The Secret to This 1910 London Home? Not Everything Is as Old as It Looks

Compared to the historic houses in and around London, interior designer Nina Watson‘s 1910s home is new. However, as anyone with an affinity for decades-old architecture knows, the few years just before the Art Deco boom is one of design’s most charismatic, interesting, and eclectic times, and Nina captured it perfectly. The fact that it boasts all of the original details, including the mosaic tile floors and architraves around the doors. “The historic elements aside, we also loved that the property was quite a blank canvas as well,” she notes. “It was all white and beige, and we could see that there was a lot that we could do to turn it into our property.”

Nina also enjoyed the added benefit of designing her home purely for herself and her family because, when she bought the property back in 2017, social media—Instagram, specifically—was still quite new to her. “The only people that were seeing our house would have been family and friends, so all of the decor that we’ve done was just for us,” was purely for us.” she says. “And I’ve been absolutely astonished at the positive feedback I’ve got from people all around the world because we really just did it to please ourselves.”

---

Watch her whole episode here

---

Where Old Meets New

One of Nina’s favorite elements in the home is something she added after moving in: the stained glass windows on and around the front door. “I designed the stained glass that goes into the front door because it wasn’t there when we moved in, and I knew that it would have originally had stained glass.” Plus, it pairs perfectly with the mosaic tile that, unlike the glass, predated her arrival. “The floor was a gift from the house, and it is from 1910,” Nina adds.

---

The “Drinking and Thinking” Room

Some call it a living room, but Nina’s is dubbed the “thinking and drinking” room because, for the most part, that’s how they use this colorful space. “We love being in here on a Friday evening, having some drinks and listening to music,” she starts. “My husband collects vinyl, so we have so much to choose from.” This room is also where Nina comes to get her creative juices flowing. It’s just small enough that she feels cocooned when she’s alone in here.

She adds, “This is definitely my most creative room in the house in order for me to think, and that is to do with the colors and the textures in this space and the vibe that I get when I look through the window, when I look through the stained glass and I can see the greenery outside. It’s definitely the space that calms me the most, I would say, in the house.”

---

A Kitchen That’s Always Been There

The kitchen may look original, but most of its eye-catching features are new additions Nina added to get that charming look of the early 20th century. “When you walk into the kitchen, this is the statement piece: these tiles and the view. Everything else in the kitchen is really to serve the tiles and the view,” she admits. Case in point: the pale pink wallpaper from Rebel Walls, the Benjamin Moore color on the ceiling, and the cabinet color, also Benjamin Moore.

---

A Bedroom Enveloped in a “Green Cloud”

As is the case when most people are decorating their bedroom, Nina started hers with the Maple & Co. Edwardian bed from 1910. Next came the biggest challenge: the green hues on wood moulding just above the wallpaper. “When I was in one of our other properties, I tried to find this green. I could see it in my mind: I was looking for a green cloud,” she explains. “When I eventually found it, it didn’t really look like anything like it did on the swatch. It just looked like a bit of pale nothing, but in the room, it’s amazing.”

Most importantly, she says the color, especially when the sun hits it in the morning, brings her immense joy, as it should. “The green, Benjamin Moore’s North Shore Green, makes the room feel like a haven. It makes it feel like a sanctuary, because this green is the green cloud that I was looking for.”

---

A Fireplace That Set the Tone

The fireplace, which Nina added after she bought the home, is the focal point of what she calls her first reception room. “It’s where we watch movies in the evening, and it’s got a very different vibe to the rest of the house.” The 1910s majolica tiles are responsible for that. “We absolutely fell in love with these green, pink, and yellow tiles—the crackle glaze, the really nuanced colors in the tiles,” Nina notes. “They’re really, really beautiful. That is what kickstarted the scheme in the room.”

Shop Nina’s Art Deco Look