10/12/2025
You might be forgiven for thinking this was one of our hospitality projects. It’s certainly channelling a members-club vibe. But it is, in fact, the cinema room of a Victorian terrace in leafy north west London.
Our clients are a super stylish young family who had found their forever home. A substantial three-storey corner-plot Victorian house, complete with a well-executed basement renovation housing a TV room, kitchenette, bathroom and two bedrooms. The renovation had been done well, but it wasn’t in the family’s style and needed an injection of heart and soul. We hate ripping things out for the sake of it, so we set about reviewing which bits of the six-year-old reno could stay and be enhanced or improved, and which bits needed to start again.
The family adore colour and texture — but in a desaturated, elegant, serene way. And they love vintage, which was absolute music to our ears. That became the design brief: tactile minimalism meets members-club warmth, with just enough patina and nostalgia to make the whole house feel lived-in rather than newly “done”.
This opening shot is filled with RFTH signature custom design — from the panelling and joinery to the bespoke corduroy curved banquette with its dentil-detailed plinth. The green-veined marble-topped round dining table (also a custom design) and the velvet tub chairs form a wonderful vignette for games, cocktails and Sunday morning papers. The banquette was designed with a rear shelf for two retro mid-century table lamps to create a cosy evening mood. The joinery surrounding the banquette is a remodel of the previous cabinetry — the carcasses were retained but the new doors were designed in a modern Art Deco style, curving the middle section and adding vintage timber panelling for that lived-in, always-been-there feel.
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