Wednesday 20 January 2021

PLUMP UP THE VOLUME Bring some zing to your next Zoom with a ruffled cushion: Page 17

ven the most passionate renovator might be put off by water-logged flooring, hair-encrusted paintwork and a mould-flecked Emortuary-stark bathroom. But for young husband-and-wife architect team Madeleine Ike and Jonty Hallett, they were simply minor details in what they knew instantly was their dream project. “We had been looking for a long time for just the right flat, but after an endless parade of soulless places, this one immediately struck the right chord,” says Ike, 32, of the one-bedroom garden apartment. “The place needed so much love and care, but because of our architectural and design backgrounds, we could look straight past the years of accumulated grime and shoddy repair jobs to see the potential. The Victorian proportions and scale were still grand, and the private garden was A triumph of an added benefit.” LESS IS MORE Today, six years after that first teamwork viewing, the transformation of the Endymion Road flat which edges Finsbury Park is complete. Less a A husband-and-wife renovation than a transfiguration, it’s a masterclass in the reimagining of a architect duo tell Emma Wells neglected period home into a soothing urban oasis. how they created an urban oasis Against a harmonious backdrop of pale wall colours and flooring, stained Douglas fir joinery, a rear extension clad in English larch and bespoke metal furniture designed by the couple are focal points amid Hallett and Ike’s unswerving devotion to minimalism and the calming power of uncluttered spaces. Having spent about £470,000 buying the flat, Hallett says they carried out only cosmetic tweaks during their first four years of ownership, saving up to do the major works while focusing on the 2018 launch of their London-based architecture and interior design studio, studiohallettike.co.uk.

Continued on Page 16 Cut! Ford wraps up his mega-ranch director Priciest street is made in Chelsea average sells 20,000-acre home after £19m price drop house is £36.6m on UK’s most expensive road FASHION designer and filmmaker , designed a modern glass and A STREET in Chelsea which has been home Mouseprice. The two next most expensive inset, has found a buyer for his jaw-dropping concrete house at the ranch, with to stars ranging from Madonna and Jeffrey streets were Campden Hill Place (average ranch in — after a £19 million minimalist living spaces Archer to Hollywood actor Douglas price £20.8 million) and Ilchester Place price cut and nearly five years on the market. overlooking pools of water. Fairbanks Jr has been named as the most (£15.8 million), both in Holland Park. The Cerro Pelon ranch spans 20,662 acres — Listed for £55.2 million expensive road of the past decade. The only London roads outside the west more than 28 times the City of London — and ($75 million) in 2016, the estate Between 2011 and 2020, the average sold in the top 10 were Courtenay Avenue includes an entire fictional town, built for the was later reduced to £36 million price on The Boltons in SW10 was (£15.1 million), in Highgate, and Whitestone 1985 Silverado and also used in 2011 ($48 million) although the final £36.6 million, making it the priciest street in Lane (£14.4 million) in Hampstead. Marvel film Thor. Architect Tadao Ando sale price remains undisclosed. the UK, according to property data website ⬤ Read more at homesandproperty.co.uk 16 WEDNESDAY 20 JANUARY 2021 EVENING STANDARD Homes Property | My home

Continued from Page 15 Bold new look: Madeleine Ike and FIRST STEPS Jonty Hallett “We actually did very little at first,” stripped their flat says Hallett, also 32. “Simply stripping to its Victorian back the dark, painted wooden bones before flooring, removing peeling wallpaper adding more and painting the walls white.” Just contemporary enough, he says, to eradicate traces of touches such as recent owners’ bodged DIY jobs, Serge Mouille’s while laying bare the beauty of the black steel, brass living room’s exquisite Victorian and aluminium cornicing and fireplace. pendant Used to working on high-end residential schemes for moneyed clients, Hallett admits sticking to a budget for their own home was challenging. “Our aspirations for the spaces often far outweighed what we could afford,” Hallett laughs. “So knowing when to pull back was key.” Working to a budget of about £70,000, the pair set about turning their vision into reality with the bespoke, canopied Corten-steel front door, replacing the former humdrum entranceway, setting the tone for a design one-off. The intriguing rear extension — which gave the flat a total interior living space of 894sq ft — is the pair’s pièce de résistance. The flat only had one living space and one bedroom, so the couple were keen to create further entertaining and guest zones. They transformed the cramped galley kitchen to incorporate a light-flooded dining space, with durable Douglas fir the key material, used as the main joinery and on bench seating and window surrounds. A playful feline-shaped cutout in one GET THE LOOK of the benches serves as a hidey-hole for their cat, Architects: Studio Hallett Ike room, by Serge Mouille: Lunar, with stainless steel (studiohallettike.co.uk) (en.smallable.com) work surfaces adding an Brushed steel kitchen White Forties pendant light industrial feel. A floor-to- worktop and blackened steel in dining room by Jorn ceiling door leads on to the shelf designed by Studio Utzon: (andtradition.com) garden, which they found as Hallett Ike: Sunbeam Group Aluminium-framed a muddy expanse of (sunbeamgroup.co.uk) dining room door: Velfac moss-infiltrated grass and Bathroom and kitchen tiles: (velfac.co.uk ) have since coaxed into Solus Ceramics Skylights: Roof Maker an exotic plant and (solusceramics.com) (roof-maker.co.uk) fern-filled haven. Bathroom fittings: Mini glo-ball wall light: Flos Crosswater (crosswater.co.uk) (flos.com) SEASONAL TOUCHES Matt black KV1 kitchen tap: Cornforth White paint on The added second Vola (en.vola.com) living room walls and Ikea’s bedroom/home office is Kabric hybrid paint/plaster Ivar pine cabinet: Farrow & clad in hand-charred larch, in living room and bedroom: Ball (farrow-ball.com) which changes colour with Detale CPH (detalecph.com) Black metal triangle floor the weather and seasons — Blanco engineered timber lamp: HK Living (hkliving.nl) Open spaces: display ceramics or as side tables. Jonty’s own canvases are abstract sometimes silvery, boards in dining room: Artwork: The Poster Club the couple added prints from the Poster Club, propped sometimes warmer-hued. Havwoods (havwoods.com) (theposterclub.com) a rear extension, DESIGN HEROES against walls in good-quality frames. “We were out there with a Black steel, brass and Plants: Paramount Plants above, to create a Their bespoke creations are Despite having only recently blow-torch, getting the aluminium pendant in living (paramountplants.co.uk) 895sq ft living interspersed with judiciously chosen completed the project, the couple effect just right,” says Ike. “If space. Minimalist pieces that link their own contemporary have decided to sell up and have put we had simply painted it or designs make the work to that of their Fifties design the flat on the market for £749,950 stained it, the grain wouldn’t have space feel bigger heroes. In the living room, Serge (mrandmrsclarke.com). They are stood out so beautifully.” This Mouille’s dramatic triple-arm black planning another renovation project obsession with texture, nature and steel, brass and aluminium pendant in central Oxford, where they can craftsmanship is a constant refrain hangs from the ceiling and in the afford to buy a larger home. Lucky, throughout the entire home, seen main bedroom sits a grey Eames then, that they work so well together. also in Hallett and Ike’s choice of Plastic Armchair on rockers. Ike says: “I am an incredibly practical terrazzo in the kitchen and shower But look closely and you’ll also find person, having spent a lot of time on — “Marble or stone with strong crafty high street finds — all part of construction sites, whereas Jonty is all veining would have been too the duo’s thrifty sense of knowing about the craftsmanship and always overwhelming a look,” says Ike — where to splurge and where to save. remembering that the devil is in the and in the neutral grey hybrid In the living room, Ikea’s Ivar pine detail. It’s a pretty good combination.” paint-plaster on the walls in both the cabinet makes for handy extra main bedroom and the living room, storage. “We spent part of the last from Danish firm Detale CPH. lockdown doing some Ikea hacks, Both Hallett and Ike say the living actually,” says Ike. “We sanded the Thinking of room is their favourite space, with its unit back and painted it in Cornforth original, elegant features, touches of White, which totally transformed it.” moving? Start Farrow & Ball’s understated grey Clever renovation budgeting, she Cornforth White on the architraves, says, is knowing what big ideas will your search on and their own specially designed require considerable investment — furniture. Largely constructed from such as structural work — and the black steel that showcases the natural Photographs “minimal moves” that don’t always patina of use over time, classic pieces by Michael need a big spend — like furniture and include a coffee table and storage Franke and artwork. A powerful way of tying units, as well as lightweight, spaces together is by using similar fuss-free terrazzo plinths, used to Ståle Eriksen palettes and art. Displayed amid EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 20 JANUARY 2021 17 homesandproperty.co.uk powered by Hot trends | Homes Property

ast year, fashion gave us the Plump up Zoom collar — oversized and the volume: frilly, it can be thrown on top of 2 1. Red cushion, any old jumper to make your Katy Takla, small WFH slobware look like an £35, large £45 Loutfit on a video call. And, as so 2. Ruffle cushions, often happens, where fashion In Casa by Paboy, leads, homewares have 1 £76 each followed. Bag a home 3. Tablecloth, East accessory with a ruffle and London Cloth, give an instant update and a from £215 dash of lockdown cheer to even 4. Candy-stripe the most austere room. napkin, Amuse La Unsurprisingly, it’s a trend that Bouche, £12.50 found its footing on Instagram thanks 5. Green cushion, in no large part to a brand that Katy Takla, prices launched last summer: In Casa by as above Paboy. It’s the handle of Paboy Bojang, a 28-year-old Gambian asylum seeker living in Naples who has been selling hand-sewn cushions in vivid contrasting colours to a rapturous and rapidly growing international audience via Instagram. Bojang currently hand-sews all the cushions and selects the 100 per Get your Instagram cent Italian cotton and colour combinations himself. He started working as a tailor at his uncle’s shop in his hometown of Serrekunda aged Ruffles and frills fix 13. “Women in Gambia put ruffles on their clothes and I thought that could also work well on cushions,” he says, explaining the origins of his most distinctive model. He also offers Bring some zing to your next Zoom with a statement options with piping and fringing in zinging shades inspired by the colours cushion from the designer whose colourful creations are of his adopted home of Naples and nearby Pompeii. cheering up lockdown, says Prudence Ivey Bojang arrived in Naples after a two-year journey across the desert and the Mediterranean, followed by two years in a refugee camp. He found lockdown last year he found a bag of brand. He now has almost 8,000 THREE MORE work at a majolica workshop making vintage fabric belonging to his followers and has just launched a ACCOUNTS FOR INSTA tiles and vases but lost his job after a housemate, British freelance website with plans to expand into FRILL-SEEKERS delay with paperwork. During the journalist and documentary maker other homewares in future. Sophia Seymour, which he He also hopes to encourage other @katytakla used to make his first migrants to use their skills to set up Former garment technologist 3 cushions. These gained an their own online businesses. “I had Takla uses remnants from instant following on quite a lot of bad experiences with luxury interiors fabrics for her Instagram and Bojang used employers. I want to show frilled-edge cushions. Launched the money from the sale of immigrants like me that they don’t this month with a starting price of those first creations to buy have to rely on employers.” £35, there will be new designs more fabric and build his ⬤ incasabypaboy.com every fortnight.

5 @amuselabouche 4 Working with artisans in the UK and abroad, the brand launched last year selling circus-striped ruffled napkins and teatowels in organic cotton and hemp. Prices start at £12.50 for one napkin.

@eastlondoncloth Tablecloths and pillowcases in soft, slubby ginghams and plain hemp silk are made to order with a signature ruffle by Gemma in Hackney under the East London Cloth moniker. From £44.50.

or you can sit it on the tripod anywhere in the house. 2 From coffee to supplied, and promises a more ⬤ £100, cuisinart.co.uk flattering picture. Cheaper than Botox, easier than contouring. 3. De’Longhi PrimaDonna cameras, the ⬤ £89.99, papalook.com bean-to-cup coffee machine This premium coffee machine tech to make 2. Cuisinart cordless on-the-go doesn’t come cheap but if you were a blender £2.80 latte on your commute type, If your home office set up has got then the machine will pay for itself 3 WFH smarter you feeling like you’re in danger of surprisingly quickly after a year of being entangled in a web of wires, WFH. You tell the machine what type 1. Papalook PA552 webcam Cuisinart’s new range of cordless of bean is loaded in the hopper You’ve got your Zoom backdrop kitchen appliances may be the and it will grind, dose and brew your sorted, thanks very much — now it’s answer to your prayers. Compact, cup in the best way to suit the bean 1 time to ensure you look your best lightweight and USB rechargeable, type. App control and a colour touch during all those video meetings too. the portable blender means you can screen complete the experience. This webcam clips to the top of your throw together a healthy smoothie ⬤ £1,199, delonghi.com laptop or desktop computer screen, — or an ice cream milkshake — Caramel Quin 18 WEDNESDAY 20 JANUARY 2021 EVENING STANDARD Homes Property | Rent crisis

he Government is coming under increasing pressure to step in to assist London’s renters after figures showed The pandemic that more than one in seven Ttenants in the capital have fallen behind on rent during the pandemic. A study published today by Citizens Advice found that almost half (46 per cent) of London renters have lost has hit renters income during the pandemic, compared with around a third UK-wide, and 15 per cent are now in rent arrears, compared with 11 per cent nationally. The number of hard — they private renters behind on their rent has also doubled since last February. On average rent arrears stand at £720 but for more than half of those in arrears, a grant of just £600 would get them out of debt. Without help need real help they could be evicted and find themselves homeless. “The relentless financial and mental strain of arrears has a significant impact on renters’ wellbeing, making them less likely to self-isolate and more likely to experience mental health problems,” warned the report. Campaigners agree that unless the Government grasps this particular nettle, things will only get worse. Analysis by LSE and Trust For London predicts that the number of private renters falling into arrears

One in seven London tenants are in could increase to 700,000 nationwide IMAGES GETTY by November. Since the formal arrears. Now pressure is growing for eviction process takes at least six moving to cheaper homes, in what LSE’s emeritus professor of housing months and courts have a backlog of LSE describes as “overcrowded and economics. “This will leave tenants, the Government to do more than delay cases, evictions could carry on long insecure conditions”. and sometimes their landlords, facing after the pandemic is over. “We’re likely to see a slow burn of months of insecurity, mental stress evictions. Ruth Bloomfield reports Those who don’t get evicted may evictions that will go on at least into and hardship.” find themselves back with parents or 2022,” said Christine Whitehead, The Government announced that EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 20 JANUARY 2021 19 homesandproperty.co.uk powered by Rent crisis | Homes Property

Financial worry: Generation Rent, warned that this on average would not keep renters safe from the ‘I have had rent arrears spectre of eviction. stand at £720 “Landlords can still serve notice and weeks of courts continue to hear cases, putting pressure on renters to move out before the bailiffs arrive.” sleepless KNOW YOUR RIGHTS Generation Rent calculates that more than half a million ⬤ If you are struggling to pay your households are in rent arrears nights’ rent, try talking to your landlord or because of the pandemic. What AS A frontline key worker, letting agent. You may be able to is needed, Kennedy said, is a the pandemic has been negotiate an affordable repayment package of financial support. particularly tough on Rudolf plan with them. “Without further support they Bozart — and not just because will get deeper into debt and he works with vulnerable ⬤ Although bailiff action is halted until face homelessness.” elderly people. at least the end of the current Ben Beadle, chief executive of This time last year, life was lockdown, landlords can still begin the National Residential looking good. Rudolf, 27, proceedings against tenants who are Landlords Association, worked as an agency carer in in “substantial” arrears. criticised the Government’s nursing homes and private current efforts on rent arrears, homes and was earning RRudolf, d lf however. h In I OOctober, t b ⬤ In most cases, if your landlord which can be summed up as a enough to pay his he got a full-time job close to his wants you out they will have to give series of extensions to the rent and live his life. home, which means he can you at least six months’ notice before eviction ban since last spring. In spring, everything changed. pay his full rent. launching possession proceedings “Kicking the can down the Rudolf had just moved to a But, with a take-home pay of against you — and there is a large road just means larger debts two-bedroom £700pcm flat in £1,400, once his rent, bills (another backlog of court cases so there is no piling up, creating a bigger Colchester, Essex, when employers £200pcm) and basic living costs need to panic immediately. problem for tenants and also for cut back on agency staff and his are added, he doesn’t have much landlords,” he said. “The work, which was previously leeway to repay his arrears. ⬤ It is illegal for your landlord to bully Government needs to provide regular, evaporated. His landlord would like an extra or harass you. If yours is trying to force an urgent financial package to In an “incredibly stressful” period £300pcm, which Rudolf said you out, hang on to any emails or get rent debts built due to the — during which the only work he would leave him unable to buy other evidence and contact the police. pandemic paid off.” could find was making food food. He can’t move to a cheaper Deputy housing mayor Tom deliveries on his bike — he racked flat because he would need to pay ⬤ Seek help from your local council Copley is another supporter of up £2,000 in rent arrears, which three months’ rent upfront and, and advice agencies as soon as renters. “At every stage of the his landlord is understandably while he owes rent, his landlord possible to sort out your living pandemic, ministers have anxious for him to repay. would not repay the money he put bailiff action against renters would be arrangements. Shelter and Citizens treated renters as an “It is really, really difficult to down when he first moved in. paused during the current lockdown Advice have help on renters’ rights, afterthought,” he said. manage things because carers “I have had weeks of sleepless except in the most “egregious while The Money Advice service can “We need the Government to are not getting paid enough,” nights over this,” he said. “My cases”, like antisocial behaviour or find you free, confidential debt advice provide grants for people who Rudolf said. “At the end of every work is already very stressful extreme arrears. if needed. have rent arrears, and to abolish month it is a struggle.” and I can’t afford to stress even However, Alicia Kennedy, director of no-fault eviction.” There is some good news for more when I get home.” 20

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22 WEDNESDAY 20 JANUARY 2021 EVENING STANDARD Homes Property | Interiors

1 Houseplant of the week Peace lily

From Peru to the Philippines, peace lilies occupy the dappled shade at the edge of streams and rivers that snake through tropical forests, making them an excellent contender for that dark corner at home that needs a lift. For many, the white flowers of the peace lily are associated with purity, while others suggest it is mother nature’s answer to the symbol of surrender. In reality the white “flower” is not a flower at all, but a modified leaf called a spathe. This is where the peace lily gets its scientific name: Spathiphyllum.

Once the “flowers” start to brown, If it doesn’t follow the stem “flower” down the plant and each year, cut them off adjust its position for more or less The stylish solution to light If the leaves wilt or flop and the compost is dry, soulless online scrolling water immediately

2 either light or dark, is fully rotatable, Missing real-life magnifying (maybe less of that) and has a tray for your hand sanitiser and shops? Curated other accessories. online edits from 2. Haller storage with built-in desk, USM, £1,264 as shown interiors guru Kate Founded in Switzerland in 1885, this family-owned company began making If leaves turn Watson-Smyth modular furniture in the Sixties. Start dry and crispy with a cupboard which you can extend it’s too late are the answer into a sideboard, a media unit, or a full set of shelves simply by buying more 3 parts as you require. The USM Haller he pandemic has turned us system is a modern design classic into a nation of online with a place in the permanent shoppers. Whether it’s a collection of MoMA and it’s perfect for spot of retail therapy as a the WFH situation. You can create pick-me-up, or the need exactly what you need to suit you Tto buy a new desk or a better bed — and change it when you need to. to cope with the realities of 24 Use a damp hours at home, seven days a 3. Sofa covers, sponge and very week, we are having to use the 4 Caravane, from £160 gently clean the internet to buy everything If you are living and working in the leaves from time from candlesticks to same space it can be hard to change to time carpets. But, 5 the mood from work to play at the paradoxically, as the shops end of the day and we can’t all start increase their online offering, it moving furniture around. Switch up has become harder to find what the look of your sofa with one of these you want. In a real-life shop you padded throws and go from office You could add a could see how staff had curated and chair to cocktail lounge in a trice. monthly organic arranged items to their best liquid feed in spring advantage, discover new trends and 4. Leaf-shaped glass serving and summer see how you might use something in dish, Zara Home, £11.99 your own home. It was all designed to Now we are all eating at home all the PROPAGATION be tempting and encouraging. time, making an effort to cheer up the Peace lilies can be propagated easily by division. It’s best to do Now, however, we’re ploughing table might lift the spirits a little, too. this after the plant has finished flowering, normally in early through 147 pages of online search In the same way that a beautifully autumn. You’ll need some peat-free and organic multi-purpose results showing us stuff we don’t like to style it. Ten products per page, five wrapped gift makes even the compost, and several pots with drainage holes. or want. We daren’t stop — the pages per collection, that’s it. Browse humblest of items look exciting, so Look closely at a mature plant and you’ll most likely find it is perfect item will surely be on the next the 50 best of everything and then get some pretty serving dishes will made up of smaller plants that together look like one. These can page. Except it isn’t. on with your day; scrolling through elevate Monday night’s pasta. be separated from one another. Take a photo of your potted plant That frustration was the spur for 147 pages of black sweaters. so you can see how much of the stems should be beneath the soil Design Storey, an online interiors 5. Hector 30 floor lamp, when you come to repot. Then, remove the plant from its pot, lay store with a curated edit of the best of KATE’S FIVE HERO PRODUCTS Original BTC, £255 it down, find the plant equivalent of a side parting, and gently the high street as well as great pieces 1. Wireworks magnify mirror, For those of you who are struggling to prise the plants apart. You can keep dividing until you have split from small businesses that you might Heal’s, £86 find space to work from home, one your peace lily into two or three new plants. Make sure each gets not know. It’s a one-stop shop for In the same way that a new pair of way of saving desk space is to position its own pot, and that you firm the compost down around them. hidden gems, arranged in collections earrings or a T-shirt can make you feel a thin floor lamp which angles next to ⬤ George Hudson is head of plants and education at of 50, with categories ranging from like your whole wardrobe has been the desk rather than using a task light. Walworth Garden. Follow him on Instagram @walworthgarden table lamps to task lights, sofas and rejuvenated, so the power of a new This classic style has a bone china beds to children’s rooms. Each piece household item shouldn’t be shade which gives off the most will have notes on why it made the underestimated. This pretty wooden wonderful soft glow. cut, where you might use it and how mirror, made from sustainable oak in ⬤ designstorey.shop