Experts On...Vintage

Livingetc gets the lowdown on contemporary-classic style.

- Fiona McCarthy

SIOBAHN FARLEY, SOHO HOUSE’S director of in-house design and build, has been part of the Soho House group for 13 years, beginning as a waitress at Notting Hill’s Electric, while she’s now responsible for sourcing furniture, old and new, for all the houses. Here, she shares her top tips for working the vintage look…

Can you describe Soho House’s style?

We want all our houses to feel different, no two are the same. The Soho House style isn’t so much a look as a feel – it’s instantly welcoming where comfort is everything.

Where does the inspiration come from?

For Soho House Berlin, the scalloped headboards came from reading 20th-century American interior designer Dorothy Draper’s style tomes. For Oxfordshire’s Soho Farmhouse, we took images of Rocky Mountain cabins in Colorado as a starting point – all the wood, reclaimed from old grain barns, was sourced in Romania. In other cities, the geographic location is a starting point – in Istanbul, we restored the original frescoes, Carrara marble flooring and rosewood doors to echo Ottoman-era opulence, then worked with local artisans for furnishings and tiles.

How much does vintage play a role in this aesthetic?

We layer about 30-40 per cent of vintage over new, so it’s all about finding that lamp, rug and bric-a-brac that brings a room together. If everything else is relatively new, just one key vintage piece, such as an old leather armchair, can really bring a space down a notch, making it feel warm and inviting, far away from being too plush or showy.

Where do you find unusual and unique pieces?