Wilmington Square, London WC1

Sometimes, less can be infinitely more, especially when it comes to colour. Take a look at this house on Clerkenwell’s Wilmington Square ­– 

 – and you’ll see what we mean. Almost every room in this four-storey, Grade II-listed Georgian townhouse has been painted or papered in something at the lighter end of the spectrum: from ivory and pearl to palest custards and mustards, pinks and blues. Far from having a cooling effect, however, the result is warm and welcoming, relaxed and unstuffy. These tones with whiter bases provide the perfect backdrop for more decorative elements in the house.

Pictures, for instance. The current owners have a cache of framed beauties, from oil paintings to charcoal sketches ­– to our eye, mostly 19th- and 20

-century. In simple frames and hung against cream walls, their subjects simply sing – just look at the arrangement around the fireplace in the dining room. Here, too, the walls’ plainness allows for due attention to be given to bolder bits of furniture, from the mahogany dining set to the armchair upholstered in a fabulous palmy print in Edwardian-looking hues.

Its palette may be pallid, but Wilmington Square is far from insipid. This is due in no small part to the brightness of its Georgian rooms, courtesy of the profusion of original windows in the house. Those in the first-floor drawing room ­– full-height, sash, overlooking the square’s tree-dotted communal gardens – particularly caught our eye. Thanks to that remarkable south-facing glazing, this room gets the best of the day’s light, which bounces around the space ­­– something made possible by its unintrusive décor. In yellow ochre, quietly patterned wallpaper here provides decorative interest, without competing with the room’s fabulous inherent features.

Pale backdrops offer simplicity and allow us to take notice of beauty elsewhere in a space – and those of Wilmington Square prove this to be the case in room after room. Often, it’s not what’s there that matters, but what’s not – even with colour.

A Polite Request

Inspiration of the Week: pale and interesting – the subtle schemes of a Georgian house in central London

Decorated in a catalogue of pastels and pale hues, Wilmington Square, in London’s Clerkenwell, is cream of the crop this week