A Place to Put Pen to Paper

Creating cosy bedrooms, dazzling events spaces and lively restaurants is a weekly occurrence in our design studio, but an often overlooked space is the ‘study’. Our guests visit us for work and for pleasure, so we need to be imaginative with nooks and corners to create spaces where you can get down to business. Whether writing a theatre script, penning a novel or simply writing a to do list, we like for our guests to have a beautiful space in which to do so.

In the Penthouse Suite at Charlotte Street Hotel, there is a beautiful nineteenth century French antique desk made with a variety of exotic woods – Kingwood and Satinwood, with applique gilt detailing. Antiques add a sense of character and tell a story. It is such a luxury to sit at a beautifully crafted piece of furniture; you can imagine all the letters written at that desk.

In the Townhouse at Haymarket Hotel, a cosy recess off the main drawing room houses a small sofa, a coffee table, a large writing desk with a leather topped tub chair and its very own fireplace. Set back from the rest of the room, it is a private space to put pen to paper.

In room 110 at The Soho Hotel, I used a Molly Mahon fabric on the wall, which contrasts against the colourful painted bookshelf beside the desk. The desk chair adds another pop of colour in a graphic combination of boiled wools.

In a new apartment at Ham Yard Hotel, my ‘Ozone’ fabric for Christopher Farr Cloth creates a colourful backdrop to this book-lined nook.

In the Oak Leaf Suite at Ham Yard Hotel, we used a fun ‘Reserve Seat Cushion’ trim on the desk chair to add a playful detail to the room.

At the more traditional Covent Garden Hotel, the detail on this antique writing desk is exquisite. Very often a room requires a hefty piece of furniture to pull it all together. I found this massive old marquetry roll-top desk, made in Japan for the European market in the nineteenth century. It is the pièce de résistance in the large panelled drawing room. We contrasted this desk with a very contemporary, streamlined John Stefanidis chair, an eighteenth-century Swedish clock and a mid-twentieth century telephone. It all surprisingly looks as if it has been there forever.

In a world where information is exchanged so readily, there is something nostalgic and romantic about a writing desk. I love the idea that these are spaces where our guests have creative thoughts. We hope that these unique spaces provide inspiration through joyful design. If you’re working in a fun and happy space, we hope that the result of your endeavours will be just that little bit brighter.

In this suite at Covent Garden Hotel, our guests can tuck themselves into the window seat with its tailored striped banquette bench and embroidered curtain pelmet. It is the perfect little alcove to feel inspired with leafy views over the charming cobbled streets of Seven Dials.