Cloakroom Sophistication

We recently had the pleasure of redecorating this cloakroom in Wadhurst, East Sussex. The old walls and ceiling were full of character, keeping the history of the house with their natural lumps, bumps and subtle convex and concave curves — features where a strict geometric wallpaper would have looked entirely out of place. Our client wanted to bring warmth and depth to the room and chose this stunning Hemp Vinyl wallpaper from Christopher Farr Cloth in the colour ‘Rust’. The paper itself was a joy to hang and did its job exceptionally well in masking the uneven contours of the walls, delivering the warm, enveloping feeling our client envisaged. Complementing the paper, we retained and carefully finished the tongue-and-groove panelling, original doors and even the arched windows, which were reclaimed from Westminster Abbey, all of which add authentic character and provenance. These were painted with a soft brushed finish in Tikkurila Helmi 10, colour matched to Sanderson Dusky White, while the ceiling was tonally lightened by being painted in Sanderson Cameo White to lift and balance the space. The result is a stunning, sympathetic transformation from start to finish that respects the building’s history while introducing considered contemporary warmth, as you can see in the photographs.