London family home blends art, craft and bespoke design details
A London family home by interior designer Shalini Misra blends art, craft and bespoke design details in a comfortable yet colourful interior, full of surprises

Mel Yates - Photography
This Victorian house just off busy King’s Road has been given a makeover by interior design Shalini Misra. The London home is a four-storey period residence featuring a mock Tudor frontage and set within a conservation area. And while it may feel like the ‘typical' London brick period home from the outside, inside it is full of surprises, mixing craft, art and bespoke design details.
Misra reworked the house's layout entirely to bring it up to 21st-century standards and to fit the busy family of four's daily life. Her strategy, she explains, was ‘a fluid layout with a feeling of space that is versatile to adapt into pockets of private space for concentration and calm'. Balancing tasteful colours with a sense of warm cocooning is the creator's forte; Misra is known for designs that bridge styles and periods, masterfully coming together in a coherent whole.
Enlarging rooms and cleverly hiding services was key to making this a comfortable yet neat home that focuses on showcasing objects and art, as well as accommodating the residents' needs. ‘Our clients’ vision for their home included an open-plan ground floor for the reception and dining area with floor and wall space for art and sculptures, and space to entertain,' says Misra.
The designer obliged and now a new basement is dedicated to a family area (with sliding doors separating it from the kitchen and utility). An outdoor area on the same level brings in plenty of natural light.
The existing staircase was removed and replaced with one that not only serves its functional purpose but is a sculptural feature in itself, inspired by Gio Ponti and crafted by expert artisans – Misra has an extensive network of craftspeople that regularly collaborate with her on customising interiors. ‘The stair's wall links the four floors with bespoke, hand-finished plasterwork in a pattern of linear and circular shapes inspired by Ben Nicholson’s relief works from the 1930s,' says the designer.
The clients' impressive art collection was woven into the home’s interiors at every turn. It is complemented by bespoke fittings that add texture throughout, and quality furnishings, including sofas by Vladimir Kagan, a chandelier by Carpenters Workshop Gallery and a Martino Gamper-designed table. Meanwhile, the basement ceiling is clad in a stamped tin-style wallpaper, creating an intruiging, unusual centrepiece that offsets the colourful pieces below.
INFORMATION
shalinimisra.com
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
Pierre Yovanovitch’s set and costumes bring a contemporary edge to Korea National Opera in Seoul
French interior architect Pierre Yovanovitch makes his second operatic design foray, for The Marriage of Figaro in Seoul
By Tianna Williams Published
-
The best hotels in Hong Kong
From sky-high glamour to intimate design sanctuaries, here's our pick of Hong Kong's finest stays
By Lauren Ho Published
-
Stay in a Parisian apartment which artfully balances minimalism and warmth
Tour this pied-a-terre in the 7th arrondissement, designed by Valeriane Lazard
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Tamart’s ‘Clore’ floor lamp revives a modernist lighting classic
Tamart debuts the 'Clore' floor lamp, a handblown glass design originally created in 1963 for Sir Charles Clore's London penthouse
By Ali Morris Published
-
‘It feels almost alive’: This rare Judy Kensley McKie ‘Leopard Couch’ could be yours
Designer Judy Kensley McKie’s 1983 ‘Leopard Couch’ will be auctioned at Phillips; one of her first fully realised sculptural furniture designs, it’s a zoomorphic delight
By Tianna Williams Published
-
First look: Step inside a Tatjana von Stein-designed show apartment at 60 Curzon
The Mayfair development has launched its second show apartment, imagined by interior designer du jour Tatjana von Stein. Wallpaper* gets a first look at the Art Deco-inspired space
By Anna Solomon Published
-
Find interior design inspiration at Eba’s new Marylebone showroom
Eba, a specialist in kitchen and living room design, brings its elevated interiors to London’s Marylebone
By Simon Mills Published
-
‘London: Lost Interiors’ gathers unseen imagery of some of the capital’s most spectacular homes
This new monograph is a fascinating foray into the interior life of London, charting changing tastes, emerging styles and the shifting social history of grand houses in the heart of a fast-changing city
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Anglepoise and National Trust look to Britain’s coastal landscape for a new blue lighting collection
Anglepoise and National Trust announce their third lighting collection, Neptune Blue
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Designer James Shaw’s latest creation is a self-built home in east London
James Shaw's east London home is Filled with vintage finds and his trademark extruded plastic furniture, a compact self-built marvel
By Rosa Bertoli Published
-
Art’otel Battersea opens with immersive interiors by Jaime Hayon
An exclusive tour of Art’otel Battersea, the first UK opening from the group, located opposite the Battersea Power Station and featuring immersive interiors by Jaime Hayon
By Rosa Bertoli Published