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Every corner of Beata Heuman’s West London HQ ripples with poetry and refinement.
Since setting up her own studio in 2013, AD100 designer Beata Heuman has been showered with praise for her incredible interiors which push creative boundaries without compromising on functionality, comfort or warmth – the key elements of every home. At 188 Hammersmith Road, Beata has created a world of her own, bringing together everything her interior design practice offers under one roof.
From the cellars to the attic, every room in this 1820s villa models how to combine her made-to-order furniture, house fabrics and British-made lighting.
Office and showroom space are intertwined throughout the building. While team meetings can happen around the ground floor library table or the kitchen table below stairs, clients are treated to a tour that takes them from the drawing room, through the work spaces, all the way up to a bright, cosy bedroom under the eaves.
Familiar with original radiators from her childhood in Sweden, Beata values their longevity and aesthetic appeal.
“I have always liked the look of leaving radiators exposed and letting them be an honest yet elegant feature.
Beata Heuman
It’s a good sign when something that’s 140 years old is still around, both style wise and when it comes to quality.”
Head of Product Design, Caroline Barker, who coordinated the interior renovations at 188 with Beata told us, “We wanted the radiators to be a beautiful architectural feature without dictating how we used the space.”
“Mercury and Grace work very well together visually. Used in combination they offered the flexibility we needed to achieve the right BTUs for all the spaces without compromising our design.”
Cast iron radiators for multitasking spaces
One of Beata’s trademarks is to utilise the space above her radiators by adding a simple shelf, console table or bench seating. Caroline told us, “Our kitchen (like most) is very hard working and pretty much every bit of wall space is spoken for. We wanted to be able to put the radiators under the bench around our kitchen table so that we could kill two birds with one stone.”
“These Mercurys worked perfectly, allowing us to make a bench at the perfect height. It was very pleasing to provide heating and seating for our whole team to fit around the table!”
A celebration of British craftsmanship
Beata chooses to work with local makers as much as possible. Alma, a range of ceramic lamps produced in collaboration with Original BTC, is made in Stoke-on-Trent; her Jumbo Ginghams are woven in the north of England and her Nettle wallpaper is produced in the Midlands.
Quality is paramount and suppliers must meet the highest expectations. The studio sources bespoke brassware from makers in Florence; their house linens are grown in Belgium then woven in Spain. It’s clear that most often the historical centres of heritage industries are still the best in the world.
In the drawing room, shown above, the colour palette is muted, with whites and creams forming the backdrop. Our Grace radiators in Ceramic White accompany Beata’s ‘Mini Globe’ light in an ivory-coloured wool and sheer linen curtains in a bright ‘Milk’.
The gentle sage green Nettle fabric on the ‘New Wave Country Sofa’ is paired with a pale Butter linen on the ‘Raviolo Cushions’ – one of Beata and Caroline’s most delicious creations! Freshly launched as a showroom exclusive, these gorgeous pasta-inspired pillows are supersized yet daintily dimpled with a single button.
Elsewhere, the designer flaunts her talent for layering stronger colours and patterns. Our favourite room at 188 has to be Beata’s own study (above) which perfectly encapsulates her style: exquisite and orderly yet also offbeat and fun. Enveloped in her Willow wallpaper she says it feels like sitting inside a sugar bowl.
A pop of ‘unexpected red’ brings a cozy glow to the old fireplaces. Beata has placed our Grace radiators into the disused recesses, a canny use of space and a brilliant visual pun.
A much sought-after designer at the top of her league, Beata is nonetheless passionate about communicating her craft to others. With her upcoming BBC Maestro series soon to be joining her book Every Room Should Sing she is clearly committed to spreading her ethos that interior decoration should be a joyful act of self expression. Rather than seeking ‘rigorous rules’ she advises ‘finding your own voice’, inspiring us to see new ways of bringing variety and individuality into our homes.
