Picturing Perfection

As you’d expect in the home of an art dealer, paintings take centre stage in Catharine Miller’s colourful London home, and sit happily next to antique pieces bought at auction

- AMANDA HARLING

Catharine Miller and partner Charles Miskin QC found their home, a late 19th-century house in west London, 10 years ago. They didn't have far to go. 'We were living in Charles's flat and one morning we opened the curtains and saw a 'For Sale' sign outside the house opposite. We liked the area, but wanted a bit more room, so moving across the road made perfect sense. This part of London suits us well; it's quiet and in a convenient location - a few minutes' walk to buses and the Underground and within cycling distance of my gallery. We were on the phone to the agents within minutes.'

After moving in, Catharine asked her interior designer friend, Paul Williams, to make suggestions regarding the decoration and improving the layout of the kitchen and dining area in particular. Changes included new double doors and windows in the kitchen and dining area, and raising the height of the door openings in the living room and main bedroom: 'it's a fairly simple thing to do from a building point of view, but the sense of space and light was increased exponentially,' says Catharine.

Paul, who has worked with Catharine on previous projects, recalls that for him the challenge was to create a cohesive look for the couple's new home. They're opinionated people with individual tastes, so it was about finding ways of giving each of them the home they wanted but within a unified framework.'

When it came to furnishing the house, nearby Lots Road Auctions is favoured by Catharine and Charles. 'It's a treat at weekends to wander through the auction rooms, seeing what's coming up in the weekly Monday sales,' says Catharine. Lots Road Auctions has proved very useful; my desk in the drawing room came from there, as did the dining chairs in the kitchen. Charles and I have quite different tastes but our ideas merged on most aspects of the renovation, helped no doubt by Paul's subtle mediation.'