Before and After — This Designer Picked the Perfect Pink to Cozy up a North-East Facing Living Room

How do you solve a problem like a period property’s disjointedness? This was the issue facing the owner of this home in Wimbledon. The owner bought this property in the leafy south-west London suburb in late 2022, and enlisted the help of interior designer Filippo Calvagno, owner of Studio Calvagno, to transform it. “The focus is on preserving the original charm,” says Filippo, whose aim was to honor the property’s period features while modernizing the space into a functional and beautiful home.

The project took around 18 months, with a pause mid-process for the owner, Filippo's dentist turned client, to have a second child. This living room makeover was the first room in the house to be tackled as it needed relatively little in terms of a structural overhaul. “The home already had beautiful fireplaces and incredibly detailed ceilings, so we didn’t want to touch any of that,” recalls Filippo. “Instead, we aimed to highlight those features even more by changing the wall paint, adding new light fixtures, and dressing both mantels to draw the focus toward the centre of the room.”

Before

Before Filippo Calvagno worked his magic on the rest of the house, the living room was considerably darker and dated, and was chopped up by two contrasting colors between the front and back rooms. “A lot of the time, with a double reception room in a period property, it’s hard to make them feel connected while still distinguishing the purpose of each room,” explains Filippo.

After

The brief was to transform the front room into a more formal living space to also entertain in, while the back ‘snug’ would be a TV room for the children, at the same time preserving a sense of continuity and flow between the adjoining rooms. “We still wanted both spaces to feel connected and cohesive, so they could work as one open area if there's a larger gathering,” adds Filippo.

It was also important to create a relaxing environment to return to for Filippo’s busy client, who balances the demands of the renovation with being a mother of two young children and her job as a dentist. “The goal was to balance functionality with a design-focused, calming atmosphere,” explains Filippo.

Choosing the right living room paint ideas was the first step in achieving this goal. Filippo drew inspiration from his own Sicilian heritage, and his client’s Middle-Eastern background when deciding on this color.

“I’ve always been drawn to a warmer color palette,” says Filippo, crediting this also to the period of time he spent living in California. “From our initial walkthrough, we both knew we wanted a warm color palette with blush-toned accents.”

Deciding that pink and brown tones would work as the perfect foundation for the space, Filippo landed on Lick’s Pink 02, using the same paint for the walls, in the snug, and the built-in cabinets. The pink hues transformed the space into a cohesive oasis of calm, unrecognizable from its basic blue and white paint job past.

The paint color also maximizes the light filtering through the room. This is no easy feat in a north-east facing house like this, when the light is most concentrated in the morning and then peters out as the day goes on. “The color changes throughout the day, and when the sun hits it, it almost turns into a warm yellow tone, which looks beautiful with all the warm tones in the room,” says Filippo.

Filippo then used the living room furniture to simultaneously denote the different zones of the room while keeping a continuous flow through furniture placement. The neutral rugs were chosen as they blended in with the floorboards, but also helped to define each space. Meanwhile, the curved sofa by Six the Residence – arguably the jewel in the room’s crown – helps achieve the natural flow between the areas. “The curved sofa is perfect for the space,” Filippo adds, “as it faces the snug, which is ideal for conversation.”

Beyond the centerpiece sofa, curves and soft edges feature heavily through the room. This was influenced by the paint color — its understated softness bled through to other design features.

When sourcing character-filled decorations with his client in flea markets, Filippo says the pair found themselves unintentionally gravitating towards curves. “Many of the pieces subtly embody the female form, which wasn’t a conscious choice but something that just felt right,” says Filippo. “These pieces resonated with my client and perfectly complemented the home.”

Through these simple additions, this renovation proves that sometimes, paring things back can be the most effective way to breathe a new lease of life into a period home. The result of an understated color palette and soft curves is a quietly luxurious space that’s steeped in tranquillity.