Houzz Tours
My Houzz: A Creative Home Bursting With Dark Colors
Animal skulls, snakeskin wallpaper and black candles: This creative couple’s home celebrates an extravagant mix of color and texture
“I love darkness, and I love dark interiors,” says Fiona Ellis, and her home in Berkshire County, England, is a testimony to the veracity of that statement. Draped in sumptuous fabrics, atmospheric dark hues and vivid accessories, it is a stunning combination of curiosity cabinet, elegant Gothic manor and punk rocker’s dream.
Ellis, who’s the co-owner of Brave Boutique, a furniture and accessories shop, enthuses about the aesthetic elegance of black interiors. “I’ve used black in all my homes,” she says. “It just highlights art so well.” Together with her partner, Scott Hendrie, who also runs Brave Boutique, Ellis transformed her 1910 flat from a bland gray space into a vivid and evocative home.
Ellis, who’s the co-owner of Brave Boutique, a furniture and accessories shop, enthuses about the aesthetic elegance of black interiors. “I’ve used black in all my homes,” she says. “It just highlights art so well.” Together with her partner, Scott Hendrie, who also runs Brave Boutique, Ellis transformed her 1910 flat from a bland gray space into a vivid and evocative home.
When she purchased the flat four and a half years ago, Ellis hired Hendrie (both seen here), who was working as an artist and designer, to help redecorate the space. “He’s very much about pushing boundaries,” she says. It’s a quality that resonated with her. Their mutual love of dark, bold and atmospheric design brought the two closer, and soon enough Hendrie and Ellis were partners, both privately and professionally, founding Brave Boutique together. “We both have the same eye,” Ellis says. “We love the dramatic and the theatrical.”
Ellis chose a rich purple carpet for the living room. “It’s a great base to show off furnishings,” she says. On one wall she applied Cole & Son’s Antique Mirror wallpaper. “When the light shines on it, it creates the most amazing effect,” she says. “I like wallpaper to look as if it isn’t wallpaper. This gives the most amazing texture.”
Antique Mirror wallpaper: Cole & Son
Ellis chose a rich purple carpet for the living room. “It’s a great base to show off furnishings,” she says. On one wall she applied Cole & Son’s Antique Mirror wallpaper. “When the light shines on it, it creates the most amazing effect,” she says. “I like wallpaper to look as if it isn’t wallpaper. This gives the most amazing texture.”
Antique Mirror wallpaper: Cole & Son
Although the patterned ceiling is original to the home, Hendrie worked to turn it into a feature. “He darkened it down with various colors and then glazed it,” Ellis says. The glaze lends it a leathery finish.
While there are plenty of eye-catching details in this room, the imposing horned statue is the most striking. Hendrie explains that the design came to him from a drawing he had done as a teenager. He found a suit of armor, applied a camouflage pattern to it and topped it with a gilded ram’s skull. “It’s based on the Minotaur,” he says.
While there are plenty of eye-catching details in this room, the imposing horned statue is the most striking. Hendrie explains that the design came to him from a drawing he had done as a teenager. He found a suit of armor, applied a camouflage pattern to it and topped it with a gilded ram’s skull. “It’s based on the Minotaur,” he says.
Ellis likes to use small panels of flashy wallpaper in select locations to create a textured feature, and she and Hendrie decided to highlight the fireplace by adding faux crocodile-skin wallpaper to the chimney breast. The various knickknacks on the mantelpiece were picked up during the couple’s travels.
The walls are a mix of shades. Starting with Farrow & Ball’s purple Brinjal as a base, Hendrie used multiple colors to create layers of depth and shadow.
Crocodilo vinyl wallpaper: Osborne & Little
The walls are a mix of shades. Starting with Farrow & Ball’s purple Brinjal as a base, Hendrie used multiple colors to create layers of depth and shadow.
Crocodilo vinyl wallpaper: Osborne & Little
“I’ve always had a peacock chair,” Ellis says with a laugh. “I think they’re just amazing.”
The birdcage is one of Brave Boutique’s creations. Ellis says the birdcages have multiple functions and can be used as a light, a lantern or simply as a decorative display.
Snakeskin lampshade: Brave Boutique
The birdcage is one of Brave Boutique’s creations. Ellis says the birdcages have multiple functions and can be used as a light, a lantern or simply as a decorative display.
Snakeskin lampshade: Brave Boutique
In one corner of the living room, there’s an upright piano, played by both Honey and Hendrie. Ellis bought the antique, which even has candleholders on either side of the music rest, from a schoolteacher in Kensington.
A vase stuffed with peacock feathers adds another texture. “You can’t live without peacock feathers!” Ellis says. “They are the most divine colors. You always gotta have a peacock feather in the room.”
Animal skulls appear throughout the house. They are all handmade by Hendrie, who is constantly experimenting with new designs and textures, including mosaics, camouflaging techniques, glow-in-the-dark colors and chain and spike applications.
A vase stuffed with peacock feathers adds another texture. “You can’t live without peacock feathers!” Ellis says. “They are the most divine colors. You always gotta have a peacock feather in the room.”
Animal skulls appear throughout the house. They are all handmade by Hendrie, who is constantly experimenting with new designs and textures, including mosaics, camouflaging techniques, glow-in-the-dark colors and chain and spike applications.
This grand mirror, which has been in Ellis’ possession for more than 20 years, conveys an air of mystery due to its surface treatment. Hendrie gave it another layer of character by gilding the previously white frame.
Next to the living room, the dining room is a truly multitasking space where the family eats, hangs out, works and creates. Two of the walls plus the ceiling are covered in the same Crocodilo vinyl wallpaper as the chimney breast in the living room. “Wallpaper on the ceiling is a must,” Ellis says.
The neon skulls in here glow in the dark. “It’s great, because you have light when you come into the kitchen at night,” she says. “That’s why dark walls are so good – things stand out on a dark wall.” Above the entrance to the living room is a large feathery African juju hat in bold red.
Chandelier: antique toleware
The neon skulls in here glow in the dark. “It’s great, because you have light when you come into the kitchen at night,” she says. “That’s why dark walls are so good – things stand out on a dark wall.” Above the entrance to the living room is a large feathery African juju hat in bold red.
Chandelier: antique toleware
The wooden bench and table were antique finds that Ellis distressed and varnished. She added a dainty lace tablecloth as a stark contrast to the rest of the interior. “It’s a nice touch to add the lace tablecloth to the dark room,” she says.
The striking black “candles” are another of Brave Boutique’s creations. “You wouldn’t know they aren’t candles,” Ellis says of the LED lights. “You can even put them on a timer!”
The striking black “candles” are another of Brave Boutique’s creations. “You wouldn’t know they aren’t candles,” Ellis says of the LED lights. “You can even put them on a timer!”
Although the kitchen seems standard at first glance, it’s lifted out of the ordinary by the leopard-print wallpaper on the ceiling. “It’s absolutely divine,” Ellis says. “There’s a slight metallic sheen in it — it looks like fabric.”
Both Ellis and Hendrie enjoy cooking and entertaining, so this space is perfect for them. “It’s definitely a fun kitchen,” Ellis says.
Pantanal wallpaper: Osborne & Little
Both Ellis and Hendrie enjoy cooking and entertaining, so this space is perfect for them. “It’s definitely a fun kitchen,” Ellis says.
Pantanal wallpaper: Osborne & Little
To give the kitchen another layer of texture, Ellis and Hendrie covered a small section with Cole & Son’s Drape wallpaper. “It has an almost 3D feel,” Hendrie says.
The pendant lights above the kitchen islands are fashioned out of Brave Boutique’s vintage birdcages. “They’re slightly gothic, slightly punky,” Ellis says. The lights throw shadows all over the kitchen cupboards. “They look like jellyfish,” she says.
The elegant mirror with attached lamp is an art deco piece Ellis picked up at an antiques fair. It’s offset by the acid-green antelope skull hanging above it.
Drape wallpaper: Cole & Son
The pendant lights above the kitchen islands are fashioned out of Brave Boutique’s vintage birdcages. “They’re slightly gothic, slightly punky,” Ellis says. The lights throw shadows all over the kitchen cupboards. “They look like jellyfish,” she says.
The elegant mirror with attached lamp is an art deco piece Ellis picked up at an antiques fair. It’s offset by the acid-green antelope skull hanging above it.
Drape wallpaper: Cole & Son
In the hallway leading to the master bedroom and Honey’s room, Ellis and Hendrie added another set of hanging birdcages, which float ethereally against the black backdrop. The fluorescent orange chair is another antique the couple picked up and painted.
In the master bedroom, neon orange accents draw the eye to key features. The wrought iron bed frame, which Ellis has had for a long time, has been updated with the vivid hue. She bought the frame from a purveyor of antique beds, and this particular one had actually been found on top of a house in Morocco. “It’s the most gorgeous bed, and with each home I’ve lived in, it’s changed color,” she says.
The antique wardrobe is another piece Ellis has had for a while. “I bought that in my 20s at the big antiques fair in Newark,” she says. She and Hendrie are planning to revamp it very soon.
Window frame paint: Down Pipe, Farrow & Ball; wall paint: Lamp Room Gray, Farrow & Ball
The antique wardrobe is another piece Ellis has had for a while. “I bought that in my 20s at the big antiques fair in Newark,” she says. She and Hendrie are planning to revamp it very soon.
Window frame paint: Down Pipe, Farrow & Ball; wall paint: Lamp Room Gray, Farrow & Ball
The wall-to-wall built-in wardrobe was commissioned by Ellis when she moved in. “It’s very unusual for me, so modern and simple,” she says.
The couple had the bedside tables made. Ellis had them covered in fabric and topped with glass for stability. “They’re very soft and gentle,” she says. The bedside lamps are repurposed antique sconces.
Snakeskin wallpaper dominates the hallway, while a little window seat with a neon orange cushion provides a flash of color.
Boa wallpaper: Osborne & Little
Boa wallpaper: Osborne & Little
The flat’s third bedroom now functions as Ellis’ office. The gold mirror is another antiques fair find, while the Portuguese cabinet below it was purchased at Lots Road Auctions in London.
The small powder room stays true to the character of the home by wowing with all-over leopard-print wallpaper, which Ellis bought on eBay.
The building houses four flats. The back, seen here, leads out to an extensive garden.
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Who lives here: Fiona Ellis and Scott Hendrie, owners of Brave Boutique, and Ellis’ teenage daughter, Honey
Location: Sunningdale, Berkshire, England
Size: 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
The flat was originally painted pale gray, a neutral shade that did not correspond with Ellis’ aesthetic sensibilities. So she set to work creating a space that now both showcases the creations from her boutique and serves as a fun and welcoming family home.
The coffee table and TV stand are original Brave Boutique creations that Ellis and Hendrie fixed up. “We spent ages sourcing these PVC croc skins to find some that look really good,“ Ellis says. The elegant vintage wall sconces were sourced by the couple at various antiques fairs. “That’s our passion — we love antiques fairs,” she says.
Poufs, armchair, animal skulls: Brave Boutique