Inside Claire Durbridge-Sakoui's Eclectic Chiswick Home

two side by side images of an eclectic family with dark small kitchen and decorative plates and shelves filled with vintage ceramics — (Image credit: Claire Durbridge-Sakoui / Photography Paul Whitbread)

'The problem with this house is that there is no storage, so that means I just live among all my stuff,' says the homeware designer Claire Durbridge-Sakoui. Luckily for her, stuff is her stock in trade, and as the founder and director of the wallpaper and collectibles emporium, Flora Black, it just means that her home has inspiring things to look at on every single surface.

Visiting her house in Chiswick, west London, is a little like being inside her mind – there are intriguing things everywhere. At her desk in the studio that adjoins her living room on the ground floor are bolts of fabric samples, towers of vintage saucers, a pack of ceramic canine figurines grouped together. On a bright sunny day, the light filters in through the vines that shroud the window, casting an enticing green glow over the mostly black interiors, giving each trinket-filled shelf the luster of an old curiosity cabinet. 'There are a lot of collections of things,' Claire agrees. 'That comes from my former career as a stylist. I find it instinctive to create vignettes.'

a small dark black painted kitchen beneath sloped ceilings with open shelvings with vintage crockery and a plate wall — **Kitchen:** Initially white, Flora painted the cabinetry black to fit in with the rest of her singular vision. Cabinet fronts, IKEA. Ceramics, Claire’s own

Whereas her mother, a florist, brought her up in a home 'where there were beautiful things at every turn, like a table full of silver spoons', Claire’s own collecting passions tend towards ceramics. Two handled tureens, swans, vases. Mostly white, a monochromatic contrast against the various black wallpapers (designed by her) that cover most of the walls. 'I’ve always been drawn to black,' Claire says. 'But I’m not a goth! For me, it’s just a starting point that I use how most people use white. It’s a background shade for everything else to sing out against.'

a black and white wallpapered studio room with open shelving filled with vintage ceramics and a table with a pink toile tablecloth — **Studio:** Claire loves to work from home, a place that she says supports her creative process by being filled with her favorite things. Lucky wallpaper by Flora Black. Shelves, Ikea. The tablecloth features a French Villandry pattern. All ceramics, Flora Black

And sing everything does. In the four-story home she shares with her husband, two teenage children, and miniature schnauzer Peggy, Claire tends to group items together in type. 'It makes my heart soar to look at them,' she says. 'My kids will be on the sofa watching TV, and I’ll be next to them smiling at something I’ve placed on the fireplace, then I’ll get up to move it around. I love to get the balance between pieces just right.'

Because Claire sells many of these items through Flora Black, her home is like a living canvas, ever evolving. 'I have to edit constantly,' she says, 'as I’m always wanting to add a bit more, but at the same time, I don’t want the house to be overwhelming.' Her approach is to break things into sections, to look at each corner as an installation in its own right. 'I love focusing on each area to get it how I want it,' she says, moving two towers of plates apart about a centimeter as she does.

a floral wallpapered sitting room with dusty pink painted skirting and a black painted door with wall shelves filled with vintage collections and wall plates — **Living Room:** Tragedy struck recently when one of these wall-hanging shelf units fell down, causing a number of breakages. But there were more pieces to fill their place. Lucky wallpaper by Flora Black. Radiator cover and skirting in Soho Pink, Mylands. All art and collectibles, Claire’s own

It’s at home that she designs the prints that end up on her table linen and wallpapers, so she is able to see how they look in situ before her work makes it to the real world. 'The house nurtures my creativity,' she says. 'It’s what helps me keep my stylistic flow.' Unsurprisingly, this has become a party home – Claire’s friends are drawn to the creativity of it all. She will often have guests for dinner, or find people crowding into the kitchen – she recently hosted a surprise wedding for two friends in her back garden (one half of the couple was in on the act). 'All it needed was a little extra festoon lighting,' she says.

a dusty pink painted living room with bay window with black blinds, ochre velvet sofa and vintage collections — **Living Room:** The television is hidden by a screen, made from offcuts of wallpaper samples from Flora Black. Art and ceramics, Flora Black. Walls in Soho Pink, Mylands. Sofa, a family hand-me-down. Floral cushions, Preen Home. Trunk, suitcase and decorative swan, Claire’s own. Floral ottoman (just seen), Sunbury Antiques Market

Yet this house was never meant to be Claire’s home. It’s just off the slip road to the M4, and Claire was already dead against it because it was only a three-bed (with a single, small family bathroom). 'But I was talked into seeing it and just fell in love with its pretty features,' she says now. 'When you walk in, there is a black and white chequerboard floor laid on the diamond, a scrolled archway and such a generous hallway that it all started to feel a little cinematic.'

Her friend said to imagine that the small bathroom was bijou living in Paris, that the sounds of the nearby motorway were just the traffic noise you get in New York. 'And suddenly I was able to romanticize the house’s bad qualities and fall in love with it overall.'

a monochrome bedroom with butterfly bedroom, vintage art, flower bedspread and checkerboard cushions — **Bedroom:** Claire shares this space with both her husband and her dog Peggy. Dusk wallpaper, Flora Black. Bedding, Preen Home. Art by Brenda Sakoui. Bedside table, Sunbury Antiques Market. Carpet, Twist & Loop

Which is exactly the same response visitors have when they walk into what has now become a living treasure trove, a home where treasures are on display everywhere you look. 'People come in and say “wow”,' Claire marvels, as to her, it’s just her life. A life that is as full of creative spirit as her home.

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Pip Rich is an interiors journalist and editor with 20 years' experience, having written for all of the UK's biggest titles. Most recently, he was the Global Editor in Chief of our sister brand, Livingetc, where he now continues in a consulting role as Executive Editor. Before that, he was acting editor of Homes & Gardens, and has held staff positions at Sunday Times Style, ELLE Decoration, Red and Grazia. He has written three books – his most recent, A New Leaf, looked at the homes of architects who had decorated with house plants. Over his career, he has interviewed pretty much every interior designer working today, soaking up their knowledge and wisdom so as to become an expert himself.