Emma Burns brings a distinguished Wimbledon flat back to life with layers of warm colour

In a historic south-west London building Emma Burns of Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler has conjured a layered, timeless flat
Emma Burns brings a distinguished Wimbledon flat back to life with layers of warm colour

A bianco fantastico marble floor is an opulent addition to the bathroom.

The other major change was to the bedroom, which Emma felt was disproportionately large in comparison to the rest of the flat. In answer she ‘stole a slice out of it’ to create a hidden but capacious walk-in wardrobe behind the bed and make the room a more pleasing, regular shape. Here a restful palette of creams, whites and blues balances the strong colours used in other parts of the flat. ‘Strong colours can look very daunting surrounded by white on a colour chart, but they bring drama and excitement to a scheme and actually, they can make a space feel bigger because they blur the edges of the room,’ she explains, adding, ‘If you have a dark room paint it a dark colour. You’ll never make it light but you can make it glamorous and interesting.’

A fundamental part of bringing the flat back to life was reinstating cornices and skirtings appropriate to the age and style of the building. ‘I hadn’t appreciated the difference it would make,’ says Andrew. ‘I did everything to make it look like nothing at all had been done,’ declares Emma. ‘I on wanted it to feel like it had been there forever.’ Undoubtedly she has succeeded. Everything from the bones of the flat to the deeply sophisticated decoration is timeless. ‘If you never repainted, it would still look good in twenty years,’ she concludes. Developers take note!

sibylcolefax.com/