Saraswati Art Gallery And Store : London Designer Alice Palmer on Filling Her Home with Personality through Art https://ift.tt/taXJORc

In Alice Palmer’s three-story northwest London home, color is the guiding principle. From the emerald green, densely patterned wallpaper that wraps her bedroom to the bright, almost abrasive yellow that floods the living room, her house is unapologetically color-soaked. Rooms, too, are similarly characterful: Palmer’s house is stuffed full of art, textiles, prints, and ceramics, reflecting her love for maximalist design.

Palmer launched her eponymous homeware brand, Alice Palmer & Co, in 2019. The impetus to start the company came after she noticed a distinct lack of lampshades she wanted to live with. The company quickly grew a devoted fanbase for its box-pleat lampshades, and it opened its first brick-and-mortar store in September 2025. Palmer has also just launched an interiors consulting service.

Palmer’s home, which she shares with her three children, reflects her design philosophy that rooms should respond to how they’re used. Art gravitates toward the spaces where it feels most natural, and color schemes shift from room to room to maintain balance. The art throughout Palmer’s house doesn’t fit into a single category. Her walls feature everything: unnamed prints in the bedroom, a framed Asafo flag in the dining room, an Andalusian ceramic bowl in the kitchen, as well as artworks by Leonie Gibbs, Raymond Dèbieve, and Quentin Blake, among others.

Here, Palmer shares with Artsy how she put together her vibrant, art-filled home.

Tell us about your home.

It’s a 1930s house, and I fully renovated it last October. I’ve kept the rear extension really light and kept the raw plaster walls. It feels a bit like you’re on holiday.

How do you think about choosing and placing artworks?

I was really lucky when I did my first flat: My parents decided to go modern, took all the art off their walls, and gave it to me. They now really regret it and want it all back. And I say, “No, sorry.”

I had a few really nice pieces, and I started layering on the walls. I place it by instinct, go with my gut, basically. Hit and hope.

Do you have a different philosophy for how you place art depending on where it is?

Definitely. Big pieces, I figure out where they go first. The bits you love more are in the rooms you are in more often, and then the color schemes are different in each room. It’s about balancing.

The kitchen has got raw plaster, sort of “pinky and greenies” with more muted tones. The sitting room, I’ve done bright yellow walls, and got quite a large, bright, colorful piece on the wall. Then another, plainer canvas on another wall.

What’s the big bright painting in the sitting room?

A work by Florence Hutchings, an artist based in Margate [England]. I went down to meet her, and I love her art, and it’s quite textural, fun, and playful.

I’d love to hear about the first piece of art that you bought.

Patrick Jones would be the first one. He’s my best friend’s boyfriend, and I bought one of his pieces of work that’s now in the sitting room. It’s an abstract and highly glossed-over [painting of] two men wrestling.

The first piece of art I didn’t buy, which I regret, was by Danny Fox, ten and a half years ago. I met him in his studio, and I found out I was pregnant. It was a huge painting and quite cheap. It’s now probably worth loads. I was like, “Oh, God, I’m having a baby. I can’t spend that much on a piece of art.”

Do you have a favorite piece in your collection?

I recently bought [a painting] by Isobel Harvey, a bull, for my bedroom. I’m a Taurus, and I’m getting divorced—I thought I’d treat myself right, mark my territory. I’d say that at the moment, but I love all for different reasons. There’s also a painting of a cat and a boy in my sitting room.

How did you develop a ritual of looking at art?

I’m really into art, and I know exactly what I like. I don’t really go out to find it, but if I can afford it, I’ll try to buy it. It’s not so much for investment; it’s more that I love the emotional connection.

How do you approach collecting art?

It’s an eclectic mix of media to make the walls interesting. It’s about adding personality to your house, adding character, projecting yourself into the space. It makes it your own home with little bits of your world on your walls.

How would you describe the style that you have incorporated in your home?

My style hasn’t changed that much, but has definitely evolved and grown up slightly. At the moment, I am more drawn to oil-on-canvas style paintings.

When designing my new house, I was more considerate and decisive about what colors and schemes were going to be in each room and what would work where. I brought most of the art with me and sold a couple of pieces, which I had slightly grown out of. I always have my eye out for art; it’s an ongoing collection.

Can you describe how you approach this when considering art and design?

I have art from lots of different places and times. They need to be in the same style, but it is nice to incorporate some of the same colors in the fabrics, furnishings, and art.

When it came to my sitting room, I bought the Hutchings painting before I started designing the space, and it led me to use a bold yellow paint on the walls.

It’s important to balance the art throughout the space. If you have a large piece on one wall, it is nice to balance it out on the other side. If the pieces are smaller, creating a gallery-esque wall can be a good option.

What are the logistical concerns to consider in terms of taking care of your artworks?

If you’re hanging flags and fabric, don’t put them in the sunlight because it will fade. If you have watercolors, don’t put them by the light. Ceramics require a good deal of hardware, particularly if they’re on the wall; make sure they’re secure.