fbpx

“I wanted the house to reflect the best of my design capabilities while genuinely expressing who I am,” says designer Rosanna Bossom of her own West London house, which she spent two years renovating.

DEAN HEARNE

Tour Rosanna Bossom’s Cozy, Personality-Filled London Home

The designer renovated two Notting Hill flats into one warmly inviting retreat.

January 22, 2025

Rosanna Bossom’s house in West London can be summed up with three C’s: calm, collected, and convivial. “I don’t want a house that looks brand new,” says the British interior designer. “It should be very layered with lots of different stories. There should be a reason for every piece. And most importantly, it needs to be comfortable. I never want someone to walk in and think, ‘Ooh, I don’t know where I can sit.’”

Initially, the scope of the project was meant to be minimal: “I was just going to do a light repaint and redo the kitchen but then literally took out every floor and wall and started again,” Bossom laughs. “It was easier to start from scratch than try to patch up.” The three-story Edwardian terraced house originally contained two flats, which Bossom wanted to combine into a single home with a new loft extension; as a result, she spent her first eight months “camped out” in the first-floor unit while she awaited approval for her plans and the completion of the new addition.

A painting by Peggy Kuiper, which hangs over the fireplace, inspired the sitting room’s warm palette, with walls painted in Caddie by Paint & Paper Library and a burnt-orange linen sofa. The antique cabinet was passed down to Bossom by her grandmother. The octagonal ottoman, from the designer’s own furniture line, opens to reveal extra storage.

DEAN HEARNE

A pair of pressed Gunnera leaves by Tom Berrington hang over a sofa topped with Les Indiennes and Soane Britain pillows; the slipper chairs are in a favorite Soane stripe. Bossom trimmed the simple linen curtains in a Robert Kime fabric. (“My budget only allowed enough for the leading edges, so I matched the ground with a Cloth House linen!”)

 

DEAN HEARNE

Bossom wrapped the den in Wolterton Verdure wallpaper by Watts 1874. (“Since there are no windows, it not only adds depth and dimension but also gives the room a sense of escapism,” she notes.) Sofa, Andrew Martin; alabaster pendant, Vaughan; the rug is an Ikea find.

DEAN HEARNE

Bringing in light and color was essential to the design strategy. A favorite Peggy Kuiper painting proved the perfect starting point for the front sitting room, where it now hangs over the mantel; coordinating shades of orange, navy, and aubergine harmonize with cocooning tan paint swathed across the walls. (“Those warm tones are super-flattering—I want anyone who visits to look beautiful,” the designer beams.) Flexible seating accommodates the flow of friends she entertains on weekends, with “long, languid lunches” and games of cards.

In Bossom’s bedroom, the bespoke oatmeal hue of the walls pairs perfectly with an antique suzani that hangs behind the canopied bed; strips cut from the textile were also used to trim the pelmet. (“It’s a fake four-poster bed—all the treatments hang from the ceiling so there are no posts,” Bossom explains.) The space comes into its own with the evening sun and views of the street’s treetops. “The light that goes through that room is so pretty,” she enthuses. “It changes color completely.”

In the new kitchen addition, a stationary panel of glass extends across the ceiling and down to the floor to maximize natural light. Bossom worked with Suffolk-based Orwells to design the cabinets. A Pooky lamp provides illumination next to the Rangemaster oven and stove.

DEAN HEARNE

Bossom carved out a small space between the den and kitchen to create a bar. The antique convex mirror was a 23rd birthday gift from her grandmother; the tablecloth is in Schumacher’s Antique Ticking Stripe.

DEAN HEARNE

Oka chairs slipcovered in an Isabella Worsley fabric surround the custom table in the kitchen’s dining area. The rug, by Goop for Ruggable, is machine-washable—“You never know what your guests are going to spill!”

DEAN HEARNE

Furniture and art collected over the years or inherited from grandparents mix with Kenyan baskets and Indian quilts, global rugs, and “lucky” finds, like the wall cabinet found on eBay that perfectly fits the TV room and old dining chairs salvaged from a client that have been refreshed with geometric slipcovers. A large-scale Robert Kime print in the guest bedroom makes it feel simultaneously “cozy and somewhere far away from home” for when friends come to stay; faux-tented wallpaper panels from Iksel team with a brass basin Bossom found in Marrakech 11 years ago to lend the powder room an adventurous spirit. “Every piece tells a story,” she says.

"I literally took out every floor and wall. It was easier to start from scratch than try to patch up."

Rosanna Bossom

In contrast is the “huge and bright” kitchen, with its cream-colored walls and cabinetry. A skylight wraps down the garden wall to the floor, connecting the space to the greenery outside, while the honed Calacatta Viola marble countertops and backsplash bring understated texture to the otherwise soothing airiness of the space. “I didn’t want it to look too much like a kitchen,” says the designer. “I wanted it to feel serene yet practical.”

An antique suzani hangs behind the canopied bed in the primary bedroom. A strip cut from the panel trims the pelmet. Table  lamps, Birdie Fortescue; art, Ita Maude Wooller.

DEAN HEARNE

Bossom’s signature for layering “color, pattern, old and new” is most present in the den that connects the kitchen to the front sitting room. The intimate space is wrapped in Watts 1874’s Wolterton Verdure tapestry wallpaper—“this is the closest I will get to owning the real thing,” she laughs—and furnished with an ottoman upholstered in a mix of vivid ikats and a velvety sofa with a subtle sheen. “I love things that clash slightly, things that feel unexpected,” the designer says. The secret is to work within a particular tonal palette and then “bring in one pop of something that’s not too similar, not too perfect,” she explains. “I hate when things all match!”

A Robert Kime print ensconces the guest room, with millwork painted in Georgetown by Paint & Paper Library. The headboard is in a Fermoie stripe, the pillows are in Les Indiennes and Soane Britain fabrics, and the quilt was purchased on a trip to India.

DEAN HEARNE

“Being so small, it provides the perfect canvas to go a little wild,” says Bossom of the powder room, which she wallpapered in Iksel’s Kubilai’s Tent panels (available through Schumacher). The sink, found at a souk in Marrakech, had been in storage for more than a decade awaiting the right setting. Mirror and sconce, Pooky; art, Hugo Guinness.

DEAN HEARNE

THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN VOLUME 15 OF FREDERIC MAGAZINE. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE!