How I Curate My Space: Andrea Gelardin’s Cool And Classic Family Home
In our series on interiors, we ask designers and tastemakers to open the doors of their most-loved spaces, sharing the stories, inspirations and favorite pieces within. Here, creative director and brand consultant ANDREA GELARDIN invites KATIE BERRINGTON into the sanctuary of her North London home, filled with meaningful artwork and family heirlooms
Andrea Gelardin and her partner, Marcus, knew from their first visit to this Edwardian house in a leafy North London conservation area that it would be their future family home. “We fell in love with it – and the main reason is because it feels like a country house in the middle of London,” she shares. “It has a really wide footprint, a front and back garden, and all the original detailing as well. It’s cool and classic. [As soon as I saw the house,] I could see the potential and imagine it growing with us.”
The couple moved into the property in the summer of 2021, just after their son, Santiago, was born. The renovation on the kitchen started straight away, but “everything else was a bit more slow and intentional,” she says. However, they knew that the kitchen would become the heart of their home. They installed three large doors to open out into the garden – a lush urban oasis with two palm trees, a pear tree, a peach tree, “tons and tons” of jasmine, roses and lavender – “and loads of parakeets!” – to create an indoor-outdoor living space.
“I really like to have things that my friends and family have made on display around the house
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Gelardin – whose incredible portfolio spans working with Lady Gaga on music videos, tour visuals, merchandise and shows, to being the creative director for London’s kaleidoscopic and characterful Broadwick Soho hotel – says that her creativity usually stems from color. “When I get dressed, when I design projects or stage shows, for me, color is like a language that works better than words.” She created the warm, bespoke shade for her kitchen cabinets from scratch, in collaboration with Mylands. “I really wanted a yellow kitchen, but I couldn’t find one that I liked. Mylands’ paints have amazing pigments and textures, so we created ‘Freegrove Mustard’, a mid-tone yellow with beautiful orange undertones that changes in the light.”
This quality gives the space flexibility to adapt to the mood and the occasion. “When we want quiet time, the kitchen can feel really calming; or if we’re in a dimly-lit disco mode with friends, it can change to that. We have black marble tops that are quite night-timey, but the yellow obviously contrasts.”
The kitchen now holds a lot of Gelardin’s personal items. “I really like to have things that my friends and family have made on display around the house. In the kitchen, I have quite a lot of my friend Anissa Kermiche’s objects; and I have my aunt Orietta Gelardin’s photographs – she’s a phenomenal photographer. And a beautiful picture by my friend Polly Brown.”
“[Our house’s style] goes with our pace and our rhythm, our mood, our mess. It works just as well for dinner parties as it does for building Lego cities with our four-year-old.”
A standout feature of the kitchen is the large 1950s Murano glass chandelier, designed by Paolo Venini, that sits along the length of the dining table. “It’s the anchor of the space – and one of my favorite pieces of the whole house. It makes a real statement.”
Artwork makes up many of Gelardin’s favorite elements of the house. “My most treasured is a drawing of Leigh Bowery by Lucian Freud above the fireplace in my living room. That’s really personal to me. It was a gift from my mother last year, and Leigh Bowery is one of my heroes.” Another particularly special gift is a spectacular tapestry given to Gelardin as a surprise from her friends on her 40th birthday. “It’s this enormous tapestry, with tire marks that represent the journey of the Dakar Rally, from Paris to Dakar. It’s unbelievably beautiful.” The piece is so vast that it takes up an entire Edwardian-proportioned wall of the living room.
“We’re shaped by our experiences and our travels and our friends and our family, so our house is the same
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“I like to be reminded of the things I love and the people I love,” she says. “We’re shaped by our experiences and our travels and our friends and our family, so our house is the same.” She also has furniture designed by her grandfather, the prolific Spanish architect Luis Gutiérrez Soto. “I have a magazine rack he designed in the 1940s or ’50s. I also have original architect drawings of some of the iconic buildings he designed, adorning my bedroom walls, like the stunning building in Madrid where Pacha nightclub used to be – which is now the Teatro Barceló.”
While the kitchen is the most sociable area of the house, when Gelardin feels the need for some space and solitude, it’s the music room on the top floor that she escapes to. “It’s really high up, so the views are incredible looking across London towards Hampstead Heath. You feel like you’re in the sky.” It’s a particularly beloved spot in the house, too, as it’s her preferred place to siesta. “I’m a serial napper,” she laughs.
For Gelardin, the beauty of her home comes from its lived-in feel. “I want my home to feel alive, not overly polished, hopefully not overly showy. To have a nice balance of period detailing that is elegant but has an inviting feel. In interiors, in fashion, in art, I’m much more drawn to the unfinished version of stuff.”