Interior designer Katie Malik on bringing the outdoors indoors

A house or an apartment? Old or new? These are some of the dilemmas every homeowner faces at some point when making a purchase decision. Some of my clients enjoy the challenge of redecorating and redesigning existing spaces, while others prefer to move into a brand new space which they need to decorate.

For some, having a blank canvas is indeed a perfect option. However, others need some help with their vision of turning those empty walls into a home.

In one of my very recent projects in central Cambridge, I was asked to turn a monochromatic, brand new one-bed into a colourful, nature-inspired apartment. My client was very specific about colours that were meant to be introduced in furniture and soft furnishings: green and aubergine, which I decided to break with tangerine orange.

The apartment came with a fitted kitchen and bathroom, but we still needed to consider the flow in the space very carefully. First of all, we needed to ensure there was a dining zone, a desk zone and of course a living space which also had to double as a guest area.

We created a lovely breakfast bar which connected perfectly with the kitchen. We used aubergine kitchen accessories and a white bar table was brought to life by four tangerine orange stools which arrived all the way from Italy. We also managed to fit a small desk and two tree-trunk bookcases.

In the living zone, we introduced a sofa bed, which is always a good idea for one-bedroom apartments, a funky armchair, upholstered in a lovely velvet which combined all the colours my client wanted in the apartment.

In the bedroom, as there were no fitted wardrobes, we needed to think about clothes storage and opted for a very classy smoked glass doors wardrobe, which helped us achieve the feeling of spaciousness. We also decided to make a statement with a headboard and had it made in a stunning ombr' velvet.

Last but not least, we wanted to create the right impression in the entrance hall. We picked a lovely raw oak bench, a beautiful oak console with drawers and some eye-catching coat hooks made from reclaimed wood. With a few accessories, they created a fantastic nature feel in the entrance hall.

katiemalik.co.uk