Character Building

Each room in this Arts and Crafts house has its own personality, combining colour, texture and style with playful eclecticism

- Elfreda Pownall

We call this colour “freshly laid cowpat”,’ says the designer Ben Pentreath of the greeny-brown grass cloth used on the bedroom walls of this house in north London. ‘That’s how we sold it to the owner.’ Ben is particularly fond of this colour; he used it in his own house. Said owner laughs and admits to being totally sold on Ben, who has helped her make some brave decisions. The house, built in 1910, in an area of Arts and Crafts houses, was dark and very tired when she and her husband bought it four years ago. ‘There were lots of small rooms but no obvious main sitting room,’ says her husband.

Chris Pask of Charlton Brown Architects had just begun the task of turning two ground-floor rooms into one big drawing room when Ben came on board. ‘The first thing was restoring the panelling in here to emphasise its Arts and Crafts sensibility,’ says Ben. His office drew the design and it was made by Symm, along with the rest of the joinery. ‘I wanted this room to feel calm and soothing,’ adds Ben, looking round at the neutral tones of the paint, fabrics and rush matting.