Making spaces come to life comes naturally to Miriam Frowein, the daughter of an interior designer who exposed her to an exciting array of materials, patterns and colors from an early age. After a stint as a commercial lawyer, Frowein followed her own inner voice and enrolled at a prominent design school, ultimately launching her eponymous firm. She has since founded the home décor company, Objekti.
“My work is very eclectic, and no project is the same,” she shares, noting her trademark is the effortless combination of contemporary artwork with collectible furniture. “My designs are always colorful, happy, timeless, sophisticated and unpredictable.”
Indeed, those words perfectly summarize the Victorian house in West London that she shares with her husband and two children. The six-level dwelling boasts a series of intimate rooms with high ceilings and original millwork, including ornate, arched door casements. Many of the rooms have fireplaces with bespoke mantels; there are seven in total.
Though the house was a bit bland and masculine when she first toured it, such historic details — and a gobsmacking view of the Early Gothic church across the street — sold her on its potential. Determined to make it her own, the designer had the walls painted in a neutral color scheme, resulting in a bright and airy, gallery-like backdrop for the couple’s extensive collection of art, sculpture and furnishings.
A dazzling black mobile by Derek Pobell, for example, introduces a decidedly modern touch in the ground-floor sitting room, perfectly juxtaposing vintage furnishings, such as a red loveseat and a pair of complementary chairs.
An engagement gift from her husband and one of many unique pieces placed throughout the house, a hand-painted drinks trolley from Jaipur, India adds character and interest. “Interior design is obviously important, but at the same time, it should always feel effortless and not too styled,” Frowein states.
The same spirit characterizes the living room, where among the artworks, a colorful, geometric painting coexists seamlessly with a more muted, almost ethereal composition on layered paper. It’s a stimulating backdrop for a pair of vintage, rounded-back sofas and linear, midcentury coffee tables with veiny Calacatta marble tops.
Functional art objects, such a gradient gold mirror and a totem-like light stack by Matt Gagnon, further enhance the layered assemblage.
The buoyant but sophisticated style also characterizes the dining room, where the white-marble-topped Saarinen oval dining table plays off the curvaceous, upholstered side chairs and an oblong mirror over the fireplace. A multicolored sculpture evocative of stacked stones continues the repetition of circular shapes. Such curves “help the large room to feel cozy and inviting,” she explains, pointing to the way they echo the existing molding.
Positioned atop a pedestal in one such arched niche, a smaller piece by the same artist likewise enlivens the primary bedroom, pairing effortlessly with an abstract painting next to it. Accented by a cashmere bedspread and an armchair in a complementary shade of pink, an upholstered headboard covered in a dynamic zigzag fabric likewise commands attention.
A destination for friends from abroad, the home’s attic apartment boasts a cheerful sitting room furnished with a vintage daybed and sofa covered in a teal fabric that coordinates perfectly with the fireplace, which is covered in a patterned wallcovering.
According to Frowein, the house has more than lived up to its potential, serving as a full-time residence and a home away from home for her children’s friends, “sometimes in an easy manner and sometimes with a huge dress-up party with flowers throughout the house,” she laughs.
That sense of splendor also informed the big bash Frowein hosted after the pandemic- related shutdowns finally came to an end. “The theme was glitter and glamour,” she describes. “We danced until the early-morning hours.”
Photography by Bénédicte Drummond.
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