House Style with Tatjana von Stein
After showing us around her 1970s-inspired apartment in Hampstead, north London, founder of Sella Concept Tatjana von Stein shares her house style.
You’re happiest at home when…
It is filled with life or in a moment of complete stillness.
I love evenings filled with energy as friends roll around the space, sitting at the dining table, laughing and dancing at the bar or lying by the fireplace. But I also love it at its quietest, when you can hear the neighbourhood murmurs while watching the canopy of trees, as tranquil as can be. Those are the moments when I light the fire, sit on the floor and work on the first stages of new designs in complete indulgence of peace.
If you could save one thing, what would it be?
My wife, Gayle.
Home is where we are together. But also because it takes three people to carry my favourite pieces – such as my grandmother’s antique secretaire – down the stairs! This is a tricky question as most of our pieces are things we have collected, made ourselves or have sentimental value.
What is your favourite living space around the world?
The Italian villa in Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name.
Here, there’s an effortless elegance and comfort in culture. It reminds me of my childhood in France – a European nostalgia which I just adore – where crickets are the sound of summer and the window shutters opening are the sound of mornings. Where there are creaking floorboards and piles of books on the floor.
What was the last thing that you brought for the house?
A small art deco wooden mirror from the 1970s, which now doubles up as our long awaited key hook.
Searching for our keys is, of course, a daily affair. It’s taken me months to find the right solution. It is in fact from a repurposed old shoe polish set.
Top three coffee table books?
Entryways of Milan, Soviet Bus Stops and Modern Maharajah.
Coffee books are a big part of my design process as sources of inspiration. Tiny details of large scale imagery prompt my imagination and become a design story of their own. One of my favourite spots to shop for coffee books is in the Serpentine gallery in Hyde Park.
If money was no object, what changes would you make?
I love this question! Might I add: if ‘planning’ was no object either…
Currently our roof terrace has fantastic views overlooking Hampstead Heath, but it is limited by weight restrictions. If the sky was the limit, it would become something resembling Kew’s Botanical Garden and we may as well throw in an outdoor heated pool. A very casual affair!
You’re having people over for dinner: what do you cook?
The kitchen is on fire! I love cooking and I also love the chaos and energy that passing many dishes brings to the table.
Apéro comes first: drinks, Spanish anchovy-filled olives and little handmade bits and bobs to prolong the evening. When it comes to dinner, I will likely cook a big fish from the local fishmonger and serve endless sides from all walks of life, depending on my current love affair. At this point in time, the chef of my current project in Mallorca is my biggest inspiration. I like European dishes in Spanish tapas format.
What does Sunday here look like?
Time slows down.
A swim in the Ladies Pond; the smell of coffee takes over the house while we prepare an ongoing and indulgent brunch. Friends on walks come by, I potter around the plants, Gayle potters around the house. We meet on the yellow sofa with papers spread across the floor. Sometimes work can slowly seep in, but it’s always a calm and gorgeous day.
What are the best things about the neighbourhood?
The Ladies Ponds, London’s energy, nature’s calm and an area steeped in culture.
Hampstead’s brave modernist architects, talented sculptors, actors and writers all paved the way to a village soaked in creative history with a backdrop of forests and birds. I feel transported in time and place when I get home from work trips or London’s centre. Time slows down here in Hampstead. In summer we are surrounded by the top of the trees and as autumn leaves fall, we are drawn to London’s evening lights from the top of our hill.
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