French interior architect and designer Astrid Houssin creates soft, comfortable, and welcoming spaces with a penchant for playful color. A trained architect, Houssin worked under Turner Pocock in London for six years before opening her own studio off Boulevard Saint Germain in Paris. She’s a Parisian who does traditional English really well, as illustrated in this Somerset boot room designed with a color-blocked wall, custom cabinetry and a cafe curtain sink. The intention here is as great as is given to most well-equipped kitchens, with plenty of ideas to co-opt for multiple spaces.
The boot room is part of a four bedroom country house in Bruton, Somerset of a North London family looking for an English cottage style complete with patterned wall coverings, rich color, and a collection of curated antiques. The previous owners added a rear extension to the original property which no houses the boot room and a small bathroom. Here, Houssin remodeled the full property from joinery and electrical to finishes and lighting.
Photography by Paul Whitbread for Astrid Houssin Interiors.
Above: The paint palette is made up of Farrow & Ball’s Off White on the upper half of the room extending to the ceiling paint, Farrow & Ball Red Earth on the lower half, and a border created with Little Greene Purple Brown. Houssin sourced the bamboo ladder at Kempton Market in Surrey not knowing where it would end up, but the little corner between countertop and door was fitting for a slender linen rack.
“I had done this color combination in a chalet project in Morzine but without the border,” Houssin explains. “The colors were chosen to create a feeling of continuity on the ground floor, and I’ve been obsessed with terracotta for years. It finds its way into almost every project.” The tiles are terracotta faux tiles, the Seville Hexagon from Marlborough Tiles. “I’ve used them before. They’re incredible and less porous than true terracotta.” Here, the coir matting from Tim Page Carpets is recessed and flush with the tiles.
Above: The quartz countertop is from Fugenstone, the French style faucet is the Britannia Antique Brass Mono Sink Mixer (for more see our post 10 Easy Pieces: Deck-Mounted French-Style Country Kitchen Faucets), and the sink is the Classic Belfast Ceramic Kitchen Sink from Rangemaster. The existing upper cabinets were restored and the cafe curtain was made by The Harper Collection.
Above: A door opens into a pocket-sized WC off the boot room where hexagonal floor tiles continue meeting Alice Palmer Co. Okra Wallpaper in Poppy Petrol on the walls. The waste bin in a matching pattern and nautical rope mirror are among the small accents paired with a Burlington corner sink and black seat loo.
Above: A custom bench with a shelf and hooks above were designed by Houssin and made by a local chipper. The bench is finished in Farrow & Ball’s Red Earth to match the wall. Note the door on the right is the same door leading to the WC where the color block pattern continues across the exterior and the interior door is painted in full Red Earth. The cushions are upholstered in Polo from Mark Alexander, an all-time favorite pattern of Houssin’s.
For more English and color-blocked interiors see our posts:
- The Cookery: 16 Favorite Traditional English Kitchens from the Remodelista Archives
- Before and After: A 1912 Arts & Crafts Home Originally Built for an English Explorer
- A Classic English Country House Receives a Mood-Lifting Injection of Color
- Shopper’s Diary: The Last Word in English Artisanal Design at Berdoulat