Desig House: Real Home: A French Art Deco filled Pimlico Flat

Maximising light and space was essential to show the owner's post-war art and sleek French art deco furniture to their best advantage in this elegant Pimlico flat

It was a discussion with his friend, designer Nathalie Hambro, that drew the French owner of this flat conversion to explore Nathalie's neck of the woods in leafy Pimlico. 'I was living in Notting Hill and I realised, if I moved, how marvellous it would be to be able to walk to my office in Westminster.' The flat he found was on the first floor of a classic, mid-Victorian stucco terrace that had been converted into flats in the Sixties, although thankfully the impressive original windows had survived. The windows offered close-up views of giant plane trees at the front and a veritable jungle of gardens outside the bedroom at the back, much to the owner's delight. It took a good deal more imagination to see beyond the false ceilings - lowered to create storage above - old, wrinkly carpet and Eighties student fit-out.

The owner, who is a partner at a private equity fund, was brave enough to view the flat as a project and, armed with good advice from Nathalie and the day-to-day help of a contractor, he ran the refurbishment himself. The layout was kept much the same, with the bathroom and kitchen off the hall between the sitting room and bedroom, which is set a few steps below the main floor level.

Although just 50 square metres, the flat feels a good deal larger. Happily, the hall is wide enough to accommodate pictures casually placed against the wall and slim units topped with books, mirrors and sculpture along its length. The owner's fondness for natural light has been satisfied by inserting high-level windows between the kitchen and bathroom, and above each of the doors in the hall.

Saving space was a priority throughout. The single door into the sitting room was replaced with two doors that fold back and instead of conventional radiators, the owner had tall, narrow designs placed on either side of the front windows. Custom-built wardrobes were fitted in the bedroom, along with bookshelves installed around and under the windows, freeing up the walls for pictures. For the __design of the flooring throughout, the owner took measurements of old wood blocks from his French family home and commissioned blonde parquet from Walking on Wood.

As one's eye moves upwards, it is evident that he has precise taste and a great passion for the art deco period. 'Although I grew up with eighteenth-century style, I found myself drawn to the clean, masculine lines and high quality of art deco, especially French pieces,' he says. He collects and displays books on the architecture and art of the period and loves furniture by designers like André Sornay, who is considered one of the original French modernists, and whose pieces can now sell for millions of pounds.

Decorative items like vases and candlesticks are of a similar date, while so far his art collection, consisting of paintings, drawings and sculpture, is mainly post-war work, often bought at the Galerie Pierre-François Garcier or Drouot auction house in Paris. The sitting room rug is a re-edition of a Sixties da Silva Bruhns design, while those with an eye for detail will notice in the tiny, pied-à-terre-proportioned kitchen, floor-to-ceiling cabinets have French art deco handles and on the wall is a Gustav Bolin piece.

An 1820s French Empire chimneypiece in grey marble was installed in the sitting room, and instead of fussy curtains or blinds, the owner chose gloss-painted shutters. The various tones of grey Farrow & Ball paint on the walls and ceilings provide a sophisticated backdrop for living, sleeping, cooking and bathing.

Of course, once a passion for collecting takes hold, the problem of space catches up. 'As much as I love this place, I need more room - especially wall space,' admits the owner. So, while more bedrooms and a dining room are not the priority, it would seem a large house with open-plan spaces would be just the thing.