OMEN HOUSE
There are rooms that function, and rooms that declare. The Saloon at Omen House, in this Victorian terrace in Kew belongs unambiguously to the latter. One part of a four-room commission comprising entrance hall, saloon, study, and primary suite, each space carries the same rigour, the same eye, and the same attention to objects, surfaces, and atmosphere.
The Saloon's ceiling wallpapered in an Art Nouveau–inspired pattern, a Justine Varga painting pulsing in amber and gold above the black marble fireplace, upholstery sourced across continents and two fabric houses — every decision reflects a design acumen that cannot be acquired through a catalogue. The same conviction carries through the study's Pierre Guariche lamp and Hugh McCarthy custom desk, the entry hall's Marijke De Cock wall sculpture, and the stillness of a primary suite anchored by a commissioned Zarah Cassim painting.
The brief asked for something elegant, chic, and entirely liveable. What emerged is rarer: a home in which every object has a reason, and every room the sense that it could only have been arrived at this way, by this studio, with this depth of knowledge behind it.
“We engaged Simone for her ability to put pattern, texture and colour together in a way that feels genuinely novel, but never jarring. She has an extraordinary ability to hold a vision and trust it, even when you're not quite ready to trust it yourself.
The saloon was the moment everything crystallised. I remember seeing the render for the first time and being completely overwhelmed, not because it was beautiful, though it was, but because it was exactly right. It was our room. I don't know how she knew, but she did.
What I didn't expect was how liveable it would all be. We have young children, and somehow Simone found a way to use colour and material to absorb the chaos of family life without sacrificing anything. You pack the day away, and the room returns entirely to itself.
She was also, throughout everything, remarkably patient. This project grew and changed over years, rooms were added, circumstances shifted, and she never once made us feel like that was anything other than the natural order of things. The result is a home that feels completely whole."
