Designer Pearl Lowe and musician Danny Goffey can't decide on the three words that best describe their home. Cosy, decadent and... calming? Abundant? However the pair put it, it's clear the flat - which they bought at the end of 2024 - is quintessentially them, embodying an eclectic romanticism honed over years of decorating their own properties (and for Lowe, the homes of others, too).
I'm obsessed with tassels, beads, feathers, mirrored detailing... The flat is filled with those kinds of dramatic textures
It was love at first viewing. 'The first thing that caught my eye was how open and bright it was. The woman who lived here before used the front room as a therapy space - and you can see why, it's so airy and calm,' says Lowe. 'It had these really high ceilings and all the original cornicing. A lot of the places we saw had those period details ripped out, which is so sad to me.'
But before the couple could call it their home, they undertook three months of redecorating, gutting the bathroom, replacing the kitchen, and adding their signature blend of colour and pattern throughout the apartment.
'It had engineered flooring, but I like the original things - so we had to rip that up,' says Lowe. 'We put in new radiators, old-school style ones. They needed to be very thin to fit the space. We actually have a guy on eBay who sprays them the same colour as the walls. Upstairs, it was very generic: grey carpets and white walls, which all changed.'
For anyone that's seen Lowe's work as an interior designer - maybe in her two books (a third, Faded Glamour In The City, arrives this autumn) or over on her Instagram, where she documents the couple's house in Somerset - it's clear that grey carpets and white walls are not her cup of tea. 'I'm into colour. I don't like the idea of a white box,' she says. 'Modern, white, stark, everything hidden away in cupboards... that would be like torture to me.'
'My design style is very similar to my personal style in that respect. I love florals on wallpaper, and I wear a lot of floral dresses. I think looking at somebody's wardrobe would tell you a lot about their interiors,' she adds. 'I like moody, gothic style. When I was a singer, I sang that kind of music; I love that sort of poetry; I read lots of books in that vein. All that goes straight into my interiors.'
At 880 sq ft, the Notting Hill flat is a far cry from the couple's vast countryside home - something the pair had to consider when designing the space.
'In the Somerset house, we used lots of rich fabrics and prints as the rooms are large - it helps to make them feel cosy,' explains Lowe. 'It's the opposite here; we wanted to make the rooms feel bigger. But I'm a maximalist at heart - I love knick knacks. My favourite thing has always been going to a flea market really early and finding treasures.'
To maintain a sense of maximalism while still making the most of the space in the open-plan living room, she began with the paint colour - Setting Plaster by Farrow & Ball - and built the rest of the room around that.
Another reference Lowe returns to again and again is the 1920s, an era defined by opulence and glamour. 'I'm obsessed with tassels, beads, feathers, mirrored detailing... The flat is filled with those kinds of dramatic textures,' she says. 'It's actually what draws me to Soho Home; I see influences from that era in pieces like the Manette bed, which has this amazing fan-shaped headboard.'
For Goffey, it's these details that make the space such a special one. It's the first thing you notice when you enter the flat. 'You're transported the moment you walk through the front door,' he says. 'You leave the hustle and bustle of London, and come into a home that feels sort of oldy worldy. It's completely unique.'
