‘We wanted this room to be the most impressive, glamorous and grown-up space in the house,’ says Alice Bettington, describing the vision behind this formal sitting room in a family home in Hackney, which was our most-liked image on Instagram in March. Also crucial was a sense of calm and orderliness as this needed to be a sanctuary for the owners, who have a growing family. Alice and her Golden design co-founder Ellen Cumber have more than achieved their goal, devising a room that feels smart and sophisticated without a hint of stuffiness. In short, it is the sort of room you would quite happily settle down in for the evening. It’s no wonder, then, that so many of you found yourselves drawn to this image last month. So how do you go about recreating such an appealing scheme?
First things first, you have to get your backdrop right. For the walls, go for your favourite warm-toned neutral, which will set just the right mood – and will even work well in a room that doesn’t get as much natural light as this one. Next up is the ceiling, which is one of our favourite features in this room. Alice and Ellen have created a very pleasing and rather subtle contrast with the walls by painting the ceiling in Farrow & Ball’s popular ‘Pink Ground’, which has a big dose of yellow in it for a blush tone that doesn’t feel in any way sugary. If you want to follow Golden’s lead, you can paint the cornicing and the ceiling rose in the same colour, all the better to showcase the domed, ruched ‘Aldwin’ pendant light from Soho Home.