For designer Rhonda Drakeford, moving into a stopgap rental flat was never going to come at the price of not leaving her mark and making the place feel like home. Since selling up in the Barbican and taking lease of a smaller place near London Fields, Drakeford has transformed her new home with her signature playful aesthetic, black-and-bold colour palette, graphic detailing and architectural use of plants, proving that investing in a rental flat is not money wasted.Here, the founder of Darkroom, a retail shop turned design studio, and head of interior practice Studio Rhonda, talks us through her work, life and how she went about thoughtfully adding value to her rental without breaking the bank.
Rhonda: “Home is my sanctuary. Because my working life is so hectic and involves a lot of socialising, home has to be quiet and comfortable. Im out a lot (under normal circumstances!) and it used to be, ‘all back to mine, but these days its much more ‘this is my place; I dont even have a TV.
“This is a rented space, which has been interesting because Ive always owned up until now. This is a bit of a stopgap, really, because I had ended a relationship and didnt really know where I wanted to live. For me, my home is part of my identity, and its still been really important to make it feel like mine.
“Luckily, Ive got a landlord who has let me do a bit of painting and stuff like that and even gave me some rent off for doing it. It was such a hole before with laminate flooring and a kitchen that was hanging off the wall… it was so bad!
“But I just knew I liked the space, and I can always see beyond what something looks like, because of the nature of what I do. And the street is so lovely as well. It has that thing of being really quiet, but you cross the road and youre in crazy Broadway Market and Victoria Park. So, it feels like a sanctuary anyway, and I’ve felt a greater sense of community here than anywhere else I’ve lived in London.
“I havent done a huge amount. Ultimately, its just white walls and black painted floorboards, and then these shapes that Ive painted in most of the rooms to help zone the space. Theyre all colours I got from Leylands bargain bins because I didnt want to spend loads of money.
“The flat is right on the street, so privacy is an issue, but when I moved in the front window had frosted vinyl covering it. I took it off and put up these scaffolding planks, painted them and then put plants in. Its a natural screen, and if youre outside you really cant see in. People come right up to the window and take pictures, which at first was weird but they really cant see me!
“Using plants in an architectural way like this is something Ive tried to bring into other projects, to see them not just as decoration but as performing a function too. And I think especially for rented accommodation, plants are the easiest thing you can do to make the space feel alive.
“This is a real down-size for me – about a third of the space I lived in before – and so Ive had to cherry-pick the belongings I have here, and the rest is either in storage or at friends houses; Ive got furniture and art all over the place. Im going to need to get a list written down otherwise Ill forget where it all is!
“Its quite nice to have an edit of what works in this space. A lot of it has come from my friends, or Ive swapped some furniture for some art, and other pieces have come from projects we did when we had the shop. I like that, as it feels like an honest transaction thats not about money.
“My sofa comes from me designing someones website and branding years ago. They worked with B&B Italia, so I got a sofa instead of being paid. It makes me feel I really did earn it. Its very analogue, I suppose, which is why I like it.
“Theres still loads of things about this flat that are still really grim, like the bathroom and the door handles, but its still worth investing in a rental flat. I can just ignore the bits that arent so great and focus on the bits I’ve done.
“I trained in graphic design but my graphics work was always quite textile-based, and I always had an interest in interiors. Im not trained in interiors, but graphics is about problem-solving and communicating, and I think you can take that to anything.
“Ive always been attracted to colour, bold patterns, and crafted things. Im a child of the 1970s, and when I was at art school we were only just using computers – I think there was only three between the whole year. When I went to work in the art team at Elle Decoration they were still using negatives and it was all very analogue too. So, I think I was brought up in that very analogue world, and its still a really big part of my aesthetic.
“I just really love craft and making stuff. I love the neatness of graphics and geometry, but I also really like when that gets a bit scuzzed up, or is handmade, or you can see the little idiosyncrasies of the making process. So, everything with Darkroom and a lot of my client-based work comes from a love of order, but also my rebellious side, of loving things that are a little bit wrong or a bit imperfect.
“I just find that things are too polished, clean or perfect I find it really intimidating as a space. Thats why texture and warmth help, and playing to different senses too: its about how things feel as much as they look.
“I co-ran Darkroom as a shop with my business partner Lulu Roper-Caldbeck for seven years and it was all-consuming. We had a shop on Lamb’s Conduit Street, a concession in Selfridges and we sold pieces by over 200 designers.
“We had to shut the store when the rent went up, and I think Lulu and I knew that was it for the shop. I wanted to keep it going in some capacity, so I just completely rewrote the business model to something I could do on my own and turned it more into a brand. Ive always been a designer first, but I ended up managing this company, rather than designing, and I wanted to get back to that.
“So Darkroom is now all products I design and sell. But I also took some time off Darkroom after closing the shop to work on three interior projects, which was so much fun. I realised how much I like both disciplines – interior and product design – so I started Studio Rhonda, to do interiors.
“Darkroom is self-indulgent in a way: its designing for me, and if people want to buy it, great. Whereas with clients, its very much a conversation and youre solving problems, which I love too. So, I like the balance now, and I like keeping them separate. It just means I get to work with a really mixed bag of people and brands.
“I was someone who had a lot of dinner parties and had people over all the time before, but this place is tiny, so I have a friend or two over now and again, but I dont have big parties. Its completely shifted how I am, this place. Its quite solitary here, but I love that because its been therapeutic, and its a manageable size for one person.
“I still dont know if I want to be in London or not. I think Ill always want something small here, but I am contemplating something by the sea. I love it here, but after getting walloped by the typical landlord thing of a rent hike on the shop it got me thinking about elsewhere. But Im also aware London feeds me as much as it drains me – its a love-hate thing.
“Wherever Ive lived Ive always decorated to suit the context, and its always been a response to whats needed in that space. I always have a bit of a core palette – black has been my neutral for quite a long time – but my last place was completely different to this… so well see whats next.”
Rhonda, how do you define modern living?
“Modern living is now trying to balance my inbuilt desire to create and own new things with a need for sustainability and responsible consumption. It’s a huge dichotomy. I do feel though, as a designer, it’s my job to help strike this balance.”
Is there a home for sale on our website that has caught your eye?
“The Saltings in East Hampshire for its bold asymmetry and original deco features. I’d love to get my hands on that interior!”
- 转载自:The Modern House
- 语言:English
- 阅读原文
|