Go Love Your Room? – Lulu Guinness

I’m a little bit on the fence about this one, as it’s a little too romantically girly for my taste, but there’s still a lot to love in Lulu Guinness’ Notting Hill house.

Love the refreshing colours, but there’s too much spindly furniture – which never looks comfortable and wallow-y

 

My least favourite room in the house.  I love her bags, but I’m not a fan of LG’s bedding (it’s from her homewares range) and the mural commissioned from an art student doesn’t redeem things much. And I do wonder who dusts that collection of powder compacts.

First up the bones of the house are superb – the Victorian houses built in Notting Hill are larger and grander than in other parts of London, so the proportions are generally, as in this case, more splendid.

And there’s something about the quality of the light there, I lived in Notting Hill for twelve years and even on gloomy days it always seemed brighter and lighter than the rest of London – something to do with the white coloured houses and the sunset views to the west.  But maybe it was just because I loved living there so much.

But I digress.

I love the eclecticism of the decor, the bold use of colour, the collections of objects which are clearly much loved and personal and the way the whole thing reflects LG’s own quirky feminine but slightly kitsch style. (Is she well known in the US? I haven’t come across her here.  In the UK she is renowned as a handbag designer, but she also designs homewares.)

 

I ADORE the pearly queen wallhanging and her tchotchkes (one of my favourite American words) are mostly fab though wonder how practical it is to have everything lined up behind the banquette like that.

The other interesting aspect is how the house has evolved since it was last photographed in 2001 (seen here on Hidden in France) – LG has kept many of the same pieces but the style is a little more pared down and the colour palette more restrained, with much more use of white.  It’s so refreshing to see a wealthy person who doesn’t throw everything out and start again every few years, but who keeps their house full of familiar, much-loved  treasures.

 

Kitchen 2009

Kitchen 2001

Just loving all the perspex and the black and white

 

I’ve always loved her trademark perfume bottles

What do you think? {All images, by the way, from Living etc}

Comments

[thebubbreport]

LIke it. Goes so much with her style. Don't know if I could live in it, but it's fun, and I love the way she plays with the scale of graphics and prints. I don't love the tiles behind the stove, but I'd like them minus the stove in another room. I also love her closet that I saw in some mag awhile back - it's divine.

[Paola]

Is she well known in the US? I haven't come across her before here, but you obviously seem to know of her... Would love to see pics of her closet. Will go hunting...

[corine]

No one seems to know her in the us beside the 2 of us. What I like most about the new decor is the whimsical use of black and white. I wish there were more pictures. I want to see every detail!

[My Owl Barn]

Love it. Are those tiles over the stove? I have never seen such kitchen tiles before. Beautiful!

[K]

Oh, swoon, that banquette. I love it.