Houzz Tour: London Apartment With a Beautiful Boho Feel
A heady mix of antiques, art, soft lighting and lush plants gives this apartment character and sensual charm
Jo Simmons
October 17, 2016
Houzz UK Contributor. I have been an interiors journalist since 1995, writing several books on design and numerous features for glossy homes mags over the years. For Houzz, I cover decorating ideas and trends and interview designers and professionals for their insights. My favourite pieces to write, though, are Houzz Tours, as I love exploring and learning about real homes. Call me curious — or nosy!
Houzz UK Contributor. I have been an interiors journalist since 1995, writing several... More
“Faded grandeur, that’s what I like!” interior decorator Sera Hersham-Loftus says of her signature style, a deliciously bohemian mix of antiques, mirrors, lush textiles, handmade pieces, art and plants. She’s used it throughout her beautiful London apartment, which she bought from a DJ friend and spent more than a year renovating. “It was a three-bed bloke’s pad, and I just turned it into one big space,” she says.
Now Hersham-Loftus often works in the apartment, creating interiors for celebrity clients including Kate Moss and Sadie Frost and designing a line of furniture, lampshades and pillows. The space’s open, flowing feel makes it the perfect place to relax, entertain and escape hectic London life, though its rooms and furnishings are often in a state of flux themselves. “I move things around all the time,” Hersham-Loftus says. “I get bored and like to change the energy.”
Now Hersham-Loftus often works in the apartment, creating interiors for celebrity clients including Kate Moss and Sadie Frost and designing a line of furniture, lampshades and pillows. The space’s open, flowing feel makes it the perfect place to relax, entertain and escape hectic London life, though its rooms and furnishings are often in a state of flux themselves. “I move things around all the time,” Hersham-Loftus says. “I get bored and like to change the energy.”
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Sera Hersham-Loftus
Location: Little Venice area of London
Size: One bedroom, two bathrooms
Designer: Sera Hersham-Loftus of Sera of London
“Imagine discovering the house and it hadn’t been touched since the 1930s,” Hersham-Loftus says. “That’s the feel I wanted to create here.” She spent almost 18 months opening up the 19th-century property and redesigning it. “I took down most of the walls and now there are hardly any doors here. It’s a flowing, open space.”
To boost that feeling, Hersham-Loftus used mirrors throughout the apartment, including on the chimney. “It looks as if you go into another room, like a trompe l’oeil, and helps the place feel like one big space,” she says.
An old refectory table in the living room is variously used for work, serving food, holding books and more.
Who lives here: Sera Hersham-Loftus
Location: Little Venice area of London
Size: One bedroom, two bathrooms
Designer: Sera Hersham-Loftus of Sera of London
“Imagine discovering the house and it hadn’t been touched since the 1930s,” Hersham-Loftus says. “That’s the feel I wanted to create here.” She spent almost 18 months opening up the 19th-century property and redesigning it. “I took down most of the walls and now there are hardly any doors here. It’s a flowing, open space.”
To boost that feeling, Hersham-Loftus used mirrors throughout the apartment, including on the chimney. “It looks as if you go into another room, like a trompe l’oeil, and helps the place feel like one big space,” she says.
An old refectory table in the living room is variously used for work, serving food, holding books and more.
The kitchen opens off the living space and is flanked by huge salvaged doors. “I worked in Amsterdam for a while and saw a dilapidated old house where everything inside was being sold off,” Hersham-Loftus says. She bought the doors, as well as all the flooring. “I like everything to be natural, like my floors,” she says.
“This is a very easygoing place to live. It’s not uptight. You can lounge about, drop shoes on the floor. It’s not the sort of place where you have to worry about where to put your wine glass!”
“This is a very easygoing place to live. It’s not uptight. You can lounge about, drop shoes on the floor. It’s not the sort of place where you have to worry about where to put your wine glass!”
When Hersham-Loftus first saw the apartment, she was drawn to its high ceilings “and the French doors opening onto the street, like being in Paris.” The ceilings are about 15 feet high, so she painted them a dark color. “It helps to bring them down; otherwise the space seems to go on forever,” she says.
The fireplace is a salvaged antique from France. Hersham-Loftus exposed the brick of the chimney behind it. “I just hacked off all the plaster and revealed the original brickwork,” she says. “I then whitewashed it and rubbed it back.”
The chair is a 1970s cane design and the crocheted valance is an original Victorian piece.
Wall and ceiling paint: Off Black, Farrow & Ball
16 Tricks to Update Exposed Brick
The fireplace is a salvaged antique from France. Hersham-Loftus exposed the brick of the chimney behind it. “I just hacked off all the plaster and revealed the original brickwork,” she says. “I then whitewashed it and rubbed it back.”
The chair is a 1970s cane design and the crocheted valance is an original Victorian piece.
Wall and ceiling paint: Off Black, Farrow & Ball
16 Tricks to Update Exposed Brick
The living room features a 1930s mirror ball made entirely with hand-cut pieces of mirrored glass. To control the light levels from the large windows, Hersham-Loftus installed blackout blinds with scalloped edges, like those found in a Parisian cafe. “It gets so bright in the flat that everything seems to get bleached out by the sun, so I have to pull down the blinds,” she says. “The black blinds seem to disappear at night.”
“Plants are really important to me,” Hersham-Loftus says. “The first thing I do when I get up is make myself a green tea and then tend to the plants for about 20 minutes. It’s a nice start to the day.” The large urn is Italian, perhaps 200 years old, and was bought on a trip to Sicily. The ornate urn is a vintage French piece.
Hersham-Loftus has plants in every room. “They bring life to your home,” she says. “Without plants, the whole place feels flat. I put little uplights below and they create jungly shadows.”
All the fireplaces work and Hersham-Loftus frequently has fires going throughout the apartment. “I also like to burn really beautiful incense and light candles too,” she says. “Everyone looks beautiful and feels beautiful here. It’s very atmospheric.”
The house features a mix of lamps and uplights. “I never use overhead lighting,” Hersham-Loftus says. “It’s really harsh and doesn’t do justice to the pieces you have in your home. There’s no depth or shadow and it creates a very flat environment.”
Instead, soft lighting, firelight and twinkling candles create a mellow, relaxed and intimate feel. “It’s fairly dark, very romantic, and probably not very good for my eyesight!” she says.
Lampshades: Sera of London
Instead, soft lighting, firelight and twinkling candles create a mellow, relaxed and intimate feel. “It’s fairly dark, very romantic, and probably not very good for my eyesight!” she says.
Lampshades: Sera of London
The paneling was salvaged from the same house in Amsterdam that yielded the floors and kitchen doors. Hersham-Loftus inherited the 1970s sofa and the Russian art above it from her father, who was an art dealer.
Hersham-Loftus found an antique console in a market and based the whole kitchen design on it. “It’s a 1940s piece, now fitted to the left of the oven,” she says.
The lights over the table were found at a market and have parchment shades. “That’s the only overhead lighting, which I don’t generally use, but I’ve fitted an amber bulb in each so they look like candlelight,” she says. The tiles were handmade by a ceramicist.
10 sizzling ways to make a feature of your backsplash
The lights over the table were found at a market and have parchment shades. “That’s the only overhead lighting, which I don’t generally use, but I’ve fitted an amber bulb in each so they look like candlelight,” she says. The tiles were handmade by a ceramicist.
10 sizzling ways to make a feature of your backsplash
The table was made of yew by Robert Pinnock. More Russian art hangs by the window.
Wall and ceiling paint: Off Black, Farrow & Ball; chairs: Nivaldo de Lima
Wall and ceiling paint: Off Black, Farrow & Ball; chairs: Nivaldo de Lima
An undoored opening leads into the bedroom. “This was where the DJ who owned the flat before me kept his decks and vinyl,” she says.
“When I go to markets, something will catch my eye and it just goes with something else I already have at home,” Hersham-Loftus says. “All the fabulous textiles, wallpapers, vintage lamps … I put them all together and they seem to work. That’s why I call myself an interior decorator rather than a designer. I don’t design — this is my art form!”
The bedroom is decorated with Hersham-Loftus’ signature mix of influences and finds. A piece of African textile from the Congo is draped over the bed, contrasting beautifully with a 1970s Curtis Jeré brass palm lamp and a 1930s Italian chest of drawers. The large mirror came from a Paris flea market; the lamps date from the 1970s and have cork shades.
Wall and ceiling paint: Tanners Brown, Farrow & Ball
Wall and ceiling paint: Tanners Brown, Farrow & Ball
Hersham-Loftus’ large vintage clothing collection is stored in a long bank of closets. “The doors are the exterior shutters from a French chateau,” she says. “I had the cupboard built around them.”
The shell artwork to the left of the doorway was made by her children when they were little. “We grouted them all in on a piece of wood,” she says. “There are lots of handmade pieces here.”
The shell artwork to the left of the doorway was made by her children when they were little. “We grouted them all in on a piece of wood,” she says. “There are lots of handmade pieces here.”
This mirror was cut to fit into an old door frame. It’s another piece salvaged from the property in Amsterdam. The table is Italian, bought at a market. “It’s gorgeous,” Hersham-Loftus says, “full of knots and knocks.”
The fabric draped by the mirror moves around the apartment. “That goes on the floor as a rug, gets used as a curtain and also as a tablecloth,” Hersham-Loftus says.
The shell pendant light dates from the 1970s. “I grew up in the 1970s and used to think it was so drab, but actually there was really cool design then,” she says.
The fabric draped by the mirror moves around the apartment. “That goes on the floor as a rug, gets used as a curtain and also as a tablecloth,” Hersham-Loftus says.
The shell pendant light dates from the 1970s. “I grew up in the 1970s and used to think it was so drab, but actually there was really cool design then,” she says.
The shower features 1930s dressing room screens for a rush of glamour. Glass shelves fixed on the mirror are dotted with plants, creating double the greenery.
The chest is a 1920s Art Deco piece, while the mirrored shelf above is Victorian. The tiles were handmade.
“Nothing is factory-made here, it’s all handmade,” Hersham-Loftus says. “Each tile is a one-off, and they’re all slightly different. They look as though they’ve always been here, since the 1930s, but they’re actually brand-new. I wanted the flat to look as if it had never been touched since that time.”
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“Nothing is factory-made here, it’s all handmade,” Hersham-Loftus says. “Each tile is a one-off, and they’re all slightly different. They look as though they’ve always been here, since the 1930s, but they’re actually brand-new. I wanted the flat to look as if it had never been touched since that time.”
Browse more homes by style:
Apartments | Barn Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Floating Homes | Guesthouses | Homes Around the World | Lofts | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Small Homes | Townhouses | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | Vacation Homes
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Love this.
A fantasy! Much to say for true courage of conviction!
This is a style I really like..( I entered search boho interiors as I am sick of all the trendy decor houzz has lately) I like so much about this home..the 70s couch is lovely! Just too much to go into.
However not sure I like all the black walls. Prefer a little more color. I think someone hit the nail on the head when they mentioned gothic.
I have a lot of plants even big ones(not this much though!). Forget the amount of time for dusting..the amount of time caring for the plants would take way more time to care for. Daunting even!