In the pink

A creative couple’s makeover of their character home juxtaposes the patina of age with contemporary lines

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When two designers live, work, eat and sleep together, you’d expect things could get a little intense. If you throw doing up a large Victorian house in London into the mix, the pot might just boil over. But not for Gemma Ruse and Xavier Sheriff, who seem to operate with a zen-like calm, while channelling creativity and productivity. The couple have been together since art school days at Central Saint Martins in London. Six years later, they founded their display agency, StudioXAG, creating ground-breaking retail installations for clients around the globe, such as Christian Louboutin, Anya Hindmarch, Liberty and Selfridges. When it came to renovating their own house, not surprisingly, it felt a bit like work at times. “The challenge was that we’re both designers with strong aesthetics and quite fussy, too, so while I led the project, we agreed Xavier would have the power of veto if he really disliked something,” Gemma says. “There were no real fallings-out. He tended to come round if I was passionate about a decision – or I simply showed him my chosen versions.”