{"id":14114,"date":"2022-09-02T09:30:19","date_gmt":"2022-09-02T07:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homesandantiques.com\/?p=34351"},"modified":"2022-09-02T09:55:11","modified_gmt":"2022-09-02T07:55:11","slug":"an-interior-designers-victorian-apartment-showcasing-her-botanical-collections","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/rss_feed\/an-interior-designers-victorian-apartment-showcasing-her-botanical-collections\/","title":{"rendered":"An interior designer\u2019s Victorian apartment showcasing her botanical collections"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Molly Malsom\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 02 September 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Angela Bunt traces her first forays into collecting vintage<\/a> flower prints to a book owned by her grandmother. It was devoted to the study of roses and was by the renowned botanical illustrator Pierre-Joseph Redout\u00e9. \u2018I was entranced by it, even as a young child, and would look through it, mesmerised by the exquisite detail. I carried the book around the world with me as I moved, before finally deciding to frame some and hang them in the bedroom so I could look at them every day.\u2019 Those prints became the springboard for Angela\u2019s burgeoning collection and she now has at least 40 around the flat, with more lined up at the framers.<\/p>\n

Angela has lived in this London apartment for 28 years \u2013 first as a tenant, before eventually buying it 12 years later from her landlord. \u2018It was a shrine to Laura Ashley<\/a> when I took it on,\u2019 she laughs. \u2018But I fell in love with it. There are amazing, expansive views over Tooting Common and it\u2019s flooded with natural light.\u2019 After taking redundancy, Angela completed a course in interior design and set up her own consultancy. \u2018I use the flat as my show home. As soon as potential clients walk through the front door and see the staircase runner \u2013 made from brightly coloured, striped Peruvian rugs \u2013 they\u2019re hooked.\u2019<\/p>\n

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When it came to decorating, Angela has taken inspiration from her parents and grandparents, who were all antiques collectors<\/a>. Gallery walls are crammed with botanical prints<\/a>, vintage oils picked up at flea markets, new work by up-and-coming artists and wonderful flower paintings by Angela\u2019s grandmother, an amateur artist. \u2018She would have been thrilled to see that I was displaying her work,\u2019 says Angela. \u2018Although she would have found some of the choices amusing, as her style changed over the years \u2013 going from watercolours<\/a> of her garden before moving on to oils and a much more fluid, abstract style. Whenever I hang a new one, it\u2019s always a talking point.\u2019<\/p>\n

Angela arrived in London 40 years ago from her native New Zealand and, having married an Italian, moved to Italy for 10 years. Like so many before her, she was captivated by the quality of the light and the muted beauty of the buildings with their exterior ochres, terracottas<\/a> and deep reds and atmospheric interiors. \u2018I\u2019m still drawn to Italian pieces, such as the chandelier<\/a> in the kitchen \u2013 it\u2019s a reminder of my time spent there.\u2019<\/p>\n

Back in London, she started work as a florist \u2013 a natural choice given her upbringing. \u2018I was brought up in Christchurch and my grandfather was a florist who rather coerced my 16-year-old father into helping out. He ended up doing it for 54 years.\u2019 This background instilled in her a passion for flowers and she learnt of their power to transform a space. Her collections of prints and floral paintings are an extension of that and she uses nature as inspiration for her schemes. \u2018If it works outside, it\u2019s going to work inside,\u2019 she believes.<\/p>\n

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More exotic touches are dotted through the house, with Indian objects a recurrent theme. \u2018Whenever I\u2019m able, I visit Sunbury Antiques Market and head straight for a stall that sells quirky pieces from India, such as the wooden animals and glass paintings in the bathroom. Of course, it\u2019s all about the colour, but also the simplicity and childlike quality of the work.\u2019<\/p>\n