Colour and character define Cork-born textile artist Aiveen Daly’s house …
The pretty fireplace is painted Wedgwood blue.
“I am from Cork but have been living in London for 17 years. I trained at the London College of Fashion and Central Saint Martin’s and became a specialist textile artist, opening my studio in 2006. I work with interior designers to create wall murals, furniture and headboards and accessories and have designed for grand hotels (The Corinthia London and The Langham, Hong Kong, for instance) as well as superyachts and private jets. I use specialised techniques in embroidery, beadwork and sculptural leather and the more challenging and ambitious the project, the better. I am working on a tapestry for the Michelin-starred Alex Dilling at Hotel Café Royal on Regent Street.
The shade of blue for the hall was taken from the central flower motif in the antique Turkish carpet which runs down the stairs. Since Daly obsesses about colour, she had to buy 20 sample pots just to get the right blue.
I live in North West London near a Grade II-listed Victorian park, with my husband Conrad, my daughters Agnes and Valentina and our dog Baci. Ours is an Edwardian house which we bought in 2014 and completely gutted, retaining only original doors, cornicing and floor tiles. All the doors had been covered with plywood which we stripped to reveal beautiful Edwardian originals.
In the drawing room, Daly painting the ceilings the same colour as the walls (Pale Walnut by Graphenstone) gives a warm cocooning feeling. The ottoman was designed by Daly.
I like a home to be a cosy sanctuary for family and friends – tactile, colourful yet calm, with lots of interesting “scavenged” bits. I bought furniture from antique markets, eBay, 1st Dibs and made a few pieces in my studio. My favourite pieces in the house are the Jonathan Schofield paintings, vast and colourful (I love his work and took the whole family to visit his studio. We found it too hard to choose just one so left with two).
The kitchen with french doors to the pretty city garden.
I also love the curtains in the drawing room, which I made from 1930s Indian saris. Textiles are a wonderful way to layer stories and colour in a room to make it personal and unique. I found the 1970s sofa in a London charity shop and reupholstered it in Apple Green Adamo & Eva velvet by Dedar.
Daly at work, using a specialist ribbon technique.
The kitchen was handmade by a small British company, Covale, who I have worked with for 15 years on various projects. It is made from birch ply painted deep terracotta.
The neat visitor loo.
My favourite room is our bedroom. We removed the en suite bathroom to make it much bigger and allow in gorgeous morning light. There we contemplate the day ahead and make more plans. Next project? My husband and I are keen on a little art studio at the end of the garden to potter in.”