'Silent Smoke' - English Barn Conversion Commission

My latest commission was designed for a contemporary barn conversion in Derby, England. The conversion has a large open plan kitchen and living area, with exposed brick and cashmere grey modern kitchen units.

There is a blank stretch of wall between the kitchen and the living room and I was asked to design a piece which would merge the two spaces together and give some life to the blank wall. We agreed a size prior to starting and that a square 100cm x 100cm would look good and big enough that it would create a big statement. We then looked at the interior decor and which aspects from this we would like to bring out in the piece, including colour and style. My client also had examples of work she liked and could envision in the space so this was very helpful for me to understand the style she wanted.

For this project I also worked with Claire from I am Nomad who provided lighting fittings, furniture and accessories for this client so it was important to work together and make sure our thoughts were aligned. 

The products provided included a midcentury shelving unit and sideboard, smoke grey glass pendants and a marble and brass side table. Below are some of the products from I Am Nomad's shop. 

Products from I am Nomads shop 

The Mood Board 

The moodboard shown includes pictures of the existing furnishings, colour palette (good ole' farrow and ball colours by the way) and examples of work my client likes. ​The brief was to create a light neutral background with some steel colours and accents of pinks and yellows. Included in the mood board is the colour palette Claire suggested and something I used as a reference when developing the piece.

I really wanted to get a good balance of steel colours contrasting with warm pinks, and as you'll notice a lot of the furnishings were a grey/charcoal colour as well as the kitchen units so it was important to tie in with this but also provide some warmth in the colour elsewhere which would compliment the mid century cabinets. 

I also noticed in the examples of art my client had shown me, there were big blocks of darker colour so this was something I incorporated into the piece.

Below is the finished piece, which creates a gorgeous statement. I've named this 'Silent Smoke' as it feels peaceful and has a smokey/grey vibe. I'm packaging and sending this off to England this week and I can't wait to see how it sits in the space it was made for.

The Finished Piece