A rambling former vicarage in south London brought to life by Tamsin Saunders
Using colour comes easily to Rosie Copeland, an artist with a knack for pigment-suffused landscapes and still lives. But when it came to doing up her home, a rambling, rus in urbe Victorian former vicarage in south London, her confidence faltered. ‘I can spend all morning mixing a palette of paints, yet there’s something about the permanence of colour in a room that I find daunting,’ she says. ‘So when we first moved here I played it safe and stuck to neutrals and left it at that.’
Twenty years on it was time to re-think the home she shares with her husband and three children. ‘The way we use the house has also changed,’ adds Rosie. So she turned to Tamsin Saunders, an interior designer with an artist’s eye for colour and composition. Tamsin’s task was to redesign and refurnish the interior, and ‘de-greige’ its neutral palette, as well as designing a studio for Rosie in the garden.
This was a meeting of minds and tastes. Both client and designer (who do life drawing classes together) like the same things: artisanal textiles and antiques, ceramics, art, piles of books – all the elements which Tamsin uses to bring an always-there aesthetic to her work.
They began by looking at Rosie’s art collection. ‘I remember saying to Rosie, “You love colour… you’d never paint an all-grey picture. So why should your home be any different?”. I referred her to the colours in the paintings on her walls and in the garden outside to encourage her to be more adventurous,’ says Tamsin. Rosie agrees: ‘Neutral colours are not me. But when the children were younger I had no time to experiment.’
One of her favourite paintings, a portrait by contemporary artist Arthur Neal, was the starting point for the snug, its warm tones echoed in a flecked pink tweed which Tamsin chose to upholster a new bespoke sofa, and complemented by the ‘gentle’ blues and greens in a vintage Swedish rug. Upstairs, a spare bedroom now doubles as a study. A sofa bed upholstered in a lagoon blue linen sings out against dark plum walls. A 1950s abstract hangs above the original 19th century chimneypiece painted an earthy, mustard and a long desk, painted a warm red, was designed to tuck under the window. Nothing matches, but everything coheres.
‘Diana Vreeland [the influential Harpers & Bazaar fashion editor] said the eye has to travel, and colour does just that. It takes you on a journey. Renoir used just a tiny splash of red to draw the eye to the distance. One dash – of fuchsia or deep green – can make a room sing,’ says Tamsin.
Lighting, too ‘changes the mood and look of spaces.’ Tamsin prefers the warmth of lamplight to overhead pendants, not least because it gives her licence to rummage through sale rooms or markets to find ‘the unexpected and unique’. Painted, carved, sleekly mid-century: no two lamps in the house are alike. It would have been far easier to nip into a showroom and buy several pairs of new ones. ‘But that’s not the point, everything I use is old, made by hand and a one-off,’ she says
It is why Tamsin named the practice she founded 10 years ago Home & Found. She also sells antiques from her website, posting her finds on Instagram. But she is not entirely convinced by social media. ‘It’s a great source of knowledge,’ she says citing the design critic Alice Rawsthorn’s account, ‘but I discourage clients from looking at Pinterest to avoid being subliminally influenced by trends. I love homes which feel as if they have been there forever and which reflect the interests of the people who live there. I focus on the building itself; nature, form, colour and beautiful old things. I love happenstance. The bish-bosh air of a room that’s evolved over time.’
‘Tamsin would arrive with a box of her latest finds and she’d know exactly what was
going to work where,’ says Rosie pointing to some old shelves lined with lustreware
jugs, reminiscent of a William Nicholson still life. ‘They look as if they’ve
always been there.’
For both, making use of Rosie’s existing furniture or joinery was equally important. In the kitchen, they repainted the grey joinery in richer, earthier tones to soften the granite worktops. Behind the range, tiles were removed and the exposed plasterwork left bare. The perfect backdrop for a panel of 18th century Delft tiles. The leaf-green woodwork in the conservatory brings the garden inside.
Tamsin learnt about the importance of context from her father, whose architectural practice designed St George’s Fields in Hyde Park - its stepped balconies designed to give residents unfettered access to natural light and views over the surrounding gardens. ‘He was also refurbishing abandoned industrial buildings long before it became fashionable. My father taught me to value nature and to listen to and respect old buildings.’
She applied these principles to Rosie’s studio, built from scratch, at the end of the garden. Tamsin designed the studio to sit under an old magnolia tree - as if embraced by its gnarled boughs. The London stock brick façade is timeless. The interior was inspired by Barbara Hepworth’s studio in St Ives: ‘a mix of the utilitarian and the ephemeral,’ says Tamsin. Light pours through the Crittall windows in wide squares. There is a deep sink for brushes and pots; rows of meditative pots and vases sit on sills. As Rosie prepares for a group show this November some of these acquisitions are finding their way into her still lives: a neat example of art mirroring life.
Tamsin Saunders, Home & Found: homeandfound.com, @homeandfound.
Chris Horwood1/32In the drawing room, a deep sofa upholstered in Bennison fabric sits beneath a painting by Ken Howard whose soft light and colours are echoed in the room itself. A hand painted Italian chair complete with its original rust coloured velvet seat pad sits next to an antique chest of drawers and lacquered lamp. The shade and cushions are made from vintage textiles.
Chris Horwood2/32The rich earthy tones of the sofa and in the rug in the drawing room are the perfect foil for the vivid colours in the painting by Ronald Smith. Tamsin found the mid century lamp, ‘to add focus and surprise to a traditional room.’ Using vintage textiles for the cushions to draw out the colours of the artwork.
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Chris Horwood4/32In Rosie’s study the fresh colours of the Swedish rug echo the original paint inside a 19th century Swedish bureau. A mid-century Italian stool was upholstered in a soft dusty pink velvet from Tissus d’Helene.
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Chris Horwood6/32In Rosie’s ground floor study, Tamsin painted the architrave a dark mouse colour ‘to frame the room’ and rehung Rosie’s collection of artwork ‘to cover the walls from floor to ceiling.’ The portrait of the man on right is by Julia Hawkins. The cushion on the chair is vintage. The other paintings are by Rosie, Arthur Neal, Luke Hannam and Fred Cumming.
Chris Horwood7/32In the ground floor snug – previously an uninteresting walk-through to the kitchen - Tamsin drew on the colours of a vintage Indian textile she found to go above the new sofa. A 1930s chair was covered in Bennison’s ‘Jaipur’ and the sofa in a flecked heavyweight tweed to create a cosy inviting space.
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Chris Horwood9/32Inspired by trips to the Netherlands, Tamsin hung Delft plates in the kitchen and an original framed panel of polychrome tiles above the cooker. The existing joinery was retained but repainted in four different but harmonious warm earthy colours.
Chris Horwood10/32The walls and ceilings are painted in different shades to draw your eye down through the enfilade of rooms previously the old stables. Tamsin decorated the kitchen with vintage finds including an old bread bin, old apothecary jar for cooking utensils. The 18th century Delft tiles were found in markets.
Chris Horwood11/32‘It’s important to have ‘low’ as well as ‘working lighting’ in a kitchen’ says Tamsin. A vintage lamp adds a focal point and softens the hard surfaces of the kitchen.
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Chris Horwood13/32In the conservatory, the Plain English chairs were repainted in four different earthy tones and cushions made from a ‘mish mash’ of found fabrics – African stripes, vintage Indigo and Ikats to add interest and soften the space.
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Chris Horwood16/32Inspired by Barbara Hepworth’s studio in St Ives, Tamsin designed Rosie’s studio in the garden from scratch using reclaimed Spanish tiles on the floor and designing bespoke shelving to contain a vintage plan chest. She found the Bertoia chair and the draughtman’s stool complete with its original leather seat.
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Chris Horwood19/32The earthy sun faded tones of a vintage suzani and cushion on the sofa and the salvaged plant pots on the windowcill at the far end of the studio create a space which feels natural and connected to the garden. Tamsin’s love of natural textures and pattern are evident in the old chair and arts and crafts plant stand and the blinds from Joss Graham.
Chris Horwood20/32Reclaimed Spanish tiles on the floor and a wide utilitarian basin in the studio’s wet room which doubles as a utility for washing brushes and palettes. The long shelf runs the width of the room and provides storage space for painting materials.
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Chris Horwood22/32The Knowles & Christou fabric of the existing curtains inspired the Art Deco feel of the main bedroom. Tamsin designed the headboard to complement the shape of the Art Deco chair which sits on top of another vintage rug Tamsin found. ‘I love the interplay of the different colours and patterns.’ The lamp, and quilt and cushions are also vintage finds.
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Chris Horwood24/32Tamsin added ‘interest and glamour’ to the existing bathroom with fern filled antique brass planters, Murano glass, vintage wall lights and a set of shelves still with its original gilt paint, which echo the Art Deco feel of the main bedroom next door.
Chris Horwood25/32Tamsin’s confidence in mixing colour and pattern is evident in Rosie’s younger daughter’s bedroom. A floral headboard set against the sunny tones of the walls is complemented by the ‘honest simplicity’ of a 1930s card table, complete with its original paint, which Tamsin found in a market. A mid-century fabric collage sits above one of a pair of vintage hand-painted glass lamps with bespoke shades made from Ottoline De Vries’s ‘Tulips’ fabric.
Chris Horwood26/32The handpainted lamp is by Black Lion Workshops, with a bespoke shade made using Decors Barbares fabric. The chest of drawers was originally designed for a ship, hence its raised sides, to prevent items from falling off.
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Chris Horwood28/32Upstairs, Rosie’s oldest daughter’s bedroom was redecorated to work around the existing mushroom paint colour and curtains. A bespoke headboard was covered in Susanna Davis’ Orcha fabric; the cushions are made from vintage French check and pre-revolutionary Chinese fabric. A studio pottery lamp sits on top of a vintage Swedish chest of drawers – a vintage rug adds further interest and depth to the room.
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Chris Horwood30/32By painting the walls in Rosie’s son’s bedroom the same soft green as the leaves on the trees seen through the window ‘what is actually a quite small room seems to extend and be connected to outside’. A studio pottery lamp and hand-block printed shade on top of a solid oak stool are fittingly robust and unfussy. The cushion and quilts on the reconditioned cast iron bed and the rug are all vintage finds.
Chris Horwood31/32In the family bathroom Tamsin swapped grey tones for warmer chalkier colours. The blind is made from fabric by Tand, the painting above inspired the repainting of the vintage cupboard in a forget me not blue and deep claret inside.
Chris Horwood32/32Right at the top of the house, Rosie’s former studio has now become a dressing room and spare bedroom. Tamsin chose Marthe Armitage’s Angelica wallpaper in a ‘luminous green and turquoise’ to create an all-enveloping feel. ‘I wanted it to feel as if you were living in a tree house - it is pretty but slightly offbeat. I love the combination of the delicate lines of Marthe’s drawing with the chunkiness of Penny Morrison’s block printed fabric on the headboard and the exquisite marquetry in the walnut chest of drawers’.
