Room Tour: A Creative Collaboration Transforms a Living Space
How working with a designer gave the owner of this flat the confidence to make brave and beautiful choices
The transformation of this living space and kitchen is an inspiring story of collaboration. One home owner, one interior designer, working together to produce a beautiful, personal space on a modest budget. The owner of this flat had never employed a designer before, but wanted help to elevate the rooms and give the place a personal touch. He came across Jo Kaur Llogarajah of Studio JKL on Houzz and got in touch.
“He wanted someone to collaborate with and also to push him out of his comfort zone in terms of colours and things like that,” Jo says. “He didn’t have much money left post-purchase, but knew this place had the potential to be something, and just needed help to bring it to life.”
“He wanted someone to collaborate with and also to push him out of his comfort zone in terms of colours and things like that,” Jo says. “He didn’t have much money left post-purchase, but knew this place had the potential to be something, and just needed help to bring it to life.”
This is the floor plan of the apartment. Jo worked on all of the rooms on and off throughout 2024, with the kitchen the last space to be completed.
Planning to revamp a room – or more? It’s easy to find and hire interior designers through Houzz.
Planning to revamp a room – or more? It’s easy to find and hire interior designers through Houzz.
The living space before the renovation. The original floor was not replaced. “When you keep things like the floor, it works as a starting point for the design,” Jo says. “You are then looking to see what kind of colours go with this floor. You have something as a base to build from.”
A focal point of the living space is the new fireplace containing a biofuel fire. “At the point when the owner moved in, it was winter and the heating wasn’t working properly, so he liked the idea of having the fire,” Jo says.
She then discussed with him how to make it attractive during the warmer months when it wasn’t in use. “It was about making the whole wall a feature, regardless of whether the fire was on or not,” she says. “The materials we’ve used make it the focal point.”
Honed marble makes a luxurious feature of the chimney and forms the worktop for the cabinets below, too.
Bio ethanol fireplace, Firefly London. Acupanel fire-rated acoustic wood wall panel in Walnut, The Wood Veneer Hub.
She then discussed with him how to make it attractive during the warmer months when it wasn’t in use. “It was about making the whole wall a feature, regardless of whether the fire was on or not,” she says. “The materials we’ve used make it the focal point.”
Honed marble makes a luxurious feature of the chimney and forms the worktop for the cabinets below, too.
Bio ethanol fireplace, Firefly London. Acupanel fire-rated acoustic wood wall panel in Walnut, The Wood Veneer Hub.
This large storage unit belonged to the previous owners and the current owner bought it from them. “Had it not been there, we might have laid the room out differently, with the TV and fireplace on this wall instead of on the same wall as the entrance,” Jo says, “but the unit was expensive, so he wasn’t ready to get rid of it.”
Behind the unit is a mirrored wall. The owner moved the unit from the opposite side to here in order to hide the mirror to some degree.
Behind the unit is a mirrored wall. The owner moved the unit from the opposite side to here in order to hide the mirror to some degree.
To improve the look of the unit, Jo added lighting into the shelving and changed the handles. A few decorative pieces are arranged on the shelves. “A bit of reflection is quite nice,” Jo says, “but I didn’t want to make it look too busy. Whatever’s in there gets reflected and looks like double.”
Jo had devised a neutral palette for the space, with hints of colour that tie in with the splashes of black and pale blue in the rug, but the owner had some coloured prints that he loved (one hangs to the left of this photo, by the window), so she incorporated some of the tones from these in the cushions.
“His mum had bought him the throw and it all kind of tied together,” Jo says. “It looks nice with that little touch while everything else is quite neutral. It’s always good to add colour on accessories, so if you get bored of it, they’re not the most expensive things to swap.”
The cushions were sourced from various suppliers on Etsy.
Walls painted in School House White, Farrow & Ball. Rug, Andrew Martin. Sofa and armchair, King Living. Ottoman, made bespoke by SM London; covered in M643/03 Odyssey Brush fabric, Mark Alexander. Fog floor lamp, Morosini at Darklight Design. Replacement handles on unit, Howdens.
Jo had devised a neutral palette for the space, with hints of colour that tie in with the splashes of black and pale blue in the rug, but the owner had some coloured prints that he loved (one hangs to the left of this photo, by the window), so she incorporated some of the tones from these in the cushions.
“His mum had bought him the throw and it all kind of tied together,” Jo says. “It looks nice with that little touch while everything else is quite neutral. It’s always good to add colour on accessories, so if you get bored of it, they’re not the most expensive things to swap.”
The cushions were sourced from various suppliers on Etsy.
Walls painted in School House White, Farrow & Ball. Rug, Andrew Martin. Sofa and armchair, King Living. Ottoman, made bespoke by SM London; covered in M643/03 Odyssey Brush fabric, Mark Alexander. Fog floor lamp, Morosini at Darklight Design. Replacement handles on unit, Howdens.
The owner had a few pieces of furniture he wanted to keep, including these dining chairs and the glass side table seen in the previous photo.
Dining table, King Living. Bar stools, Etsy.
Dining table, King Living. Bar stools, Etsy.
This ‘before’ photo shows the view looking through to the kitchen from the living space.
“The owner had a lot of art, including photographs he’d taken,” Jo says. “We went through them all and worked out where to hang them.”
The original kitchen had white worktops and units and a black floor and splashback. “When the owner first bought the flat, he quite liked the kitchen, but the more he was in it, the more he found it very stark,” Jo says.
Jo fitted replacement doors in wood and taupe finishes to warm up the room, and added new handles. “The original handles were massive,” she says. “If we’d wanted to replace them with smaller knobs we would somehow have had to hide their screw holes, so in the end, we replaced the doors.”
Jo always looks to avoid waste where possible. “If something is in good condition, like this kitchen, I would prefer to see what we can do to improve it,” she says. As well as being sustainable, this decision was much less expensive than a new kitchen would have been and suited the client’s budget.
Pebble Grey and Brown Kansas Oak replacement door and drawer fronts, Egger. Knobs and handles, Howdens.
Jo always looks to avoid waste where possible. “If something is in good condition, like this kitchen, I would prefer to see what we can do to improve it,” she says. As well as being sustainable, this decision was much less expensive than a new kitchen would have been and suited the client’s budget.
Pebble Grey and Brown Kansas Oak replacement door and drawer fronts, Egger. Knobs and handles, Howdens.
The kitchen before.
The same view with the new cabinet doors. “We moved the washing machine from here into the utility space,” Jo says. “Now the owner has a lot of cupboards.” He has a wine fridge in one, and uses some for general storage, not just kitchen kit.
The hallway is painted in a soft pale grey and lined with more of the owner’s photography.
He’s delighted with Jo’s redesign, saying in his review on Houzz, “I hired Jo to help elevate the look of my new apartment in central London. The basics were already there, but I felt the property could really look exceptional with help. Jo came up with brilliant designs that were in keeping with the property and my tastes. My flat now looks and feels really classy, but it also remains my home. Jo sprinkled magic on everything.”
Walls painted in Pavilion Gray, Farrow & Ball.
Tell us…
What do you like about the redesign of this living and kitchen space? Share your thoughts in the Comments.
He’s delighted with Jo’s redesign, saying in his review on Houzz, “I hired Jo to help elevate the look of my new apartment in central London. The basics were already there, but I felt the property could really look exceptional with help. Jo came up with brilliant designs that were in keeping with the property and my tastes. My flat now looks and feels really classy, but it also remains my home. Jo sprinkled magic on everything.”
Walls painted in Pavilion Gray, Farrow & Ball.
Tell us…
What do you like about the redesign of this living and kitchen space? Share your thoughts in the Comments.
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Who lives here? A professional
Location Shad Thames, London
Property A three-bed flat on the sixth floor of a 19th century warehouse overlooking the City of London, converted into flats in the 1980s,
Room dimensions 10.1m x 5.7m (kitchen: 3.1m x 5.7m; living/dining space: 7m x 5.7m)
Interior designer Jo Kaur Llogarajah of Studio JKL
Photos by Anna Yanovski
A lot of Jo’s work on this project involved giving the owner confidence and helping him visualise the space. “I made suggestions and showed him visuals to really give him an idea of what it would look like when it was finished,” Jo says. “He was then comfortable to be a little bit braver about all the design decisions.”
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