House design in London can often be a tricky thing as we often need to meld together old and new, especially when doing refurbishments. That was the case for this house design in Mayfair, the TV area of the large townhouse in Mayfair hadn’t been refurbished in 30 years and was showing a very dated look.
The Pine Panelling Before Works Took Place
The pine panelling, although in very good condition, had yellowed with age and the room didn’t work well with the light and airy feeling that the clients were hoping to achieve. It would have been almost impossible to get the look and feel that the client has asked for without seriously addressing the panelling in this room. We had two choices; try and work with it or remove it.
Yellowing Wooden Panelling Wasn’t In Our Client Brief
Having looked at the clients requirements the layout of the room still worked for them, radiators or electrics didn’t need to be massively modified (they were all up to spec and the house had bee rewired not too long before) so it looked more and more likely that removing the panelling wasn’t a necessary part of the process. However, was it still needed to create the look that we wanted? Not if we got creative with what we expect wooden panelling to look like, there is always the option with wood panelling to refinish and stain it but that would have produced either a darker finish or would have still had a possibly yellow tinge to it. So we decided to go a little more radical and to go for a paint finish (and no, we are not talking about rag rolling of the 90s!).
Work In Progress of Painting the Panelling
As you can see with the work in progress shot above, the effect was instantaneously more what the client had been searching for. The space quickly felt open and brighter, it took many more hours and a lot of highly trained professionals to get it to the wonderful finish we see in the final design but it was a marked improvement already.
Painted Wood Panelling
This finish worked beautifully to keep the more traditional look of the room but still managed to keep the design light and open, no where near as oppressive as the previous finish.
The Finished House Design is Light and Airy
If you would like to see more of our Interior Design in Mayfair you can visit our Design Portfolio. You may also be interested in reading about our Luxury London Interior Design or The World’s Most Expensive Desk