Fire and Ice

Interior designer Veere Grenney and his partner David Oliver, creative director of Paint & Paper Library, opened the doors of their Regency townhouse in London once again, this time to the folks at Veranda for some holiday cheer. To the carefully edited chic interiors Grenney crafted in his imitable style – which he refers to as contemporary Classicism – and the bold strokes of pattern and color contributed by his partner, the couple fashioned holiday decor that is simply natural and quietly elegant. When you have rooms as ravishing as these, why disguise them with holiday kitsch?!

A simple arrangement of pine boughs and flowering quince dress the mantel in the sumptuous moss green silk lined living room. Here we are witness to Grenney’s expert eye at mixing traditional and modern elements to produce a timeless chic: custom upholstered armchairs covered in a Nicky Haslam fabric and an 18th-century English chair upholstered in a Colefax & Fowler silvery chintz (the company for which Grenney was once director) float upon a crisp sculpted geometric white rug, echoing the all-white cubic art work by Alan Reynolds – the whole crowned by a modernist chrome light fixture by Sciolari.

On the opposite side of the living room Grenney placed a clean-lined custom all-white tufted sectional in the corner to maximize seating, providing a contemporary graphic punch against the luxurious inky moss green velvet walls. An eclectic mix of art and furnishings provides interesting punctuations  – a black lacquer Egyptian revival tiered table on the right contrasts the animated white tiered vintage table by Gabrielle Crespi (covered with boldly wrapped presents) on the left, and an elegantly dressed slipper chair meets a modernist white metal table by Gerald Bland.

The Maison Jansen desk in the library was commissioned by Billy Baldwin for La Fiorentina on Cap Ferrat, and the gold 18th-century chairs came from an Austrian ballroom.

A bold-pattern Tissus d’Héléne damask lines the walls of the dining room which features a custom dining table designed by Grenney surrounded by 19th-century English chairs. More boughs of pine mixed with flowering quince dress the mantel, and hyacinths and hellebores dress the table. To this traditional mix art by Alan Davie over the fireplace and a vintage pendant light by FontanaArte injects a modern note.

The walls of the intimate sitting room are dressed in the same fabric as the dining room, a clever solution to creating flow and the illusion of more space within smallish rooms. A vintage Michael Boyer chrome and leather stool faces a tailored custom sofa and bookcases designed after those Billy Baldwin designed for Cole Porter. The art above the sofa is by Roger Hilton.

For their master bedroom Grenney exploded their use of white, which in the other rooms is reserved as an accent. Like artists creating a painting, Grenney thoughtfully distributes his palette to create both harmony and vibrant tension. The fabric on the lounge chair made famous by Billy Baldwin is from Tissus d’Héléne.

The glamorous black and chrome vintage dresser in the master bedroom is by Maison Jansen. The art is by Alexander Calder.

The handsome dressing room also functions as a guest room, with a cozy bedsit framed by alpaca curtains. The seat of the Regency chair is covered in a Veere Grenney fabric.

You can read the full story in the December, 2014, issue of Veranda. But it here. Photography by David Oliver.