‘From white to HAPPY COLOUR'

Sophie Claire transformed her bland, and a tad soulless, London apartment with an injection of style bursting with character and colour

- MARISHA TAYLOR

Sophie Claire had one requirement when searching for her new home in 2011 – she needed it to be a short walk to work in the City of London. ‘I drew a circle around London Bridge that marked a seven-minute walk from the station, and told the estate agents that I only wanted to live within that area. An easy commute makes a huge difference to your working day, so location was really important.’

Double vision

Despite the number of new developments in the area I was searching in, I didn’t find anything I liked until the estate agent showed me a flat with a rather unusual shape. It was in this 1980s block on the fourth floor and every room was double height with a mezzanine level. I knew straight away it was the one.

Taking my time

With no structural work to be done, and all the walls painted white by the previous owners, I set about turning the flat into my home. The very first thing I did was buy the dining table. I’d seen it in Muji about three years before and it had been on my wish list ever since! Then I waited a year before I started decorating. I knew I wanted to use a lot of colour, so I took my time working out what shades I wanted.

Discovering colour