Residential

Apartment, Canary Wharf,

london, ENGLAND

The apartment was approximately 15 years old and my clients had lived there for around two years, getting to know the spaces, before they asked Christine May Interior Design to help them to create a home from what had been a rental property.

The clients like simplicity and unfussy lines; they were keen to use warm colours and favoured the autumn colour scheme we used throughout. The apartment was gutted and we refitted every room.

The couple entertain a lot so we opened up the kitchen doorway and the small hatch as far as was structurally possible, which makes the kitchen feel more sociable and part of the open plan living room.

The wife is a keen amateur cook and wanted to incorporate as much as possible into the rather small, awkward kitchen. We managed to fit in a walk-in larder, a workspace for her laptop and shelves for her many cook books, as well as two ovens, a warming drawer, microwave, full height fridge – and a freezer plus a washing machine and dishwasher. On top of all this we crammed in plenty of cutlery and pan drawers and open shelving.

Lighting was upgraded throughout the apartment. There are zoned circuits in the open plan living space making it possible to light individual areas as required and to change the lighting levels to create different moods.

The couple’s existing sofa was reupholstered in their favourite colour, green and, as the client is petite she asked for a custom made, vintage-style, leather armchair. We also designed the media unit which was made by our own craftsmen; the top of the coffee table slides open to reveal more storage.

In the hall and living/dining room the laminate floor was replaced with walnut engineered boards and under floor heating was fitted. The bedrooms are carpeted.

The original boiler was housed in the master bedroom but we moved it to a large cupboard in the hall, which freed up space for fitted wardrobes. In order to create even more wardrobe space, we ‘stole’ space from the adjoining guest bathroom.

The second bedroom had to double up as a guest bedroom as well as the husband’s home office and study. All the cabinets and shelves are bespoke made in limed oak. The sofa bed is also a convenient space for the client to read.

As we had stolen space from the guest bathroom, we now had the challenge of cramming both a shower and a bath, as well as storage, into a much smaller room. We overcame the problem by installing a small, shaped bath with the shower fitted over. This gave us the opportunity to fit in a vanity unit, thus supplying the extra storage required by the clients.