains with their textured linen edge. ‘We thought about curtains in a vintage fabric, but we wanted something a bit cleaner,’ says Scarlett.

Walls in Rose Uniacke's ‘Hickory’ create a cocooning atmosphere in the first floor living room-snug.

Martin Morrell

The palette, all earthy tones and dyed linens throughout, feels classic Scarlett – an accolade indeed, considering that she only founded her studio, recently rebranded Studio Supple, just five years ago. The calm, relaxed ground-floor sitting room and snug, with walls in textural Bauwerk paint, is countered by the drawing room up on the first floor, which is painted in an earthy, reddy tone – Rose Uniacke''. ‘We wanted it to be a bit cosier and richer,’ explains Scarlett. ‘The owner is an avid reader and writer, so we needed somewhere that felt cocooning – it had to reflect her personality.’ The owner’s bedroom is similarly cosseting, painted in Atelier Ellis’s bluey-green ‘Plume’, but it’s the wrought-iron bed canopy that is perhaps the most eye-catching, with a length of golden velvet suspended from it. ‘I wasn’t convinced about the velvet, but then we got it up and it's perfect,' explains Scarlett. Creating an equally cosy, appealing space for guests was also important, resulting in the second bedroom being painted in Farrow & Ball’s warm yellow ‘Cane’ colour and an enveloping half-tester being added, made from Fermoie’s ‘York Stripe’. ‘I wanted the bed to feel enclosed and comforting,’ says Scarlett. Is there anything better?

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