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Chelsea Project – The Boltons

Our clients, a professional couple with three university-age children, came to Ixia London as they began renovating their Chelsea home. The house stands moments from The Boltons, on the border of Chelsea and South Kensington. It’s part of an elegant Grade II listed terrace from the mid-19th century, built in yellow London stock brick with white stucco, Roman Doric porticoes and continuous cast-iron balconies at first-floor level. Their home sits within the grandest part of the terrace, where the houses rise an extra storey, framed by pilasters and crowned with an open parapet.

The house is flooded with light and keeps its original floor-to-ceiling windows and shutters, features that make these period homes so special. Our clients wanted furniture and furnishings that would do justice to the architecture, and a trusted interior designer to guide them to the finest makers and suppliers.

Their brief was clear. They already had a relaxed weekend home, so their London home needed to feel quite different: smart, elegant and a little more formal. It had to suit professional life at the heart of the capital, while still being a warm and welcoming place for the family to come home to.

We created a fresh design, with furniture and furnishings, for the double reception room, the garden room and the basement cinema. We also sourced beds, wallpaper, lighting, and curtains and blinds for all five bedrooms, which aren’t pictured here.

A grand double reception room with two fireplaces raised a question for our clients: what should the smaller room be for? They also needed guidance on furniture layout and scale, so they turned to our interior design space planning service.

We drew up detailed CAD floor plans for each room. This let us test layouts, sightlines and flow before a single purchase was made. The larger room became a formal drawing room for entertaining that's also comfortable for watching television. The smaller room became a sociable bar, and together they work as one elegant space.

In a Chelsea period home of this scale, mistakes are costly. The drawing room rug alone measures almost 4.5 by 4 metres, and it had to be right first time. Because every piece was planned to scale, our clients could invest with confidence.

The garden-facing family room off the kitchen was planned as both a relaxed space to unwind and a home office.

Good design starts with a good plan. Our space planning helps clients across London make the most of every room and avoid expensive mistakes.

In a period home of this quality, materials need to respect the architecture and stand up to everyday family life. The wooden floors on the ground and first floors were complemented by luxurious wall-to-wall carpets in the upper rooms and a bespoke stair runner, supplied and fitted by our friends at Urbane Living in Chiswick. https://urbaneliving.co.uk/gallery/stair-carpet-runners/

The staircase winds up through five floors, and the runner was chosen to highlight its elegant curve. It brings colour and warmth to the central hallways and landings, and ties the whole house together.

For the curtains and rugs, we recommended rich, luxurious materials to bring softness and comfort to the grand rooms, with the lofty ceilings and tall windows in mind.

Choosing the right materials is one of the most valuable parts of our interior design service. We guide clients to trusted, high-quality suppliers and make sure every finish is right for the home and the way they live.

For this Chelsea period home, the colour scheme in the double reception room took its lead from the architecture: deep cornicing and tall windows overlooking a tree-lined street.

Soft pink-beige walls bring a romantic warmth. We layered them with luxurious fabrics in rich browns and soft blues from trusted suppliers including Colefax and Fowler (https://www.colefax.com/) and Manuel Canovas (https://www.manuelcanovas.com/). A silk rug from Riviere Rugs (https://riviererugs.com/), patterned with blossoms and boughs, ties the palette together.

In the bar, the mood becomes more playful. The Phoenix drinks cabinet by Julian Chichester (https://julianchichester.com/product/phoenix-drinks-cabinet), in high-gloss ivory with teal inlay, is a true showstopper. It sits beside Riviere's Mirabeau rug (https://riviererugs.com/rugs/mirabeau/), an organic kidney-bean shape with blue abstract swirls on white.

Each colour leads on to the next, so the two rooms feel distinct yet connected. A cohesive colour palette is at the heart of every Ixia London interior design project.

Pictured here is the garden room, a relaxed living space just off the kitchen. It's where our clients unwind at the end of the day, and it doubles as a home office, so every piece needed to be as practical as it is beautiful.

We chose deep, comfortable sofas from Sofa.com (https://www.sofa.com/), upholstered in a luxurious fabric by Jim Thompson (https://www.jimthompsonfabrics.com/), renowned for its exquisite textiles. Underfoot is one of our favourite rugs, the Maze II in blue with ivory from Jennifer Manners (https://jennifermanners.co.uk/products/maze-ii-blue-with-ivory). Made from Himalayan wool and bamboo silk, it's soft, hard-wearing and full of subtle sheen.

Choosing furniture and decor is where a design truly comes to life. As interior designers in Chelsea and across London, we source pieces from trusted makers that suit both the architecture of the home and the way our clients live.

In a Chelsea period home with high ceilings and tall windows, lighting needs to work hard: creating atmosphere by night, adding presence by day, and making each room feel warm and inviting.

In the formal drawing room, our clients chose the Talia chandelier by Julie Neill for Visual Comfort (https://www.visualcomfort.com/uk/talia-grande-chandelier/). Light shimmers through its hand-blown, swirled glass orbs, giving the room a real sense of presence and a touch of glamour. We paired it with the Monty Senior wall lights from Porta Romana (https://portaromana.com/products/monty_wall_light_senior), whose clean, mid-century lines add a layer of soft, flattering light at eye level.

For the cinema room, we chose something more dramatic: the Solstice wall light, also from Porta Romana (https://portaromana.com/products/solstice_wall_light). Two discs of textured, blistered metal are positioned so the light glows like a partial eclipse, which is perfect for a room made for evenings in.

Layering lighting like this is a key part of our interior design service, making every room feel beautiful at any time of day.

"Kirsty transformed our Chelsea home. She took the time to understand our brief and find items which we love. Her space planning gave us real confidence when making big decisions, and she introduced us to the most beautiful makers and suppliers. The result is stylish and elegant yet still warm and welcoming for our family. We'd highly recommend Ixia London.”

Let us craft your vision into reality with bespoke designs that exude luxury and effortless functionality.

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