TEXTILE DESIGNER NEISHA CROSLAND ... - The Chic Shopper

the distressed glass doors in neisha crosland’s
master bedroom were inspired by those in a
modernist palazzo in Venice. the door handles are
from guineVere antiques. the armchairs, bought
from dna design through core one antiques, are
coVered in crosland’s ‘diamonds’ fabric. the cushion
is coVered in her ‘sea thistle’ in silk jacquard. the
curtains are in indian silk. details, last pages.
150 Vogue LiVing Jan/Feb 11
LABOUR
of
LOVE
TexTile designer neisha Crosland Crams inspiraTion from every
Corner of The world inTo her deliriously enTiCing london home.
photographer: joakim blockström writer: fiona mccarthy

stephan hamel’s workroom,
with one of his many floral
moldaVian rugs and a pair of
campana brothers ‘faVela’
chairs. doors lead to the sunny
winter garden and a balcony
looking far out to sea. OPPOSITE
PAGE: the guest room with
prototype ‘snake’ cupboards by
massimo morozzi for edra,
topped with some of the many
an ian harper mural surrounds an oVal window in the liVing
room, OPPOSITE. the mercurised Vessels on a red marble-topped
table lend another layer of interest. ThIS PAGE: the ceiling
light in the ensuite is from hector finch. the rose aurora
marble basin, mirrored cupboard and nickel basin stand were
designed by charlotte crosland interiors and made by nick
hilliard at redhouse. the bagues wall lights are from hilary
batstone and the linen belonged to crosland’s grandmother.
Vogue LiVing Jan/Feb 11 153

crosland hand-embroidered the bedhead in the master bedroom with
help from leonie brown. at the base of the bed, the long george smith
stool is coVered in crosland’s ‘tudor rose flock’ fabric. the bedside
tables are from guineVere antiques. bElOw rIGhT: the walls of one
of seVeral stairwells in the home feature framed egyptian raffia
embroidery. the bamboo trellis pattern, originally a crosland scarf
design hand-embroidered in gold thread (deemed too expensiVe to put
into production), was painted onto the walls by designer rosie mennem.
the ceiling light is from hector finch and the carpet from sinclair till.
the location of British textile designer Neisha Crosland’s home is,
quite frankly, unexpected. Tucked down an anonymous side road, off an
unspectacular high street in the London area of Battersea, the last thing
one dreams of discovering is this most intoxicating, beguiling of oases,
with its lush secret garden and enticing labyrinth of connecting rooms.
“I’ve always loved the magic of stepping through those dark passages
behind the big wooden doors, with their huge bolts, in cities like Seville or
Marrakech, and suddenly emerging into the most glorious oasis. Creating
that excitement here was key,” Crosland says of the home she transformed
for herself, her French husband Stephane and sons Oscar and Samuel.
Crosland discovered the site two decades ago. A couple of cottages
had once stood there but were bombed during the war, and now
it consisted of only a redundant builder’s yard, dilapidated 1940s twostorey
office building and garage block. It has taken many years, with
the help of architect Alex Greenway of Greenway and Lee, to make the
transformation, which involved the purchase of a neighbouring cottage
and, more recently, the creation of an expansive L-shaped two-storey
family home, complete with underground cellar and home cinema.
All rooms of the house open out through classic metal-framed doors
onto the garden, where the family spends much time in the summer.
Despite its urban location, the home is quiet and, inside, there is an inviting
flow from one room to the next, as if designed to take both the family and
visitors on a never-ending journey. “There was a real domino effect when
it came to decorating this house – I would never simply isolate a room
with a colour without considering its effect on the other rooms around it.”
Vogue LiVing Jan/Feb 11 155

a christopher howe ‘salon’ chair and screen in one corner of the dining room. the concrete
and canVas light is by hannah woodhouse. on the wall is farrow & ball’s ‘london clay’.
OPPOSITE: crosland keeps family and friends close with a myriad of framed pictures
coVering the walls on a landing. on the floor, rosie mennem has painted a design
inspired by a turkish antique cushion crosland found in a shop on wandsworth road.
156 Vogue LiVing JuLy/aug Jan/Feb 11
10

Much of this flow is underpinned by what Crosland calls getting the ‘bones’ right – the proportions, the floors
and the walls. With few original features to accommodate, she had the freedom to create spaces afresh,
concentrating particularly on generous-width skirting boards, oak flooring that felt appropriately aged, and
extra thick walls, particularly those housing French doors out onto the garden, to give rooms added depth.
Crosland has obsessed over the details: finials sourced from America at the end of staircases, exquisite
door handles, heavy-weighted fabric door curtains with luxurious tiebacks, metal feet on radiators, bronzeplated
light switches, and beading work on cupboard doors. “It has been a time of total obsession, but then,
I suppose I am like that with everything,” she confesses with a laugh.
Throughout the house, far-flung places provide inspiration: from the grandeur of the Sintra palaces in
Portugal and riads of Morocco (referenced in the living room’s fireplace) to Crosland’s love of rustic French
(the wicker bath surround in the spare room); from the hand-embroidery of antique Indian saris (used
as bathroom curtains) to suggestion of ’40s ocean liner and railway travel in the portholes up stairwells.
The eclectic style of 20th-century French decorator Madeleine Castaing is paid a tribute in the balustrades
of the outside balconies – a direct replica of the spiral staircase in Castaing’s Rue Jacob shop in Paris.
158 Vogue LiVing Jan/Feb 11
OPPOSITE, lEfT: The eleganT dining room
boasTs oak-leaf chandeliers and a series
of 12 Poem drawings by Teddy millingTon-
drake, all from charles saunders
anTiques. The Table was cusTom-made
by cimiTree. lEfT: The enTrance hall’s
cool flagsTone floors, hand-painTed
mural walls and whiTe cane furniTure
bring To mind an old colonial mansion
in india. says crosland: ”as iT was
originally an ouTdoor space and,
wiTh ivy now growing inside, iT felT
appropriaTe To play wiTh creaTing
a garden scene.” AbOvE: crosland
drew on her Travels Through france
and morocco for The design of
The living room’s fireplace and
bookshelves. The coffee Table is by
John makepeace. To The lefT, The unusual
iTalian 1940s lamp bases, from charles
saunders, have ‘swan lake’ shades found
aT Jenny lyn. aT The fronT is a small chair
covered in crosland’s ‘fez’ fabric. all
The cushions are by crosland. on The
walls are framed pieces of crosland’s
limiTed-ediTion hand-embroidered ‘rockeT’
fabric. AbOvE rIGhT: neisha crosland.
rIGhT: for son samuel’s bedroom, he
and crosland designed The rug paTTern
TogeTher. The carved panel on Top of
The cupboard inspired crosland’s ‘sea
ThisTle’ design. gianT glass chrisTmas
decoraTions hang from The ceiling.
Vogue LiVing noV/Dec 10 159

160 Vogue LiVing Jan/Feb 11
lEfT: The walls are in farrow & ball’s ‘gervase yellow’. The
lighTs are by michael anasTassiades. on The walls are framed
african TexTiles alongside moody Treescape painTings by
russell gilder. bElOw lEfT: painTed lavasTone wall Tiles from
made a mano lend a moorish feel To an oTherwise modern
kiTchen. sTephane’s sTudy, OPPOSITE, includes arTworks by
sophie smallhorn and JonaThan delafield cook. a swedish
daybed wiTh cushion from roberT kime siTs on an oak floor
painTed wiTh a fainT chequerboard paTTern by roberT
young. The curTains are in a george spencer fabric and The
chandelier is from i & Jl brown inTeriors. deTails, lasT pages.
Further inspiration comes from British country homes and modernist
Venetian villas, Russian constructivists and artist Georgia O’Keefe,
Japanese kimonos and scraps of fabric from a grandmother’s dress – even
from Crosland’s mother, Felicity Dahl.
Much-loved pieces of antique textiles, collected over many years,
have been framed and hung throughout the house; intricate murals by
good friends Ian Harper and Rosie Mennem embellish walls with
a trompe l’oeil effect, and mirror is placed experimentally behind the
distressed mercury glass panels of the master bedroom’s wardrobe doors.
“I always want a home to feel cosy, but I think this comes as much from
the textures and colours you use as it does from displaying the things that
you love. It all works to lend the house depth and personality.”
Indeed, it’s this attention to detail and passion for craftsmanship that
has brought harmony to the layer upon layer of colour, texture and
pattern in Crosland’s home. Pattern only works, says Crosland, if it
brings a sense of calm. “Designing something with a repeat pattern is
a bit like composing music,” she explains. “A series of motifs are like
musical notes on a page, and their energy has to sweep you along
like waves rolling into and out of shore. It has to be calming, not
jarring – pattern works if it makes you feel peaceful.”
Crosland can take much credit for the zealous return to pattern in
interior design today. Her striking prints, whether the Aboriginalinspired
‘Watermark’ or the deep-sea otherworldliness of ‘Anemone’,
are as popular today as when she first designed them. Yet her style has
since evolved, she says, due largely to her project at home. “Doing
this house has made me reconsider how I use colour. It’s no longer
simply a question of what’s a nice colour, but instead, what colours do
I want to wrap myself up in at home. It has made me rethink my colour
palette,” she admits. Her next wallpaper collection will still feature the
slightly offbeat combination of colours that Crosland likes to play with
but this time, she says, it will be softer than before.
Although Crosland began a degree in graphic design at Camberwell
university in London, it was while en route to a lecture on William
Morris’s Kelmscott Press at the V&A that she found herself lost in the
textiles department and did “a complete U-turn in career direction”.
Antony Little, of Osborne & Little, later discovered her work during a
Royal College of Art degree show and commissioned her to create a
series of wallpapers, which included the best-selling ‘Romagna Star’
collection, before she launched on her own in 1994. Her collections now
also include fabric, tiles with De Ferranti, stationery, rugs for The Rug
Company and, from this year, a new range of ceramics and bed linen.
As for her home, it’s clear it will provide Crosland with endless
inspiration for years to come. “I wanted this house to do everything
we needed – we wanted to be in London but feel as if we could also
be in the countryside or abroad. Here we have the best of all worlds,”
she says. “We love it so much that once we’re all inside and the
doors are closed behind us, we find it very hard to leave.” VL
photographer: xxxxxxx stylist: xxxxxxx
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Vogue LiVing Jan/Feb 09