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Livingetc
Livingetc
Pip Rich

"I Like an Element of Surprise" — How Sophie Ashby Uses Color, Texture, and Antiques for Her Instantly Recognizable Schemes

Dining room with travertine oval table, wooden chairs, red table lamps and pale beige and orange mural.

Studio Ashby's warm, richly layered, and personal spaces are instantly recognizable to anyone familiar with the British design scene. Founder Sophie Ashby has a way with texture and color that moves beyond trends to create homes that feel, well, like somewhere you'd really love to live.

Key to this knack is Sophie's instinct when it comes to contrast — where schemes need a tension or an "element of surprise" that keeps things feeling punchy, rather than matchy-matchy. That means curating spaces that mix new pieces with antiques, that build up vibrant yet soft color palettes, and that take inspiration from complex sources such as artwork for the building blocks of a scheme.

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