Belgrave Place

Location of Project:    Belgravia – LONDON

Project name:              Belgrave Place

Completion:                November 2017

Image Credit:             Elayne Barre

Interior design:           Jimmie Martin

-What is the profile of the residents?

This client is a 35 year old single glamorous female, who has got properties around the world. She has a huge interest in art, fashion and she travels a lot. She is an investor in several art/fashion/property businesses.

-What was the starting point for the project?

The client purchased this property 7 years ago but never lived in it. Whilst being out of the country for the past few years, the client had initially hired another company to refurbish her place and she came back to something she was not happy with. It was all very basic and bland, especially for such a property and in that prime location.

She came to us and bought more of less all pieces in our store as she quickly wanted to furnish her home and finally make a home for herself.  It turned out that with all the pieces from us, Jimmie Martin and her old existing pieces and lots of artworks that she collected over the years. It all turned out looking very messy and unfinished. So she asked us if we could help her finish her home and make it amazing as she was struggling herself. So we took over and basically started again and took away features that the previous designers had just installed to become more up to date and suit her lifestyle.

-What is the predominant style of the project?

I would call it a very eclectic and arty style that breaks some of the rules of interior design.

-Which environments are located on each floor?

Ground floor:

Entrance Hall

Dining room

Kitchen

Staff prep kitchen

Staff quarters

1st floor

Lounge/Living room

Guest bathroom

2 roof terraces

Lower ground floor:

The art gallery

Master bedroom, en suite and walk in wardrobe

Pink Guest Bedroom and en suite

White guest bedroom and end suite

-What are the central elements?

The entrance hall is a great central airy space leading you through the oversized hand carved doors in to the dining room, or the winding staircase leading you up to the living room and terraces, or straight downstairs to the gallery and bedrooms.

-Materials used for coatings:

The walls and brick work has been painted a dark shade of grey to give it a more moody feel. A black and white geometric pattern special made carpet was made to make a statement and lead the guests up the stairs. A theatrical bright green velvet draped curtain left to one side of the window was hung to create a dramatic effect, to play with the stair case, oversized glass chandelier and the large blue blue glass mirror.

-Main brands used (identify objects):

Silver rose armchair: Jimmie Martin

Chandelier: Eicholtz

Neon tubes: Seletti

Stair carpet: Starck Carpets

Blue mirror: Custom made by Jimmie Martin

LIVING ROOM

How was the environment planned?

This space was originally the kitchen and dining room, but it was moved down to the ground floor to make space for a living room/TV room.  The room was all white with a recently installed but dated stone brick wall put in with fireplace as a big feature wall. We needed all new pieces for this space to make it a cosy room, a request from the client.

-What is essential to highlight in the living?

The extra large purple velvet sofa that we designed and had made for the space. At 5 meters long it can host a lot of people and ends up a great entertaining casual but comfortable space.

-Tell us about the decoration of the living room:

So we decided to get rid of all the white walls and ceiling in the room and focus on the clients bright and fun artwork and the most comfortable sofa ever. With the very dark walls and ceiling and dark spot lights each item in this rooms stands out and become a pieces of art on its on whether its the sofa, or a special artwork or even the bookcase or the staircase.  We created a very warm and comfortable entertaining space for the client whether it is to snuggle up on the sofa and watch movies, or sit and have drinks with friends. We chose to coordinate it with the rest of the house by using venetian blinds as window treatments in all the rooms to soften each space and play with the light coming in.

-Main brands used (identify objects):

F*CK Sideboard: Jimmie Martin

Art: Clients own

Mannequin floor lamp: Jimmie Martin

Marble and Metal Coffee tables: Eichholtz

Artworks includes: Sperm Alarm artwork above sofa by Banksy,

Batwoman artwork above sofa by Tyler Shield and David Hockney editions and LV work by Murakami.

DINING ROOM

-How was the environment planned? What is essential to highlight in the dining room? Tell us about the decoration of the dining room. Talk about the decor and the central ideas of the living room.

This room was originally a lot bigger and was used as the main living space. As the kitchen was moved from the first floor and a wall was built up to create a separate kitchen area with the dining room next to it to host a larger dining space than originally planned.  With very tall ceilings we put in one of our French style silver leaf tables with an oversized glass top to host 12 places and chairs.  We added a central piece on the table with our bespoke art urn with an oversized floral arrangement for that extra unexpected wow factor. We made a big feature wall and organised the client’s art pieces all mixed on one wall, while other walls just had one large piece of art to keep the balance right. With the clients love for pink we bought a vintage Persian deep dyed pink rug to create a base of the room which balanced the flower arrangement on the table.

-Materials used for coatings:

Pale grey painted walls with white ceiling and white venetian blinds.

-Main brands used (identify objects):

Cocktail cabinet, Yellow sideboard, Tiger wall head, Dining Table, Flower Urn, Sausage Dog chairs:  All by Jimmie Martin

Art: Clients own art collection including Peter Blake

Console tables and dining chairs: Can be ordered through Jimmie Martin supplier

One off Pink vintage Persian rug: Bazaar Velvet

KITCHEN

-How was the kitchen planned? Main points:

We created a big enough kitchen but didn’t need to include a dining area as the dining room was right next door. Lots of kitchen surfaces and a big tall window makes the kitchen look large and airy. Exposing the bare brick wall and using muted colour we wanted to create an arty and more urban feel to make sure that the kitchen design wasn’t neglected and fitted well in with the rest of the property.  We painted a striking petrol blue feature wall which also hides a secret door into the separate preparation kitchen and staff quarters.

MASTER BEDROOM SUITE

-What are the main customer requests for the suite? What was the concept and what is the inspiration for this environment?

This was a very important and special room for the client. We wanted to create a space where she could come home and feel safe from the outside world and create a haven where she could relax and just be. A dreamy, cosy and comfortable space.

-Materials used for coatings:

Pale grey painted walls, with grey straight drapes on each window for extra warmth and the clients most favourite colour… pink! so we used a more dusty pink.. and also her other favourite pattern.. leopard!

-Mains brands used:

Chaise longue, Lip cushion, deep button ottoman: Jimmie Martin

Bedside tables: Andrew Martin

Ostrich feather floor lamp and bedside lamps: A modern Grand Tour

Shag rug: Stepevi

Bed: Clients own.

Leopard Bedspread and cushions: Roberto Cavalli

-Master bathroom:

Black painted panelled wall with black mosaic. Special made mirror bathroom cabinet with a basin. Venetian mirror can be ordered from Jimmie Martin.

Pink GUEST BEDROOM

-What are the main customer requests for the suite?

The only thing the client wanted to keep in this room was the Cavalli feather bedspread and pillows and the 3 pieces of artworks on the wall she currently had.

-What was the concept and what is the inspiration for this environment?

We decided based on the Cavalli bedspread (which again had leopard on the reversed side), and the black white and red photographs, to make this in to a luxurious pink edgy Rock’n’Roll themed room.

-Materials used for coatings:

Pink painted walls and ceiling

-Mains brands used:

Headboard custom made by Jimmie Martin

Wardrobe: Jimmie Martin

Artwork: Tyler Shield

Mirrored bedside tables and Metallic scatter cushions: Andrew Martin

Bedside skull lamps: Eichholtz

Black feather bed throw and scatter cushions: Roberto Cavalli

Leopard rug: Stark Carpets

-Bathroom:

White marble, with a black painted feature wall and perspex spike mirror and industrial lighting to bring in the Rock theme from the bedroom to the bathroom.

White GUEST BEDROOM

-What are the main customer requests for the suite?

The only thing the client wanted to keep in this room was the turquoise Cavalli bedspread and pillows and the vintage movie poster she had on the wall.

-What was the concept and what is the inspiration for this environment?

This is the only room we decided to keep the stark white walls and play with the contrast of the bright colour injections in the floral Cavalli throw and pillows. We picked up more colour’s such the soft pinks, turquoise and greens and broke it all off completely with black and white geometric rug to give a modern overall feel. The aim was to create a modern, luxurious and fun room but still relaxing and a place to escape.

-Mains brands used:

Custom headboard by Jimmie Martin

Armchair: Jimmie Martin

Turqouise bed throw and scatter cushions: Roberto Cavalli

Bedside lamp bases: Clients own

Geometric rug: Stark Carpets

Geometric scatterer cushions: Eicholtz

-Bathroom:

We used wallpaper by Kelly Wearstler from one of her old collections to tie in the geometric pattern from the bedroom. Accents of turquoise was also used to add to the contrast.

DOWNSTAIRS HALLWAY

-What are the central elements?

We wanted to create a hallway that didn’t just become a corridor to connect the bedrooms.. but to create something interesting also down there. So, we painted all the walls and ceiling a dark grey and covered the walls with parts of the client’s art collection to create a gallery. With spotlights highlighting each piece of art it creates a moody and interesting feel and also another room. There used to be a wooden staircase with a big glass banister linking the ground floor with the lower ground floor, which we had carpeted in a vibrant deep purple. The glass banister we gold leafed to give the extra sharpness and kick to the space, along with 3 white neon tubes for the extra cool factor. Artworks including Peter Blake.