A look inside: Nottingham House

Alexander James Interiors is excited to present you to this luxurious contemporary residence, offering a superb balance of formal and relaxed living spaces, making it a perfect family home. The owners commissioned the assistance of Alexander James Interiors to create a classic, contemporary style home. With a strong focus on warming up the spaces which initially felt very cold and harsh. Taking advantage of our complete turnkey service offering, the team focused on designing a home that would be great for entertaining with an opulent, luxurious look with lots of texture – while feeling homely and appropriate for family life. The leafy suburban surroundings of this property play host to beautiful greenery, perfect for those searching for a sanctuary away from the city.

We used a striking geometric patterned silver and gold silk mix fabric for statement cushions and also on the backs of the bar stools in the kitchen area to add a pop of pattern. We paired the patterned fabric on the bar stool with a taupe faux leather fabric on the inside of the chair to provide practicality and durability. The shape of stools was rounded in shape to echo the statement curved island. On the herringbone upholstered sofa in the family room, we used a mixture of charcoal velvet cushions and dapple effect silver cushions with contrast piping to compliment the striking textured velvet pelmets and satin curtains and blinds which dressed the enormous scale windows. The five contemporary pendant lights above the kitchen island were designed to harmonise with the family room and combined satin fabric shades and bronze metal frames.

Creating a balance between classic and contemporary styling in this home requires more abstract shapes, patterns and textures. The inspiration for all these elements came from the marbled mosaic wallpaper we installed in the ground floor cloakroom, combining the rich bronze colours with the deep blues and providing a luxurious feel.

The drawing room brief was predominately for more formal entertaining, and the clients wanted to incorporate their grand piano into the design scheme. We wanted to create a friendly space with plenty of seating, so we designed the sofas and benches to be centred around large marble coffee tables, ensuring every seat had a convenient place for putting down a glass. We worked with the client’s existing chandeliers, coordinating the rest of the metals in the room to match the bronze finish in the existing lights. These included inlays within the fitted bookshelf, the antique bronze framed mirror above the fireplace, and the statement coffee and console tables.

In our master bedroom design, we designed a bespoke padded wall in luxurious fabric for a sumptuous feel, which continued into the bedding and soft furnishings in the bedroom. We used a rich colour palette for a serene, relaxed feel, the perfect sleeping area for our client to enjoy after a long day. They asked us to design a large primary suite with new his and hers dressing rooms and separate bathrooms.

Our Interior Architecture team re-designed her master en-suite bathroom as part of the entire master suite, linking directly with ‘her dressing room’ and bedroom. The stunning Silver Wave Polished book-matched marble slab, which we installed behind the oval bath, became the focal point of the bathroom, while the more practical, less aesthetic amenities were tucked away out of sight. The bespoke floating vanity unit, with accent lighting below, was designed to echo the dressing room doors and create a feminine and glamorous look, with nine panels of bevelled mirror above.

Inspired by the client’s love for Chanel and Dior, we designed elegant fretwork on both the wardrobe doors and dressing drawers which were painted in a pale grey colour to compliment the scheme in the master suite. The light colour helps to keep the space from feeling enclosed and is a lovely contrast against the distinctive wallpaper. The feeling of luxury is emphasised with the glass ball handles, which are not only contemporary but are understated and don’t detract from the striking doors. We designed a quirky dressing chair which, again inspired by Dior’s stunning dressing rooms, was upholstered in sumptuous grey velvet. Delicate grey ostrich feathers were sewn onto the back of the chair, creating a dramatic yet lavish look.

We were asked to design a formal, masculine study with heavy panelling to all walls. To suit the style of the house, we designed a simpler and more contemporary style of panelling with less of a shaker style. The bronze metal inlays provided continuity to the joinery in the rest of the house and gave the panelling a more unique and defined look. The colour of the joinery was designed to be a matt, dark brown, to provide a sophisticated, smart, masculine look. Adding deep navy tones within the armchairs can an eye catching contrast to the dark wood.

The client’s youngest son’s bedroom was to be inspired by his love for animals and planes. In keeping with the rooms in the rest of the house, the client’s didn’t want his bedroom to feel too childish and wanted it to be predominately neutral so it felt a part of the rest of the house. We chose to wallpaper all the walls in a charming grey toned animal line drawn wallpaper to create fun character whilst being in a sophisticated colour pallet. We paired this with a subtly striped, heavily interlined curtain and smoky blue linen pelmet fabric to warm the room. The grey oak bedside tables with an inverted bow fronted shape framed the deep buttoned grey wool bed, preventing the walkway to the dressing area being compromised. We dressed the bed with an assortment of soft, playful cushions and a large herringbone bed throw to make it feel inviting and cosy. To address the longevity of the room we installed a shagreen desk which was in keeping with the rest of the design, whilst providing a space for him to do homework in years to come. Finally, the tepee was one of the most critical elements of the design as I wanted to provide a fun element and filled the tepee with an array of soft, cosy cushions and soft toys, highlighted by the fairy lights.