Come together

Celine Da Silva’s London home is a showcase for her design skills with its vertical lines, natural materials, threads of black and pops of colour

- KAREN WILSON

THE PROPERTY

This is a four-bedroom 1920s terraced house in Crystal Palace, South London. Walking around Celine Da Silva’s London home, it’s clear she has an interior designer’s knack for fusing aesthetics and practicalities. Spacesaving vertical radiators bring a sense of elegance; deep kitchen drawers with uber-cool wood veneer cut-out handles make finding items easy, while oh-so stylish slat wall panelling doubles up as soundproofing. Celine and husband Zak have spent money where it matters – on the loft conversion, kitchen and bathrooms – but have been thrifty with ingenious ideas when they needed to be. Just check out their bench seating in the dining area and guest bedroom, or the walk-in wardrobes with curtains instead of costly doors. We chatted to Celine about how this tired and damp 1920s house has become a great space for entertaining, a showcase for her interior design work, and has given the couple an extra stream of income as a location house for hire.

Q Many of us were prompted to rethink our lives and move house following the pandemic. Were you one of those people?