Jennifer Goulding talks to Charles Lambert and Michele Thurnherr about how they have brought individuality to a Victorian flat in west London with their interior __design company Lambert & Thurnherr
Raised respectively in France and in Switzerland, the __design duo Charles Lambert and Michele Thurnherr have five languages between them and have worked all over the world for Mlinaric, Henry and Zervudachi, giving their natural urbanity a distinctly international flavour.
They have also retained elements of the design philosophy of their alma mater. 'The style of our interiors is dictated by the particular building and client. That's an approach we took with us,' says Michele. 'What is important is the content and quality of our schemes.' Beyond the fact that their projects tend to be understated and unfussy, there is no common theme. 'Our job is to find individual solutions for the client,' explains Charles.
Their global influences are reflected in the diversity of their sources. 'We buy a lot of items abroad,' Charles says. 'For me, one of the real joys of our job is discovering an amazing new supplier and knowing how it will enrich our work. And clients like the idea of having, for example, a special wallpaper from Japan.'
This approach is evidenced by the textiles they have used in this two-bedroom Victorian flat in west London. 'The owner enjoys travelling, especially in Africa and India, and she likes the strongly coloured, ethnic fabrics from these parts of the world,' says Charles. Hence, a glorious ikat by Le Manach, which has been used for the drawing room curtains and the blind in the dining room, has inspired much of the decoration of the flat.
Neutral carpets and pale walls balance this rich fabric and answered the client's desire for a light, bright space. Parisian flea-market finds, such as the dining room pendant light and an Eiffel Tower-inspired side table in the drawing room, provide character and a sense of history. 'The owner didn't want anything too modern or slick: she wanted to have quirky pieces with a story,' explains Charles.
Flea-market finds can easily overwhelm a scheme. But here they are seamlessly combined with soft furnishings in classic designs that, together with an ultra-realistic gas fire, offer the sense of tradition and comfort the owner also craved.
Michele describes the project as 'a facelift', as there were no structural changes and many of the architectural features, such as the panelling, were already present. However, it did include reimagining the bathroom, for which they took the owner's collection of Indian watercolours as a starting point. The delicate shades of these pictures gave rise to the pretty celadon wall colour and iridescent Moroccan tiles in the shower. A bespoke vanity unit with timber fronts provides visual warmth and ample storage, and gives the room a smart, tailored focal point. Glamour and opulence have been brought in with French custom-made shagreen-framed mirrors and bronze wall lights.
The brief was for a fresher feel in the bedroom, so the designers created a simpler, more restful scheme. 'Patmos' by Carolina Irving - a white and blue linen with a subtle geometric pattern - was chosen for the blinds. 'The decoration evolved from there,' explains Charles. Although less decoratively layered than the rest of the flat, it has a similar blend of the traditional and the ethnic.
One of this project's great successes is how Charles and Michele have brought harmony to the divergent elements of the scheme. They have also imbued it with the sophistication that is characteristic of all their interiors. But what really sets these two apart is the respect and fondness they have for their clients. They know they are creating a home, not a showcase. In the world of interior design that can be rare, but incredibly valuable.
The drawing-room curtains are in Le Manach's 'Galigai' cotton, which dictates the colour palette of the space.
The pendant light in the dining room is from a Parisian flea market.
The bathroom has a bespoke timber-fronted vanity unit with an upstand in tiles from Emery & Cie.
Blue and white fabrics give the main bedroom a fresh feel.
Need to know:
'I was always keen on visiting historic places,' says Charles. 'I started reading interior-design books when I was about 10 and, by my teens, I was going to auction houses to observe the sales. However, he elected to study economics, finance and history at the Ecole du Louvre and worked in finance before making his passion his profession and successfully applying for a job at Mlinaric, Henry and Zervudachi. 'Like Charles, I knew what I wanted to do from an early age,' says Michele. Unlike Charles however, Michele took a direct route by training in interior decoration in Zurich, then taking a course at the Inchbald School of design before joining MHZ at the same time as Charles. 'It gave us the opportunity to work on diverse projects from modern houses to historic places, such as the National Gallery and Waddesdon Manor,' says Michele. After working at MHZ for eight years, mainly under Hugh Henry, the pair set up Lambert & Thurnherr in 2011; they are based in London.
Added insight:
Tell us about Parisian flea markets.
The biggest and best is the Marché aux Puces de St-Ouen. Shopping there takes time; we needed several trips to find the right pieces for this flat. Our top tips are: remember to take cash and make sure you have a reliable shipper lined up.
Share a contact from your address book.
Brigitte Singh's Indian block-print fabrics, which are distributed by Aleta. In this at, we used them for cushions, bedcovers and the bathroom blind.
Do you have any budget-saving advice?
Antiques do not have to be expensive. The antique shops on Lillie Road, SW6, for instance, are a useful place to pick up great pieces at reasonable prices.
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