Alidad, the Mayfair-based decorator and one-time specialist in Islamic art and textiles at Sotheby’s, is well-known for an aesthetic that embraces exotic forms, warm colours and lavish finishes. After decorating a town house in London for some long-standing clients, Alidad was asked to turn his attention to their newly acquired estate on the Cornish coast.
As the main house was stripped to its bare bones, rewired, re-plumbed and redecorated, the family occupied a stone-built cottage and adjoining barn. Once the entire project was complete, the latter became guest accommodation.
‘It’s often assumed that I only do rooms that are layered with opulent fabrics and rich in colour, but much depends on the setting,’ explains Alidad.
Yet the man himself explains that nothing could be further form the truth, and that each room is treated according to its own merits and potential.
‘My first thought is always to listen to the story of the house and work from there,' he says.
'It’s about an instinctive reaction: if it’s obvious that the space should be comfortable and cottage-like, then I respect that. Happily, in this case, the clients felt the same way.’
The brief was to use colours inspired by the nearby coast. Chelsea Textile’s Edelweiss fabric was used on the walls. Working with a palette of muted blues, greys and creams, he combined different patterns in harmonious shades and added hints of yellow in the cushions. ‘It’s these subtle touches that give the room more energy,’ he explains.
To create a feeling of space, a full-height bespoke bookcase was positioned on the back wall, drawing the eyes upwards, while deep sofas and a generous, glass-topped footstool from www.pierrefrey.com result in a welcoming feel.
Credit: Nick Smith Photography
A Grade I-listed kitchen, sympathetically transformed with a touch of drama and a flight of fancy
The country-house kitchen has been reimagined at Aynhoe Park with a touch of theatre, finds Amelia Thorpe. Photography by Nick
Credit: Farrow and Ball
Farrow & Ball's top tips for how to create the right colour scheme for a Georgian home
Joa Studholme tells Emma J. Page how she used a distinctive palette of colours to give a fresh look to
Credit: Designer's room - Nicola Harding and Christopher Howe
A library in Bath transformed into a bright and beautiful room to think, play the piano and just enjoy the view
Nicola Harding and Christopher Howe joined forces to transform this first-floor library into a serenely elegant sitting room. Arabella Youens
Credit: Jake Fitzjones
How to transform a dark Victorian kitchen into a charming social space with bespoke joinery
Charlotte Crosland redesign project turned into an entire refurbishment when it came to this Victorian house in London, including this
Credit: nicholas yarsley/www.nicholasyar
Traditionally trendy: The stunning bathroom of a completely refurbished Grade II-listed Georgian rectory
The bathroom in a Georgian rectory owes its handsome good looks to traditional joinery, parquet floor and fittings. Rachel Leedham
-
Guy Ritchie: 'My mother married an impoverished aristocrat with a knackered country pile. I've been chasing that dream ever since'The film maker opens up about his love for the countryside, and his friendship with Sir David Beckham.
-
Mystery, muse and metaphor: There's more to fog than meets the eyeSmothering, transformative and beautiful, fog’s close-set shroud has inspired titans of literature, cinema and art — and forces the rest of us to look at the world a little closer.
-
Injecting colour, pattern and character into a once-plain sitting roomBooks, art and textiles transformed a once-characterless space into a warm, inviting sitting room.
-
Say no to boring walls: Six choices of paint and paper which will get people talkingAmelia Thorpe picks out some glorious alternatives to just painting everything white.
-
'Not cheap... but cheaper than a divorce lawyer': Why it pays to hire a consultant to choose the perfect paint colourDriven to distraction by paint charts? A colour consultant could be the answer for anyone befuddled by choosing the right hue, says Giles Kime.
-
Room with a cru — how an 'enduring legacy of lockdown' is the latest must have in interior designLong gone are the dusty cellars of the past. Now is the time to make the place you store your wine as pleasurable as drinking it.
-
The secret to transforming an awkwardly shaped roomCave Interiors turned the awkwardly shaped sitting room of an Edwardian house into a warm and welcoming space.
-
A gloomy kitchen entirely re-created as a cosy living spaceWhen Nicole Salvesen and Mary Graham were asked to redecorate a country house in Berkshire, the first task was to turn a dark space into a colourful sitting room.
-
A living room that's a lesson in how to restore lost character in a historic spaceNicola Harding used rich colours and textures to enhance the historic character of a Jacobean house in Berkshire.
-
The slipper chair: How one of America's great designers produced a classic of armless funThe slipper chair might have its roots in the 18th century, but it owes its compact, convivial appeal to Billy Baldwin, a giant of 20th-century American interior design.
