Interior Designer Lonika Chande’s West London Cottage
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London interior designer Lonika Chande’s Queen’s Park family home had been stripped of its history by the time she and her husband, Theo Hall, came along. Located in an enclave of Victorian affordable housing not all of which survived the Blitz, the 1876 brick structure was built for a railway worker. Many occupants later, it had an interior that flowed well but felt 21st century sanitized. A fan of layering rooms with art, books, and patterns, Lonika stepped in to celebrate it as the urban rarity it is: a historic cottage in the thick of things, just north of Notting Hill.
A year ago, we featured Lonika’s Apartment Remodel for a Demanding Client (Her Mother). Join us for a look around her own quarters, which she and Theo, a lawyer, now share with their toddler son, baby daughter, and a lot of well-chosen antiques.
Photography by Milo Brown, courtesy of Lonika Chande.
Above Lonika introduced wainscoting to the sitting room off the entry and the formerly boarded up fireplace now has a mantel of her own design Throughout she offset colorful textiles with a warm neutral paint palette The two seater sofa is upholstered in Dans la Forêt from Décors Barbares The walls and ceiling are painted Stone IV and the woodwork and trim is Stone V both from Paint Paper Library <span id=ezoic pub ad placeholder 868 class=ezoic adpicker ad>Above We wanted to recapture some of the cottages original character but we didnt want it to feel twee Lonika told UK <em>House Garden<em> She found much of the art and furniture by being a regular at the Portobello Road Kempton and Sunbury antiques markets The foxed mantel mirror came out of a French bistro The tiger is an old silk embroidery that she framed<span id=ezoic pub ad placeholder 869 class=ezoic adpicker ad style=displayblockimportantfloatnoneline height0margin bottom15pximportantmargin left0importantmargin right0importantmargin top15pximportantmax width100importantmin height90pxmin width728pxpadding0text aligncenterimportant>Above The nook under the stair has a window seat with storage The African carvings are from Lonikas grandparents house in TanzaniaAbove A farmhouse table extends across the kitchen which the previous owners enlarged and opened to the back gardenAbove The kitchen cabinets are deVols Real Shaker design with a Shaws sink and Perrin Rowe Aged Brass Ionian Tap also from deVol The blue is a bespoke deVol color and the zellige tile is from Habibi Interiors The counter is Carrara marble The antique hook lined shelf over the sink was made for hanging game<span id=ezoic pub ad placeholder 874 class=ezoic adpicker ad>Above Lonikas mother artist Lucy Dickens great great granddaughter of Charles Dickens painted the tropical fruit tableau in the center of the dining area and the watercolor of quinces is by Lucys motherAbove The three bedrooms are cottage size and now bright with color and pattern The canopy is a mix of washed yellow linen and a block print from JaipurAbove Shades of turmeric are one of Lonikas specialitiessee her yellow kitchen here The walls are Slate II from Paint Paper Library<span id=ezoic pub ad placeholder 877 class=ezoic adpicker ad style=displayblockimportantfloatnoneline height0margin bottom15pximportantmargin left0importantmargin right0importantmargin top15pximportantmax width100importantmin height60pxmin width468pxpadding top15pximportanttext aligncenterimportant>Above The lone bathroom is newly lined with beadboard paneling and accessorized with a vintage spool table and shelves Contemplating adding your own paneling See Remodelista 101 The Ultimate Guide to Shiplap Beadboard and V Groove Paneling<span id=ezoic pub ad placeholder 878 class=ezoic adpicker ad style=displayblockimportantfloatnoneline height0margin bottom15pximportantmargin left0importantmargin right0importantmargin top15pximportantmax width100importantmin height90pxmin width728pxpadding top15pximportanttext aligncenterimportant>Above The blue on the walls ceiling and radiator is Gravel Pit from Dulux and the tubfrom Aston Matthewsis painted a neutral red called Callaghan from Little Greene The muslin window blind is in Robert Kimes Indian inspired Field Poppy print<span id=ezoic pub ad placeholder 879 class=ezoic adpicker ad>Above The babys room until recently was Lonikas office now relocated off site nearby Its papered in Alice in Wonderland an archived CFA Voysey Arts and Crafts design from Trustworth Studios of Plymouth Massachusetts The glossy trim is Picture Gallery Red by Farrow Ball<span id=ezoic pub ad placeholder 880 class=ezoic adpicker ad style=displayblockimportantfloatnoneline height0margin bottom15pximportantmargin left0importantmargin right0importantmargin top15pximportantmax width100importantmin height90pxmin width728pxpadding0text aligncenterimportant>Above Nurseries are so often new and modern but Lonika is raising her children with patina See another bedroom with Voysey wallpaper hereAbove Lonika in another of her layered projectssee Lonika Chande
