The brilliance of beige: How a palette of neutrals packs a positive punch - The Jewish Chronicle

If you thought an interior designer and new mother’s priority would be creating a calming space for their home to encourage the baby to sleep through, you’d be wrong. Elana Ilan says the only elements in which her baby, now 17 months, has affected her design are safety and practicality.

“I actually think that having a baby had the opposite effect on wanting to create a peaceful and calm space,” says Ilan, who lives in Hampstead Garden Suburb with her husband and daughter. “We knew that this stage of our lives was going to be anything but calm and it would be best to embrace it. No matter how zen you can create a place, once the play mat, play kitchen and bright toys are covering the floor, that is long forgotten.”

Elana Ilan with her daughter.[Missing Credit]

But she says the right choice of texture can help create a more forgiving environment when it comes to sticky toddler handprints. “There is no way you can be precious with a strawberry-covered baby walking around, but it helps to choose furniture and pieces that you do not have to worry about, such as a two-tone chenille sofa rather than a flat beige, where stains would be obvious.”

Vintage 1980s Palm Beach sideboard between two Philippe Malouin bouclé chairs.[Missing Credit]

Nevertheless, Ilan’s own home is undeniably a peaceful haven of neutral shades. After all, she says, interior design involves a colour theory that dictates how certain colours and brightness can affect your mood, and she feels that, while she loves colour, she would become bored of anything that’s too strong. “Anyone who has walked in there says it’s so homely,” she says of her home. “You want a bedroom that’s going to feel calm, you want somewhere you can relax… I love colour but I do pick colours that are a bit more saturated and not in your face. It’s more muted tones…” She says that introducing textures and subtle colours here and there, such as in accessories, can make a difference and give an interior the necessary personality and character. “All my projects have had a touch of something that gives it personality; every room has something different.”

Curves create softness in the dining area: statement table by Julian Chichester with gold coin beading around base, and delicate, sculptural Andrew Martin chandelier.[Missing Credit]

Ilan took a course in interior architecture and began her career working for high-end luxury companies such as Argent Design and Natalia Miyar, before setting up on her own.

“Interior design is a part of me and something that I never want to lose,” she says. “It’s my career, but I see it as my hobby.” She loves “every element” of it, from the design to the admin, which makes up to 90 per cent of the job.

When she was deciding on a career, she considered what she could do that she would enjoy but would also allow her to raise a family. Now she has reached that stage, she concedes, since having her daughter, her days are somewhat different from when she could just sit and spend morning to evening putting together her presentations.

Playful nursery with soft pastel palette, scalloped curtains and cot, and Schumacher's elegant wallpaper.[Missing Credit]

“The work I produce is still the same, it just might take me a little longer to get there,” she says. “I’ve watched the best homemaker and carer of her babies my whole life – my mum. She has always made it look so easy and effortless and I would like to think it’s instilled in my nature.”

While her own home plays so strongly on neutrals, don’t expect that to be Ilan’s standard style. After all, Ilan has never taken inspiration from any one interior designer, because she does not like to stick to any particular style. Her designs are tailored to the individual needs of her clients.

“People will go to a certain designer because they want that style, but that shouldn’t really be how it works, because every client is different. Every house is different. You want to put their favourite colours and things around them because that home is like a jacket they’re wearing every day – that’s where they spend all their time.”

Emerald green and Carrara marble bathroom floor complements polished nickel finishes.[Missing Credit]

However, Ilan does not “care about” trends, and cautions against going for something fashion-driven that it’s possible to tire of quickly. “It’s not like you can choose a living room that’s on trend and change it like you could change your jacket next year. I like to get to know a client and then make them a home that is more timeless and that they’re happy in forever.”

Serene bedroom with hotel-like ambiance, focused on antique Gio Ponti bedside tables. The use of muted green ensures the room has a colour personality but is timeless.[Missing Credit]

Her favourite aspect of the job is when the clients see what they’ve been imagining come exactly to life in the finished product. “I have to make the vision come true,” she says. “For them to walk in and for me to see that I’ve made house exactly the same as how I’ve shown them on a presentation and that they’re happy in their home, that’s definitely my favourite part.”

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Interiors

New Homes & Interiors