and pattern and is a wizard at finding unusual suppliers. Ask for any detail and the answer
is instant, as if her little black book is perpetually open. ‘In the kitchen, I didn’t want a
one-size-fits-all design,’ Emma says. The bronze cooker hood was made to order by a metal-
worker and the cabinet carcasses are from a German company. ‘I spent ages considering
how I like to cook,’ she adds. ‘A home must look beautiful but work effectively, too.’
Upstairs, for the bathroom flooring Emma sourced a Sixties geometric pattern online,
then had Via Arkadia make the tiles in Italy. The silk embroidered artwork on the stairs was
custom-made, too. ‘I’ve always loved the illustrator John Rombola,’ says Emma. She
had one of his drawings scaled to three metres, then found a specialist in China to
embroider the design. ‘Going bespoke needn’t always be costly,’ she adds.
Emma also has a knack for reinventing items, such as the B&B Italia sofa that came
from her old flat. ‘It was fuchsia pink and looked brash here,’ she says. ‘So I reupholstered it
in teal velvet to match the backdrop of leaf y plane trees outside.’ She has owned the Saarinen
dining table for years, but has now teamed it with Forties chairs to suit the elegant space.
‘It’s my favourite spot for working or to dish up easy Italian food for friends.’
As with any creative work, the effortless-looking schemes were painstakingly planned.
Although Emma insists she ‘goes with the flow’ when designing, even the tiniest details
in her home have been meticulously evaluated. She sifted through scores of sofa fabrics
and more than 50 bedroom curtain samples: ‘The correct choices matter!’ she says.See Emma’s interior designs at solangedesign.com and her work at themerchantstable.co.ukXKITCHEN
The 4.3m-high ceiling called for
proportional features, so Emma
designed this statement brass
cooker hood, while the dramatic
contemporary pendant light
draws the eye up to the glorious
decorative mouldings.
Smoked-oak cabinet fascias,
K&I Kitchens. Made to order
cooker hood, London Metalworks.
Calacatta Oro marble splashbacks
and worktops, Marble City. Orb
pendant, CTO Lighting
livingetc.com 63houses