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Honored Contributor
Posts: 19,562
Registered: ‎11-08-2014

Cookbook writer Skye McAlpine lives in a Victorian townhouse in London.  It's a skinny space, with just a few rooms on each floor.  A lot of the period details had been stripped out by other owners.  I love how she's made it homey for her family, with the help of fab Ben Pentreath.

 

Rose-colored walls in the sitting room seem to glow.   I love pale pink living room walls...   

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(Detour below--  I found the same room decorated for Christmas, from some time in the past. )

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She has sentimental touches everywhere, including on this living room lamp table-- she said, "This is my only photo of my grandmother, I love how glamorous she is in this". 

 

Another fan of vintage black and white photos! 

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She loves all things vintage Fornasetti, with the enigmatic faces (tucked in the corner) like I do!   It's a Fornasetti fridge (who knew they made them?) from the Fifties, and has been quirkily repurposed as their bar, cool.

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Her husband's glossy piano. Beautiful herringbone floors--

 

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Challenge me if you think I'm wrong, but I maintain that *in general*,  the Brits tend to be fonder of yellow in their rooms than we are.  Even her small Smeg refrigerator is bright yellow.  She adores the color, and has it all through her wonderful kitchen. Dispelling the London gloom, no doubt:

 

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Her lovingly collected and used copper molds.  There's a kitty, a bunch of cherries, a teapot.  She makes fancy jellies in them, among other things.

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Their generous dining room, for her frequent dinners, flows right out of the kitchen.

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But it can also be intimate-

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Here's one of her concoctions, a "berry cloud cake"--

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Their little library/ study,  off the living room.  I think all the glass chandeliers we're seeing are Venetian.  She said, I mostly prefer pastels, but this is our 'raspberry sorbet' study!"  Another amusing quote from her, in her soft, self-effacing style--   "I love cluttah (clutter)".  My house is "busy". 

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Such an expansive, charming bath...

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The Homeworthy video is great to watch.  I first discovered her home in Italy though, and was surprised to find the London house.

 

She mostly grew up in Venice, with her English parents.  They left England after her family's home was bombed by the I.R.A.  Now, she lives partly in London and partly in fabulous Venice, in a rented apartment below--

 

What fun this fanciful dining area must be, for a cook and hostess like her --  it's like a mad, mad, Alice in Wonderland confection!

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And here's a fresco from a sitting room ceiling, also in the Italian apartment!   

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The artistry is amazing.   Venice is my favorite European city.   

Honored Contributor
Posts: 39,769
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

@Oznell 

 

Uh-oh.  Now you have me Googling Fornasetti...

 

Fly by Piero Fornasetti | Piero fornasetti, Fornasetti art, Fornasetti

~My philosophy: Dogs are God's most perfect creatures. Angels, here on Earth, who teach us to be better human beings.~
Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,913
Registered: ‎01-09-2016

I really do love the sitting room's pink walls; I'm surprised but the pink drapes blend perfectly. The mantle is gorgeous. Love the green velvet ottoman, chandelier, the pleated lampshade and the striped pillows...

 

The table and chairs in the dining area are so pretty! I like the cheery splashes of yellow in the kitchen. 

 

Those herringbone floors are just beautiful.

 

@Oznell another marvelous post. Thank you so much!

Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,048
Registered: ‎04-20-2010

Kind of an odd bathroom.   Do love the pink living room.

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,708
Registered: ‎12-01-2023

@Oznell    Isn't it wonderful to get a peek inside someone's home & world 😃. I love her place....I'm fond of a yellow kitchen as well lol.  I don't have one anymore, but one of my faves was done in yellow with blue gingham accents. In the past,  I've had yellow canopy bed in a spare room before too. I've since changed it to neutrals though. Now that I think about it, throughout years past I've  enjoyed using a lot of yellow too lol

Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,649
Registered: ‎03-11-2010

Just stunning!  So warm and cozy looking. A fitting place to get out of those damp and foggy London days...

Honored Contributor
Posts: 11,277
Registered: ‎07-11-2010

Beautiful rooms!  I love yellow kitchens - have one myself.  Wonder if that comes from my British mother! LOL

Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,823
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

@Oznell Lovely Victorian. That pink living room is really pretty, that color really does glow. I also love how she matched the curtains to the walls and I like how she propped that large mirror on the mantel.

 

  That creamy yellow kitchen is dreamy. I really like that she brought that color onto the hood vent and the window trim and that aged wood kitchen island.  Both fridges are fun and I really like her green dining chairs.

 

Also, her Venice dining room is just like you said like being inside a confection. So lovely!Smiley Happy

 

"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals" -Immanuel Kant

"Once you have had a wonderful Dog, a life without one, is a life diminished"-Dean Koontz
Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,269
Registered: ‎11-08-2020

@Oznell , lovely, lovely, lovely!  My bottom floor is yellow and I LOVE it.  That is where I quilt in winter.  Big windows, winter sun and woodstove.  Where I love to be.


I also love the living room.  The curtains are perfect and the walls have a soft glow.

 

Thanks for posting.  I think this will remain one of my favorites!

Super Contributor
Posts: 407
Registered: ‎03-31-2010

Re: VICTORIAN TOWNHOUSE

[ Edited ]
Love her Venice apartment - the bas relief walls, the ceiling, the furniture. The floor gives the illusion of raised squares, or maybe it is just the way it comes across in the photo.  Love Venice, it is one of my favorite places, very cozy there.
 
In her London sitting room, don't care for the pink walls, pink drapes, pink lampshade, and pink throw pillows.  I do like most of the rest of the room.  Don't care for freestanding bathtubs, but that gleaming copper is pretty.

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