CAPITAL gains

Pauline Gidoin paired designer pieces with high-street

- JANE CRITTENDEN

For architect Pauline Gidoin, home had been a succession of modern rented flats until she finally bought her ideal apartment. ‘I’d been living in Hong Kong for 10 years and then I moved to London,’ says Pauline, who is French. ‘As I got to know London, I remembered how much I’d missed the architecture of older buildings, which I’d appreciated when I studied in Paris.’

After being immersed in Hong Kong’s hectic lifestyle for so long, Pauline craved living somewhere quiet, but also within easy reach of bars and restaurants. ‘I really liked the vibrancy of Brick Lane in the East End, the mix of cultures and the artistic feel,’ she says. ‘When I found my flat in an old, converted shoe warehouse on a quiet street I fell in love with the high ceilings, brick walls and original steel-framed windows.’

Pauline cast an architect’s eye around the flat recognising that the main living space – comprising a kitchen, living and dining area – was packed with too much oversized furniture. She also noted the rooms were significantly lacking storage.