“Sensitive, tactile, and purely functional” is how design firm 1934 describes their latest project in Hackney, London. Founded by Abel Sloane and Ruby Woodhouse, who live in Croydon, on the south side of London, 1934 is named after the year Gerrit Rietveld designed his Crate furniture series. When Abel, an English major who did restoration work for Retrouvius, started the project five years ago, he was focused on furniture sourcing and restoration. A year later, Ruby, a photographer and graphic designer, joined Abel, and 1934 expanded into styling, consulting, and interiors.
Their first full-scale interior design project, a one-bedroom Victorian apartment in Hackney, is inspired by interwar European design (from Eileen Gray to Bauhaus kitchens) and the work of the American Shakers. “They’re both practical and minimal,” Abel says. “They also use color in a surprising way. For instance, the bright red and yellow skirting and door frames of Shaker interiors.” Working within the constraints presented by the Victorian building, 1934 stripped back the kitchen, refitted the bath, sourced furniture, and dreamed up the color scheme using a proprietary blend of Farrow & Ball paint. “We are so used to seeing interiors painted white, but it can actually make a space seem more cube-like and close it off,” Abel says. “By introducing darker colors we gave the space more flow.”
Join us for a tour.
Photography by Ruby Woodhouse, courtesy of 1934.
![a pine dining table sourced by \1934 pairs with the owners’ \1960s ercol 17](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/1934-mare-street-project-abel-sloane-ruby-woodhouse-1-733x1100.jpg)
![the kitchen was gut renovated and \1934 designed cabinets with soft closing hin 18](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/1934-mare-street-project-abel-sloane-ruby-woodhouse-3-733x1100.jpg)
![a traditional butler sink and faucet sourced from a company in the north of eng 19](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/1934-mare-street-project-abel-sloane-ruby-woodhouse-4-733x1100.jpg)
![a custom drainage rack sits next to the sink. ruby sewed vintage check fabric t 20](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/1934-mare-street-project-abel-sloane-ruby-woodhouse-5-733x1100.jpg)
![a single pine shelf runs the length of the kitchen, and, on one end, features a 21](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/1934-mare-street-project-abel-sloane-ruby-woodhouse-6-733x1100.jpg)
![\1934 created a title surround on the original electric range with the sa 22](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/1934-mare-street-project-abel-sloane-ruby-woodhouse-7-733x1100.jpg)
![the slim storage area has a pine shelf surface and irish linen curtains (ȁ 23](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/1934-mare-street-project-abel-sloane-ruby-woodhouse-9-733x1100.jpg)
![slim shaker peg rails in pine on the opposite wall of the kitchen for hanging k 24](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/1934-mare-street-project-abel-sloane-ruby-woodhouse-11-733x1100.jpg)
![the rails are also used to store additional seating, like a children’s c 25](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/1934-mare-street-project-abel-sloane-ruby-woodhouse-12-733x1100.jpg)
![the designers commissioned their friend harriet vogeler to make linen roman bli 26](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/1934-mare-street-project-abel-sloane-ruby-woodhouse-13-733x1099.jpg)
![abel and ruby covered the owners’ sofa bed with a swath of antique white 27](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/1934-mare-street-project-abel-sloane-ruby-woodhouse-14-733x489.jpg)
![custom pine shelves match the depth of the fireplace and mantel. the chair is p 28](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/1934-mare-street-project-abel-sloane-ruby-woodhouse-15-733x1100.jpg)
![the bedroom is more neutral than other rooms in the apartment to “make u 29](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/1934-mare-street-project-abel-sloane-ruby-woodhouse-16-733x1100.jpg)
![another antique bakelite pendant lamp, this one in flecked pink, from the same 30](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/1934-mare-street-project-abel-sloane-ruby-woodhouse-17-733x1100.jpg)
![floors are painted in a farrow & ball shade in a modern eggshell finish and 31](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/1934-mare-street-project-abel-sloane-ruby-woodhouse-18-733x1100.jpg)
![they replaced the three interior doors with horizontally paneled doors from an 32](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/1934-mare-street-project-abel-sloane-ruby-woodhouse-19-733x1100.jpg)
![a clothes rail by dean edmonds made from powder coated steel and pine. 33](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/1934-mare-street-project-abel-sloane-ruby-woodhouse-20-733x1100.jpg)
![an alvar aalto chair 6\1\1 designed in \19\29. “that one in particular w 34](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/1934-mare-street-project-abel-sloane-ruby-woodhouse-21-733x1100.jpg)
![when abel and ruby stripped the wallpaper from the hallway and a small utility 35](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/1934-mare-street-project-abel-sloane-ruby-woodhouse-22-733x1100.jpg)
![the firm remodeled the bathroom using glossy black tile and a freestanding cast 36](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/1934-mare-street-project-abel-sloane-ruby-woodhouse-23-733x1100.jpg)
![a vintage porcelain sink sourced from a salvage yard in tonbridge is perched on 37](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/1934-mare-street-project-abel-sloane-ruby-woodhouse-24-733x1100.jpg)
References
![abel and ruby\2\17;s inspiration for the mare street project—cloc 38](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/1934-mare-street-project-references-733x489.jpg)
Floor Plan
![the owners had a floor plan drawn up by lazenby architects prior to working wit 39](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/mare-street-project-floorplan-lazenby-architects-733x518.jpg)
For more vintage-influenced interiors, see our posts:
- Modern Thrift: Lucile Demory’s Architect-Designed Rental in Paris
- A Colonial House in Bellport with Uncommon Style from French Designer C. S. Valentin
- House Call: Gallerist Lisa Overduin’s Artful Apartment in Los Angeles
- Danish Heritage: A Copenhagen Townhouse Renovated by Hand
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