Creating a comfortable and luxurious, holiday home in London isn’t as easy as it sounds. If you’ve booked a place for the weekend, staying in a stuffy room surrounded by Host Holly’s washing and unpaid bills is probably not what you had in mind.
Luckily for guests of Stay and Escape, they have interior stylist and dark chocolate digestive enthusiast, Veronica Stanwell, on their side.
Veronica fell head first into interior design after studying Theatre and Arts in Cambridge. As a naturally creative person, this girl loves bringing her design ideas to life and making a place look good. Stay and Escape’s modern Wandsworth apartment (which she spruced up earlier this year), with a perfected colour scheme, adorable scatter cushions and quirky wall art, is a testament to her talent and eye for detail.
New builds, like the Wandsworth apartment, can get a lot of stick for lacking character. However, they do offer a great blank canvas. Playing with colour and soft furnishings can be a great way to buffer the sharp edges of a modern space: “I just love mustard at the moment. I incorporated lots of colours, but primarily mustard into the room,” she said.
The beauty of London is the sheer volume of thrift, charity and vintage shops to find great homeware items. “It’s about knowing where to go on a short timescale. Oh, and having really strong arms to carry your findings!”, advises Veronica.
Veronica often refers to the ‘Hygge’ trend which is currently more popular than Tom Jones’ hips at a disco. Speaking fondly, she says: “The Danes know exactly how to do it. It all comes down to unique, homely touches with character. I don’t want to make an IKEA display home. I want to make a place interesting… although knowing to stop way before it turns into ‘clutter’.”
Trends aside, Veronica believes whicker, bold prints and individual artworks are a fail safe. “They never go out of fashion, but at the moment there’s a real love for houseplants, natural materials and linear wall art. Trends are gradual and reflect popular culture, I hope we continue to move towards more natural tones and materials.”
Our Thoughts
S&E’s co-founder, Kelly Donovan, loved how Veronica transformed the holiday home:
“She created eclectic walls filled with prints and even handmade art, which was beyond what we expected. I spotted her lugging plants into the living room and sprawling all kinds of ‘London’ related books over the coffee table. She took the home from a newly built, empty shell, to a cosy home away from home.”.
Book here to stay in our Wandsworth Town holiday home, styled by Veronica Stanwell.
Beautifully designed apartment, well done
Thanks, Kim! If you are visiting London, or have any friends and family coming over, we hope you’ll recommend them to us. Best, Kelly @ Stay & Escape