Copious artworks, antique finds and decorative flourishes turn interior designer Tom Cox’s first solo purchase from pied-à-terre into a home

Think ‘bachelor pad’ and the following might come to mind: large leather sofas, shiny surfaces and over- powering televisions. For interior designer Tom Cox, however, as a single man living alone, home is anything but bland.

Throughout his flat, the walls are curated with a cool collection of covetable pieces: antique oil paintings, old Dutch masters, modern abstracts and neon signs. "Art has always been a passion," he says.

"I started buying vintage signs and wooden fishing trophies, and that evolved into sourcing art for my family’s interior-design business. Collecting has become an obsession." 

Even the television, discreetly placed above an elegant marble-topped chest of drawers, is a Samsung Frame art TV, rather than a straightforward plasma.

Cox, who previously worked in sales and acquisitions in the City, joined his parents’ interiors company 10 years ago, taking over the business side as well as working on design projects, and rebranded it as Hám Interiors.

He also has his own property-development company, Tom House. When he found his flat – on the first floor of an Edwardian building on the corner of two leafy roads in Barnes, south-west London – he was on the brink of upping sticks to Frome in Somerset, following his divorce.

"I was negotiating on a house and suddenly felt the timing was wrong," says Cox. "The agent selling my old home in Barnes showed me details for this and it appealed: a great location, a renovation project and a long-term city bolthole, if I decide to take the country leap in the future." 

With the feel of a small country house, rather than a conventional London pied-à-terre, and park views all around, this is where he spends his working week, before escaping to Somerset to stay at a friend’s cottage at weekends with his dogs Boo and Indie.

The flat was in a state of disrepair, but had strong architectural features, including large picture windows, high ceilings and original fireplaces.

Cox set to work opening up the living spaces, knocking down the wall between the kitchen and sitting room and replacing it with a see-through partition made from a reclaimed shopfront window, found in a salvage yard, which created a view from the front to the back of the space.

He also added clever storage and good-quality decorative finishes. The work took three months and was, he says, "a personal labour of love: each detail was considered. It’s the first home I’ve renovated since I’ve been on my own and it felt liberating to push my own creative boundaries."

Cox chose a palette of natural materials – wood, marble, sisal and stone – and earthy paint colours, allowing bold patterned textiles, furniture and art to take centre stage.

A self-confessed foodie, he wanted the kitchen to be mainly free-standing, and to that end combined custom-designed units with a large 19th-century display cupboard and a former draper’s table, which he transformed into a working island with a custom-inlaid brass top.

The washing machine and storage for household products are tucked away behind bespoke cabinetry and a Lacanche range cooker has been squeezed into a chimney breast. Copper piping adds an industrial touch, while the heated rails also eliminate the need for space-consuming clothes airers.

Next door, the sitting room has been painted in warm country-house colours from Farrow & Ball, and furnished with a classic William Yeoward sofa, patterned cushions, and one-off antique and vintage finds.

A deep window seat adds further storage and the long refectory table is used for both dinner parties and work meetings. The master bed- room suite is wardrobe-free and restful, thanks to a luxurious bespoke dressing room that can double as a spare bed- room.

Even the bathroom has a decorated look, with dramatic pendant lights from Jamb and brass bathroom fittings by Waterworks, which complement the grandeur of the rest of the flat. The renovation complete, Cox is buzzing with new ideas for the business.

"We’ve just launched an online shop, selling a mix of authentic antiques, art and bespoke furniture," says Cox. As with his home, a space devoid of design clichés, his aim with the company is to challenge perceptions. "I’ve learnt not to conform. Taking risks and being inspired makes for infinitely more personal space".

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