Just a few steps away from the bustle of Brick Lane in London’s East End – where the sweet and spicy scent of famous Bangladeshi curry houses fill the street – a gorgeous Georgian gem of the home of British interior designer Sophie Ashby her husband, fashion designer Charlie Casely-Hayford, is currently partnering with Their daughter, Gaia, born last May, and Casely-Hayford’s seven-year-old daughter Rainbow when she comes to stay for the weekends.
Having grown up on their one-bedroom flat in West London, the family rented this place in February 2020, just weeks before the world shut down. “We could have bought a house, but I knew it wasn’t going to be a condo I was happy to live in for the next five to 10 years,” Ashby says. Instead, they decided to “sit hard, plan and plan,” she explains, while testing the area for potential permanent motion.
The former brewery they now call home is set next to a lush courtyard garden of magnolia, fig and bay trees, adjacent to a 19th-century bistro and brewery, and is currently converted by art duo Gilbert and George into a gallery. “I couldn’t believe my eyes when we walked in,” Ashby recalls. The simplicity of the walls, ceilings, and floors, washed in cool neutrals by the current owner, coupled with the “naughty,” as Ashby describes it, of the house’s original bones lined with cleanliness and generosity, were “very sophisticated,” it flows. “I just thought, we have to make this work.”
A picture of Lakin Ogunbano hanging over the living room fireplace. Detailed sectional in yellow Pierre Fry velvet that wraps around a cocktail table by Dirk Van der Kooij. The sheep figurine was found on Etsy; Large floor lamp (in the back corner) by Bofred; Vintage kilim patchwork rug by Sister by Studio Ashby.
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Part of the home’s charm, including fireplaces surrounded by beautiful Delft tiles and recycled kitchen cabinets from old Iroko wood chemistry labs, owes much to the eclectic touches left by the late Jocasta Innes, author of the essential ’80s guide to professional DIY painting effects. Paint Magic Which saved the house from default in the late 1970s. “The combination of Jocasta and the refined taste of the property owner created the perfect backdrop,” Ashby says. “He just spoke to us.”
So, aside from “small tweaks” like repainting some of the cabinets and the floor here and there, Ashby was free to focus on the furniture, lighting, and art. In a high-low mix of reupholstered antique chairs and antique dressers, affordable high street buying and custom sofas, the designer injected
Bright colors like fiery orange and banana yellow along with sophisticated shades of fuchsia, sea green, and gold, all inspired by paintings and photography, mostly by emerging artists, the couple hung on nearly every wall.
Ashby and her husband Charlie Casely Hayford
With baby Gaya and Rainbow, daughter Casely Hayford.
This 1960s engraved copper and glass pendant necklace was purchased on Etsy. The antique clock above the door was a gift from Ashby’s father, and the Tiger Bank sculpture is from Liberty London.
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“This is how every room begins,” Ashby says of the longtime couple’s mutual love of art, both of whom studied art history during college, and Casely-Hayford trained at London’s prestigious White Cube Gallery. Works by the likes of London painter Tomoe Campbell, South African artist Lunga Ntila and Spanish photographer Salva Lopez draw a thread through every space. Even the large family bathroom, where framed graphics and gallery-style prints are installed, along with antique furniture and contemporary lighting, feels “more like a living room,” she said.