How I Curate My Space: Anissa Kermiche On The Beauty Of Her Bedroom
In a new interiors series, we ask designers and tastemakers to open the doors of their most-loved room, sharing the stories and inspirations behind its style and their favorite pieces within it. First up, Paris-born designer Anissa Kermiche, known for her joie de vivre designs, invites us into her exuberant London bedroom. By KATIE BERRINGTON
Anissa Kermiche chose Marylebone as the location for her London apartment because the neighborhood reminds her of her native Paris. “It’s quite villagey and very residential,” the jewelry and ceramics designer says of the peaceful square she has lived on since spring 2020, in a split-level duplex inside a classic high-ceilinged, wooden-floored townhouse.
Spread over two airy storeys (“This apartment is the dream for me because it’s on two floors, so I feel like I’m in a house, but I’m inside a bigger building, which makes it feel safe”), her bedroom is on the lower floor, by the entrance, and the living area is upstairs. “So, when I arrive home exhausted after work, I go straight to crash in my bedroom.”
This is the room “where I feel there’s the most life in my flat”, Kermiche says. “It’s where I get ready, where I breathe, relax, watch films. Even when my girlfriends come over, I think the best way to catch up is by having sleepovers, so putting masks on, being in our pajamas, drinking tea and falling asleep.”
Having designed the space just after a break-up, she felt a desire to make it entirely her own – or as much as is possible in a rented apartment – “giving myself the freedom of injecting color and print”. Unbound by any specific design movement, the result is an ebullient and feminine space, filled with a plethora of delectable pieces to catch the eye – many of which are Kermiche’s own.
“I’m obsessed with pink, but I don’t really wear much of it,” she says of her chosen color palette. “I used pink in my bedroom because it’s like a little digression from my life; it’s where I allow this freedom. You will find a lot of my sculptures here, too – which is not the case in the rest of my apartment – a lot of my vases float around the room.”
“I would never go for a normal table. It’s very difficult for me to go for functional objects that look functional; it always needs to be something between art and functionality
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“I’m always moving things around,” she continues. “I can spend a whole Sunday up and down, moving the tiniest piece and seeing if it looks better somewhere else.”
Kermiche has a penchant for lamps and chairs: “There are so many chairs in my apartment that you could sit enough people for a wedding!” Purchases of new items happen “maybe once or twice a year”, when she falls in love with something and looks to see where it would fit in either her home or office.
Unsurprisingly, for a designer who is renowned for her cheeky aesthetic and curvaceous ceramics that celebrate the female form, it is a sense of humor that she feels most essential to imbue her space with. “In every aspect of life, I think it’s very important to laugh – I find it difficult interacting with people who take themselves too seriously. It’s very important to create humor, it makes daily life easier,” she says.
Kermiche’s four favorite objects:
My bold headboard
“I added this massive headboard – which I commissioned from Luke Edward Hall – to the room after the break-up of my engagement. I turned my room pink, with these three naked characters from Greek mythology floating around my bed! Luke and I chose the colors together, and I think having this big piece of art helped adapt the room to my style.”
My versatile jewelry box
“This piece of my own is functional, because it’s a vase and also a box at the same time, and it looks like the neck of a woman. I find it very pretty. It’s not just a square – you can adapt it according to your mood by putting flowers inside or using it as a candlestick. It’s quite versatile, which I like.”
My sculptural side table
“I would never go for a normal table. It’s very difficult for me to go for functional objects that look functional; it always needs to be something between art and functionality. I think that’s why my own pieces look the way they do. This is a table that is a sculpture at the same time. I bought it in Bermondsey from a friend of mine, Jermaine Gallacher, who curates stunning pieces from local designers and antique markets.”
My statement table lamps
“These are iconic design pieces from [20th-century Italian designer] Ettore Sottsass. I saw an exhibition and thought, ‘Oh my god, I’m in love with these.’ It’s funny because they kind of have nothing to do with the rest of the room, but they marry really well with it. I’m automatically attracted to the balance and symmetry from the way they are positioned exactly in a diagonal to create this frame around the bed. After I did well with work last year, I bought them as a Christmas gift for myself.”