The inspiration is to be found in the whole and between the folds of fabric, in the almost impudent vegetable life, in scattered textures and stories. There is also filtered light, the raw floor and black ceilings, all protecting a sensitive world. This is a glimpse of a reality that is only really complete with the presence of Sera Hersham-Loftus at home, when music becomes omnipresent and the air is laden with incense and rose oil.

This is the personal project of this interior designer, who has transformed this three-bed room apartment in a Victorian house in Little Venice into an open space with just one bedroom. She demolished walls and doors and restored the different fireplaces. An enhanced comfort emerged out this new fluidity.

By deconstructing the apartment, she created “a private world” in her own image: “It’s intensely romantic, just like me, impossibly romantic. It is feminine and delicate. It’s where I, as the mother of three grown-up children, can live in peace and harmony with myself.”
Those who are already familiar with the work of Sera of London, as she is known, wouldn’t be surprised: there are some that say she is capable of expressing paradise, composing dreamlike spaces. She herself affirms that she only designs “homes with soul.” And in the case of this home the soul is that of the essence of a woman and a web of charms. “As soon as you step through the door, she tells us, there is a sense of old world charm in the air.” A bohemian spirit is established through the furniture and vintage pieces. Sera also creates lampshades out of transparent lacework, “intrinsically and modestly erotic. They evoke the corsets of Victorian ladies or natural, seductive shapes, like flowers that are reminiscent of the images of Robert Mapplethorpe.”

Then, there are her “exotic cushions and wallpaper” that evoke the bedroom of a 1930s’ artist. This sensual character is further heightened by the indoor tropical garden, in the way nature embraces the domestic routine.
The preference for small points of light, including beneath the palms, gives rise to a soft luminosity which casts lace-like shadows on the ceilings. This is all part of the careful work of somebody who recognises the fundamental importance of lighting in her projects.

A home with a soul is a treasure to be carefully guarded. Sera preserves her own home opening its door only to those “who have a similar and complementary energy” to her own. This being, of course, how moments of happiness are created, although the decorator adds the caveat: “But how can we be truly happy when we see the suffering of others?” And she is absolutely right, no matter how much, looking at this apartment, we would like the world to be inspiring for all.