London Victorian house artfully updated by sculptor Alex Chinneck

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Thirty-three-year-old London sculptor Alex Chinneck is an architectural provocateur: He builds (or meddles with) structures in ways that are both playful and provocative. A while back, he detailed an old East London factory with 312 identically smashed windows. A derelict house in the seaside town of Margate received a façade that had slipped off the top floor and onto the sidewalk. And as part of London’s Merge Festival, he built a full-scale Georgian house of paraffin bricks that gradually melted.

What could Chinneck’s own house look like? He and his partner, the dress designer Lu Flux, and their young daughter, Bloom, live in an eight-bedroom brick Victorian in Forest Gate, in the East End, that they lovingly revitalized, filling it with orphaned antiques, such as a combination bathtub and sink, and a mix of colors that only an artist would choose. The family had previously lived in his studio in Hackney; the house, Chinneck says, is his ode to domesticity—“so I’ve resisted the temptation to melt this one.” Ready to become serial remodelers, the couple are selling their place via The Modern House and Chinneck offered to show us around.

Photography via the Modern House.

“i was going for rural victorian, whatever that is,” says c 17 — Above: “I was going for rural Victorian, whatever that is,” says Chinneck of the overall look. The marble fireplaces are original.

the living room moldings are also original; chinneck used them to create three 18 — Above: The living room moldings are also original; Chinneck used them to create three-quarter walls in Farrow & Ball Hague Blue paired with off-white chalk paint. “Victorian living rooms are so generous in height and light, you can paint a space navy and it won’t feel dark.

The cast-iron chandelier is one of the many pieces Chinneck picked up on his prowls: “My work constantly takes me around the UK and I enjoy visiting auction houses as I move about. This gas fixture came out of a Victorian mansion that was being demolished in Northern England. It’s rewired and on a dimmer.”

the dining room—in farrow & ball breakfast room green—has an 19 — Above: The dining room—in Farrow & Ball Breakfast Room Green—has an intricate pitched pine floor created from the backrests of church pews. “The pews had been outside for many years, so had aged in unique and very beautiful ways. We used 750 pieces; needless to say, it was a huge amount of work.”

The dining chairs also came out of a church (note the hymnal holders). Chinneck says he won the chandelier for £8 (approximately $10) at an auction.

though it looks like it’s been there a good while, the kitchen rec 20 — Above: Though it looks like it’s been there a good while, the kitchen received a ground-up makeover. The cabinets are walnut and the counter is polished granite. The hanging copper lights came out of an East London pub.

“i exposed the brickwork of the chimney breast and installed a res 21 — Above: “I exposed the brickwork of the chimney breast and installed a restored sky-blue Aga within it,” Chinneck tells us. “We continued this pastel palette by leaving the kitchen walls as exposed pink plaster, which were sealed with a glaze.”

For more British kitchen inspiration, see 10 Ways to Achieve the Plain English look.

the yellow paneling around the doorway came out of a nursery school art r 22 — Above: The yellow paneling around the doorway came out of a nursery school art room that was being refurbished.

salvaged wood paneling and church archway in a renovated london victorian house 23

restored wood stair, artist alex chinneck's remodeled london victorian 24

Above left: The hallway features a lineup of armoires and an archway salvaged from a church conservatory. Above right: Of the restored stair, Chinneck says, “We stripped the handrail back to the mahogany and the balustrades back to a treated pine. Both were then glazed with shellac.”