For his own pied-à-terre in London, Veere Grenney created a space that perfectly distils his life as a designer – an expression of forty years of his greatest influences and most loved design motifs. The apartment carries strong echoes of Billy Baldwin, David Hicks and Nancy Lancaster, with notes of Egypt and touches of his favourite art. The key challenge was the awkward 650-square-foot layout within a 1930s state-of-the-art building offering spectacular views across London. Veere incorporated romantic chintz, deep brown lacquered walls, David Hicks–inspired linoleum floors and his own Schumacher textiles. Tightly edited English antiques sit alongside contemporary abstract paintings, while the kitchen delivers a hit of vivid, high-gloss yellow. Veere describes the flat as evoking a suite at the Carlyle Hotel – cosmopolitan and comfortable, a condensed experience of grandeur in miniature.