A Meeting of Minds

Step inside one of our latest interior design projects: a beautiful period property in Hove where our designer and client’s mutual love of colour and pattern shines

The design process began with a site visit, where Charlotte and Sabina discussed colour palettes and key furniture items; both from the OKA collection and what Sabina owned and loved already. “She has a lot of her own quirky pieces and inherited things that she wanted to incorporate, so I got to work with those as well. We do that quite a lot; it makes everything feel even more bespoke,” says Charlotte. In terms of a brief, Sabina gave the designer free rein – a strategy that undoubtedly paid off. When Charlotte came back a few weeks later to present some suggested designs, it was the TV room that her client was most delighted with. “I would never have thought that I could have fitted those pieces in there. It was so nice to see them come together as I really struggled with that room; the proportions of it and how to make it feel cosy. Charlotte came up with an amazing solution,” she tells us. The paint colour, which they chose together, stepped it up a level and completed the intimate atmosphere.

This room is a particular favourite of Charlotte’s, too. “The footstool has a piece of my heart; I’ve wanted to use that fabric [Christopher Farr Cloth's Chubby Check in green] ever since I saw it. And Sabina loved it just as much as I did, so I thought ‘why not?’ – that’s where I started, I based the room around it,” she says. Said footstool is the Fanshawe, part of our Tailored by OKA custom-made seating collection, but with a twist: when you use our Interior Design Service you have the added benefit of being able to upholster the pieces in any material of your choice, as our designers work with an array of beautiful fabric houses. You can truly go as wild as you like.

Sabina, OKA Client

Sabina picked some Tailored sofas too, with the main priority being replacing her existing uncomfortable ones with those that were perfect to lounge on. “The custom fabric was a brilliant bonus because you can really tailor it to your light and space, and you know it’s not one that anyone else has,” she says.

The mix of classic and contemporary shapes they chose fit seamlessly into the home, each of which plays a key part in how Charlotte shaped the colour scheme and atmosphere. In the garden room, there’s a light green 'clever' linen that has a good light-fastness rating and is stain resistant. It's perfect for the bright space and how the young family uses it – linked to the kitchen, it's the most indemand spot in the daytime where they’ll often sit and have a coffee or play games with their daughter. “I knew I wanted to bring green in for sure, due to the garden right outside, and then lots of warm tones as they’re Sabina’s favourites,” says Charlotte.

In the more formal sitting room, it was “very much about picking out the colours from Sabina’s rug and building the different textures and fabrics around that,” the designer muses. “The red on the sofa works so well with the monochrome ottoman in the middle; it’s quite a dark room so the colour and pattern work really well.”

Charlotte’s clever use of different types and scales of pattern that run throughout the home is the icing on the cake – "the space is so big it can take it", she says. They’re the threads that tie the fun, cosy space together; the effect is perfectly composed, yet incredibly welcoming. What you’d really like to do is sprawl out in one of the snug corners – which is exactly what Sabina wanted from the off. “Even though each room has a different purpose, I wanted it all to feel cohesive, which it certainly does," she says. "Using the service paid off."