How to revamp on a tight budget with colours, fabrics and a few vintage pieces

The project brief was to renovate a mews house in Little Venice on a budget.

Once we'd allowed for a new bathroom, new flooring, and renewing the kitchen, very little was left for furniture and decoration.

How to put it to good use to furnish the house and give it character?

A well studied colour scheme is our first port of call when the budget is limited.

Our client has lived in the Far East for many years. During that time, he has collected a mix of objects and art, which we used as a starting point for our colour palette.

In the kitchen, the splashback is purple, to contrast with the primary colours of a beloved print.

The staircase and the corridor are a neutral putty-coloured shade to bring together the mix of art on the walls, which spans from Vietnamese propaganda posters from the 1950s and 1960s to Chinese calligraphy.

The sitting room walls are vanilla white to offset the warm wood of a pair of vintage Burmese chairs and of a Conran sideboard that has been with the client since the 1980s.

During his time in China, our client took calligraphy lessons and acquired some pieces of calligraphy from his teacher. The largest, almost 2 meters tall, hangs on the double-height wall that connects the dining area with the sitting room upstairs. We painted the wall in India Yellow by Farrow and Ball which lends a sunny vibe to the space even in the depth of winter.

The small guest bedroom's walls and wardrobes are a tea green colour to complement a Hmong skirt framed in Perspex which hangs above the bed and a vintage paisley shawl that has been fashioned into a blind.  Botanical patterned sheets from Marks and Spencer and Indian Kantha scarves dress the bed.

In the master bedroom, we complemented the client’s banana-yellow bed with very dark blue walls and chocolate brown wardrobes. The room is grown-up and very relaxing. It's accented by a colourful tanka, a Buddhist hanging scroll, from Tibet.

The dusty raspberry hue of the study/guest bedroom looks great when the cherry tree outside is in bloom and contrasts nicely with the client’s black and white car-racing photos.

The right colour scheme elevates the space, suggest an atmosphere, and enhance existing furniture and art pieces.