Everything Now Design


Islington Apartment

2025





Tasked with a central London apartment that offered strong architectural bones but an austere interior, Everything Now Design set out to craft a refined retreat attuned to the needs of a pair of clients with demanding schedules.

To design a space for lively weekends with friends and calm respite during the week, the studio introduced timber, colour and ceramics to match the fantastic bones of the building—a 1930’s factory with exposed brick walls and generous windows.

We began with an exercise in reconfiguration, rectifying the awkward spaces created in the original residential conversion. The corridor was oversized, the impressive floor heights underused, and the living space too small for a property of this calibre. By rebalancing the layout, we were able to bring the apartment closer to its ideal proportions.






We wanted the entrance corridor to feel cocooning, to convey serenity or seduction depending on the occasion. Our team lined it with scalloped walnut panels, custom-designed and made in our London workshop. Beyond offering a sense of welcome, the panels provide visual alignment with the walnut doors throughout the property, as well as concealing utility cupboards and storage spaces.






From the entrance, the living room can be accessed via double doors leading to a raised platform. The space is awash with southern light and offers spectacular views across the city. By raising the floor, we ensured that these views can be enjoyed from a seated position. The dark green sofa wraps around the richly textured solid ash table; the wall opposite is lined with custom bookshelves that double as a media console.

The raised platform extends into an adjoining dining area and provides a stage for two anchor pieces we designed and built for the project: a dining table and a pendant light. The table is inspired by bridges, space frames and aerofoil wings; made of solid oak, it plays with natural materials and high-tech forms. The streamlined, milled aluminium fixture above creates a pool of light on the table with a gentle upward glow.





The kitchen is situated at the centre of the house in two parts: the island is visible as soon as you enter the apartment, conveying an immediate sense of welcome, while the working organs of the kitchen are tucked into a galley. Our team constructed the bespoke island system, from the elevated drawer unit to the skeleton frame above, which contains hand-milled lights and the extractor fan.





The primary bedroom is both spacious and enveloping, with walls in rich oxblood tones. We designed and built a platform bed, matching side tables, and a half-height wardrobe that spans the width of the room, all in natural oak and deliberately low-slung to enhance the sense of space. The wardrobe’s minimalist aesthetic was achieved by full-length oak planks, laid up and precisely sliced at every joint. All of the custom wooden elements were oiled to match the oak flooring.





The colour scheme of the primary en-suite references a Roman villa: slender, handmade terracotta tiles complement travertine washbasins and oak cupboards to create a grounding space before the start of a workday, and a sanctuary at the end of one. We designed and built the mirrored cabinet to maximise space and functionality, with bifold doors that allow the clients to open and use their respective sides simultaneously.

The guest bathroom, like the en-suite, has a void above the shower, where we set the showerhead one metre higher than usual, creating a spa-like rainfall underneath a timber light grid. Here, the colour palette is grounded in darker hues: handmade tiles in smoky blue and slate flooring, balanced with cabinetry in iroko and teak.





This project has taken a step-by-step, holistic approach to designing, building, and fitting a sustainable rich environment that responds to our clients’ needs. The balance between dramatic scale and intricate functionality offers our clients space to both work from home simultaneously—a custom cupboard reveals a second, flexible office niche—as well as the option to tuck their work projects away before transitioning to an evening of hosting guests.

Henry Chesney, co-director of Everything Now Design and fabrication lead, says,
“Spending the last year designing and making pieces for every  room in the apartment has been a great pleasure. Through continual conversations with our clients and an iterative process of sketching with Thomas, we really got to understand how to make the most of each space, creating contemporary, highly-functional pieces that hold their own against the tough industrial bones of the building.”

Designed, Managed and Delivered:

 Everything Now Design Furniture:

Everything Now Design

Ash Pales

Matthew Buchanan

Michel Ducaroy for Ligne Roset

Poul Henningsen for Louis Poulsen Photography:

Paul Kohlhaussen Fittings:

 Corston

Flooring by Havwoods

Tiles by Mandarin Stone

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Surface Magazine -Everything Now Design's Debut London Residential Project