I’ve been an uber-fan of Dutch designer Faye Toogood for such a long time. Interiors, furniture, fashion – there’s nothing she touches that doesn’t turn to beautiful. Her Roly Poly chair is on the tippy top of my wishlist for the Hood Canal Cottage.
As I was internet rabbit holing looking for inspiration for the cottage over the weekend, I stumbled across this apartment on the real estate site The Modern House and was immediately stopped in my tracks. And of course it was designed by Toogood (interesting side note, the co-founder of The Modern House is Toogood’s husband!).
This apartment resides in Winchester, a hamlet toward the UK’s coast. The apartment resides on the ground floor of a historic Victorian building in the heart of this lovely town. The entire apartment is a major mood.
The project is such a great example of using consistency in your design to create an incredibly distinct point of view. I was immediately taken by the super consistent monochromatic color palette of cool whites and light grays used throughout the apartment. That sea of greige is punctuated by wood, little hits of black and touches of patinaed brass for punches of contrast.
A couple of things I really like about this kitchen – the single open self (I was just having a debate on Instagram this week about the status of the open shelving trend), the simple flat front cabinets (yay for no hardware-I did that in our kitchen too!) and the jumbo paper lantern pendant. I’m putting one in at Hood Canal and cannot wait to see it.
Vintage art is always a wonderful way to punctuate an otherwise plain hallway. So are those incredible light fixtures.
This cast-iron tub in the primary bedroom is truly spectacular. I love a tub in a bedroom.
That cast-concrete sink in the primary bedroom’s attached WC is just gorgeous and of course keeps within the approved color palette.
Designing a room – not to mention an entire home – can feel like a desperately overwhelming task as there are literally an infinite number of choices that can be made. But, if you give yourself parameters within which you must work, like a tightly honed color palette, so many decisions – from picking paint colors, to your family of light fixtures, to the final bedding selections -suddenly become that much easier.
As I work to determine the final finishes for Hood Canal, I’m going to come back to this project as a constant reminder to rein it in. When it comes to design, setting limitations is actually incredibly freeing.
images via the modern house