A Free-Spirited Film Director, at Home in London - Remodelista
London film director and Remodelista friend Gaby Dellal is a serial thrill-seeker; even when it comes to house renovations. Photography by Simon Bevan for Remodelista. Dellal, whose recent work includes Abandoned (soon to be released in the UK), starring Jeremy Piven, and the ITV series Leaving, starring Helen McCrory (fun fact: McCrory is married to Homeland's Damian Lewis), finds inspiration in memories and spurns the concept of anything that is too perfect. "I spotted these graphic encaustic cement tiles from Emery et Cie and knew they were perfect for the front hall," Dellal says. The large-scale black-and-white photograph is made up of six felt panels by Brooklyn artist Lorna Simpson. "I am a very visual person, and it's very important to me to get the set right on all my films," Delall says. "We purchased the Ancien flooring before the work on the renovation even started; we left it to dry for a year," Dellal says. The Alexander Calder print on the wall, which Dellal grew up with, was a present from her father. When she moved in, Dellal's kitchen had a pink wall. She liked the texture of some of the existing panels so much that she left them unpainted. "I found the yellow midcentury yellow table at 52 Meters and moved it into the pink room," Dellal says. She already owned the green and yellow glass in the sidelight and realized they would be perfect in her new kitchen. She commissioned metal fabricator John Aspery to make the pot rail in the spirit of a stately home she visited in Cornwall. Dellal purchased the folk art "Fresh Eggs" panels many years ago when she lived in LA. Dellal opened up a wall and installed a pine wine rack as a room divider (she commissioned John Aspery to create a metal frame with a marble shelf as a bar, providing transparency between the kitchen and the pantry). "The original idea was to fill the wine rack with empty green bottles and let the light flow through," Dellal says. The pantry holds Dellal's plate collection from South African artist Hylton Nel. Dellal opened the back wall out to the garden and inserted metal doors with yellow glass panes. The neon sign is a birthday present from her three sons. Dellal's three dogs snooze in front of a painting by her artist friend Damian Elwes. A series of drawings by artist Gary Simmons sets the tone in Dellal's bedroom. Above L: A garage roller shutter is used to panel the hallway leading to one of her son's rooms. Above R: A shower is located on the other side of the bookcase, which is comprised of old bread boards. "The Americana memories I have are from visiting my best friend (the artist Tarka Kings) in Wyoming when we were young," Dellal says. Dellal created the tile pattern on her terrace based on a Frank Lloyd Wright tapestry she saw several years ago at a Guggenheim retrospective. Very few people can resist the allure of an exposed ceiling.