The Grand Tour

A Dilapidated Workshop Becomes a Pattern-Covered Home and Office

Interior designer Rachel Chudley and her husband Nico Kaufman spent years turning their East London home into a colorful oasis

The story of how Rachel Chudley and her husband Nico Kaufman found their current East London home is about as magical as the space itself. “We were perfectly happy,” says the interior designer about their former Whitechapel flat. “One day we were walking and saw a sign on some battered doors that said ‘workshop for sale.’” The couple wondered how there was even a building back among the rubble, but they crept in to take a look beyond the gates. The plot had been derelict for over 20 years, and what was originally a stable was in ruins, yet Rachel and Nico were intrigued. “We put in our closed bid in an envelope—it was a shot in the dark moment—and we got it,” Rachel says.

With a series of courtyards you move through, Rachel created little worlds of outside space and filled them with plants.

The renovating process wasn’t as quick and easy as the purchase. Rachel and Nico sold their former flat, moved a caravan into their new yard, and began planning. “Central East London has a lot of restrictions, so it took us about a year to get planning permission,” says Rachel. “It’s a wonderfully bonkers building with a romantic old stable in the back. My big inspiration for splitting up the space was lovely European continental places with little courtyards in the back.”

The studio building has a wavy roof, and both sides are flanked with floor-to-ceiling windows. “It looks like pins holding up a flag,” Rachel says. “You can see the workshops and the brutalist building nearby—it’s brilliant.”

With no doors or windows and no water or electricity, Rachel and Nico had to dig trenches to the road outside to begin making their space livable. “There were no stairs to the upper areas of the building, and so it was only after buying the plot that we were able to break through the wall from the outside and investigate upstairs,” Rachel says. “The process was certainly a labor of love with much blood, sweat, and tears, but, of course, completely worth it!” Seven years later—“we caught our breath for a couple of years”—the home and studio are more or less complete.

In the living room, the bespoke bookshelves and some walls are painted in a butterscotch yellow, and the sofa is covered in a custom fabric. The rugs on the walls are from Morocco.

Traces of the old state of the space still fill the home, with Rachel’s considered and artful touch, of course.

“The spare bedroom is where I had loads of fun,” Rachel says. “Since it’s just for guests, it can be really interesting.” She used striped wallpaper to highlight the shape of the ceiling and the angles in the room. “Donald Kaufman helped us mix up the amazing purple color, and the headboard echoes the shape of the fireplace downstairs.” (Donald, the American paint specialist, happens to be Nico’s father, so a very helpful connection to have.)

Moving through the spaces, it’s clear Rachel was passionate about every piece of furniture, fabric choice, and paint color. “I always try to work with the natural surroundings and make the most out of things,” she says. “I wanted it to feel a bit industrial, but also totally its own personality.” Coziness abounds with warm copper accents and rich, moody hues on the walls. “The furniture is from many different time periods, but all make the homeliness come out,” she adds.

Rachel first found the vintage toleware lights at a flea market in France and was inspired to use their shape for a custom headboard in the primary bedroom. The idea process went through the whole team: a multifaceted six-person group.

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“Because we couldn’t have a bright white kitchen, we leaned into copper, warmth, and moodiness,” Rachel says. “The bespoke cupboards are acid-stained copper, so it looks like it’s changing in the light. I don’t like upper-wall cabinets—I don’t like to be boxed in—so glossy paint was used to reflect the light from the skylight.”

The old stable starts just past the kitchen. “The glossy ceilings highlight the height and warm you up, so you don’t feel like you’re in a stable,” Rachel says. In the living room, each stroke of the limewash paint is noticed. “We made it with two colors, one really rich gingerbread man ginger and the outer coat a bit lighter—those two tones working beautifully together.” An oversized fireplace pulls the whole room together with an interesting shape.

“The canopy sofa might be my favorite thing we ever designed,” Rachel says. “I wanted to reflect the ceiling of the front building, so we inverted the shape of the roof as if the curves go the other way round.” Covering the whole sofa in this epic fabric took it to the next level.

The kitchenette in the studio was a real challenge, but one Rachel and her team insisted on. They worked with Balineum Tiles to make the backsplash and counters in a wavy design to mimic the shape of the room.

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Rachel’s studio—a short walk across the courtyard—is not huge, but it was maximized anywhere and everywhere it could be. With an office, a kitchenette, and a meeting area for stand-ups and scrums, the space is an ideal productivity zone for her team of six employees that carries the same wild patterns and colors as the home.

Joyfully maximalist is a simple way to characterize Rachel and Nico’s home, but it’s clear that a passion for creative interiors is essential to Rachel’s work and life.

“The carpet explodes into the upstairs of the studio,” Rachel says. “I designed it with a feather motif, and they fan out when they go up the stairs.”