Home Comforts: Lucinda Chambers on the value of taking your time

If you’ve ever flicked through a copy of Vogue and lusted over the luxuries therein, you’ve likely come across the work of Lucinda Chambers. Fashion director at the magazine until 2017, Lucinda worked at the style bible for 36 years (25 of which were in that role), having started as a secretary. During that time, she worked with pretty much anyone who’s anyone, from models and photographers to pop-culture icons and princesses – all while consulting for fashion houses including Prada, Jil Sander and Marni. In more recent years, she’s co-founded Colville, her own brand of extraordinarily gorgeous clothing and homeware, and Collagerie, a shopping platform filled with what can only be described as the most desirable treasures around, all hand-picked. To suggest the woman has style would be an understatement.

With that in mind, it’s hardly revelatory that Lucinda’s home of more than 30 years – an early 20^th-century terraced number in Shepherds Bush that she shares with her husband and their cat, BoyCat – is as exquisitely put together as her person (albeit a constant work in progress). None of this is to say, however, that we haven’t been surprised and delighted each time we’ve visited – by her affinity for colour, her natural knack for hosting, her intuitive capability for creating good combinations. So much so that we’ve now come back for a third helping, quizzing this most modish of mavens about the minutiae of her domestic set-up…

My most recent home improvement…
… Is happening right now! As my youngest son has moved out, I’m turning his bedroom from a teenage graffitied den into a calm guest room. I love a project – turning over colours and buying bits and pieces along the way that will stack up. I don’t do things in a rush, but instead take my time, as plotting and planning is often the best part of a project. I keep a running notebook of ideas.

The latest addition to my wardrobe…
My Colville bag. Woven by women in Colombia and hand-finished in Milan, it’s both joyous and chic. It’s also very uplifting and, weirdly for something so different, it goes with everything.

The most useful item in my kitchen…
My husband. He loves cooking. Thank goodness.

What’s always in my fridge…
We are never without chocolate. It’s usually a chocolate button situation.

The prize bottle in my drinks cabinet…
I wish I had a drinks cabinet – it sounds so grown up! Obviously I haven’t quite got there yet…

Hanging on my walls…
My walls are forever in motion. Right now, I’m playing around with new prints from Collagerie’s Art Shop. We collaborated with 15 female artists – and a wonderful framer in Somerset – to produce some beautiful limited editions. I’ll no doubt be moving things around again as I add to this collection.

I also love buying old posters and paintings from car-boot sales, before spending many a happy hour with a framer, taking them out their original settings and playing with the proportions. Giving a painting proper space – or putting an old picture in a more modern frame – can completely change its visual impact. I recently collected lots of old prints of hand-painted eggs, for instance, and popped them into inexpensive Ikea frames, which I ran over with Annie Sloan’s white chalk paint.

I’m going to ask a proper picture hanger to put them up for me (I don’t think measuring for so many is in my skillset). It really is worth the investment, as once they’re in their proper place, they will stay up. I learned this when I redecorated the hallway. We took down all the pictures and photographs running up the stairway and I asked our lovely picture hanger to hang them however he wanted. I went out and left him to it. When I came back, it was like walking into a new house. Just brilliant! The flow was so unexpected and beautiful. It’s great to have fresh eyes on those things you’re so familiar with that you don’t see them anymore.

The knick-knacks on my mantelpiece…
There are too many to count, though there are lot of ceramics (studio pottery is a current preoccupation). Some shelves are filled with just white bits, while others are really bright. They seem to chatter away to each other, talking colours. They mostly come from car-boot sales or from my travels.

The books on my shelf right now…
I usually have about three books on the go at any one time. Always a David Sedaris; if he hasn’t written a new one – I wish he would hurry up – I’ll reread one. More often than not, a thriller. Also currently waiting in the wings is a book about fungi called Entangled Life, which sounds fascinating.

The music on my stereo…
The music I play most often is a compilation my husband made me for my 50^th birthday. It ranges from Leonard Cohen to Khalid to Dean Martin. I guess you could say it’s an eclectic mix.

Growing in my garden…
The roses are running riot at the moment.

Hidden away in my cupboards…
Thousands of packets of spices. Scarves in the bedroom. And probably moths.

On my to-do list…
Go swimming.

Further reading

Lucinda Chambers on Instagram

Colville

Collagerie

Photography: Tom Griffiths