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Jan 08, 2024

Shalini Misra gives this Victorian

By Avantika Shankar Shalini Misra has a knack for unlikely pairings. Her design

By Avantika Shankar

Shalini Misra has a knack for unlikely pairings. Her design for a five-storey, Victorian-era residence in London sees combinations of silk and leather, linen and velvet, and the result is a colour and classic contemporary home, with a surprise at every turn. "We were asked to elevate what was already a beautiful house, add more layers that closely represented the lifestyle of the client," explains the award-winning interior designer, who had designed the client's previous home in London, and then also worked on her home in Mumbai. "This was the third time we were doing her house, so we knew her really well, and we knew what they really wanted."

The top floor has two bedrooms, the floor below has an additional two bedrooms and a dressing room, the ground floor has a study, entrance hall, dining room, and reception room, the lower ground floor has a kitchen, breakfast room, and bedroom, and finally the basement has a big den that includes a gym, a bar, a snooker table, and a massive home theatre screen. Misra has always paid close attention to circulation space in an interior project, making sure that movement is never impeded by extraneous decor.

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The entrance had panelled walls with a beautiful cornice on the ceiling, which Misra enhanced with a vintage red Murano glass chandelier. A large bespoke mirror with a gilded frame, an upholstered bench with a custom fringe, and a lacquered black cabinet complete the arrangement. Also worth noting is the mosaic artwork by Isabella Huffington, an emerging artist from New York.

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A Murano glass chandelier enhances the Victorian-era cornicing and wall panelling in the entrance hallway.

The reception room is primarily for entertaining, and Misra was careful to ensure it had plenty of seating. A particularly eye-catching piece is a double-sided red velvet bench, sourced from Misra's own furniture platform curio.space, which acts as a subtle barrier between the bar section and the sofa arrangement.

Misra fitted two oversized sofas into the space and plumped up with many layers of cushions in different fabrics.

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A custom-designed double-sided bench in red velvet ensures there is ample flexible seating in the living room.

A mid-century chandelier creates an interesting juxtaposition of brass and glass, while other two floor-standing chandeliers create a grand frame for the window. The coffee table at the centre is an interesting play of heights in brass, glass, onyx and marble. A peppering of small side tables ensures that the guests have a place other than the centre table to place their drinks or snacks. "The rug was custom designed for the space by Hands Carpets," Misra adds, "I like to use Indian makers wherever I can, because I like to promote Indian work, Indian crafts."

For the study, the client was emphatic about not wanting a desk, preferring instead to work from a comfortable sofa. "He often has meetings in his study," Misra explains, "So we put two arm chairs, a nice sofa, and a coffee table that could be raised up for video calls. Then we put a really nice chandelier in the ceiling, and some vintage floor lights near the books."

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The walls in the study are dark wood, enhanced by Roman blinds made from patterned cotton-silk fabric sourced from Hermes.

The dining table is a mix of marble, wood and metal. A banquet by the window allows for more casual seating in the dining room, and is fitted with beautifully detailed cushions. A vintage trolley makes for an eye-catching but practical piece of furniture that makes it easy to pass food around the room.

The dining table is complemented by a light from the client's own collection and bespoke curtains from Hilly.

The breakfast room on the lower ground floor is an interesting space, as a result of a particularly innovative custom-created sofa unit. On one side, the sofa serves as banquet seating for a breakfast table; on the other it is fitted with an ottoman that transforms it into an L-shaped sofa.

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The breakfast room was made cozy by an interplay of leather on the sofa and chairs, silk on the cushions, glass on the table, and wool on a custom rug from Hands Carpets.

"When it's a small space, you have to find clever ways of making it comfortable, functional and beautiful," says Misra. Indeed, the entire project portrays a clever injection of functional design that is surprising yet synchronous with a singular vision. "It's the same concept flowing through, but each room has its own character," she signs off.