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Inside Architect Ananth Ramaswamy’s Beautiful London Home

  • Aug 12
  • 4 min read

For architect Ananth Ramaswamy, good interior design begins with understanding how a room needs to function. His Kennington apartment occupies the second floor of two Victorian houses, creating unusually lateral rooms instead of long, narrow proportions often associated with Victorian terraces. “It always starts with use and layout” he explains, applying the same principle throughout the apartment. Furniture, storage, lighting and decorative objects are all considered in relation to how each room is actually used day to day.


DESIGNER

Ananth Ramaswamy

TYPE

Family Residence

LOCATION

Kennington, London

SERVICES

Full feature on YouTube, IG, FB & TikTok

PRESENTED BY

Ananth Ramaswamy

Cozy beige living room with orange sofa, bookshelves, plants, and a round table, lit by lamps and bright windows.

A Living Room Designed for Modern Living


The living room is the main gathering space, designed to accommodate working, relaxing, watching television and entertaining. Three large north-facing windows bring in abundant light, while a blossoming pear tree provides a constantly changing focal point beyond the glass. Ananth uses furniture to make the most of the room’s size, with two lightweight rattan armchairs, a love seat tucked into the bay and a deep primary sofa arranged around a large coffee table. “I always go for the largest possible coffee table because it just actually expands the room” he says, describing it as the piece that anchors the layout and establishes circulation. Comfort is equally important, with Ananth recommending a deep sofa that can be properly lounged in rather than choosing purely for appearance.


Sunlit cozy living room with vintage sofa, cane chair, bookcase, plants, flowers, and art on beige walls.

The Art of Layering Objects


Throughout the apartment, art and collected objects provide another layer of character. Ananth and his husband, Alex, have accumulated pieces over many years, often finding them at auctions, antique shops and markets. “We sort of buy without really thinking about where things are going, and we just sort of figure it out” Ananth says. The living room brings together family photographs, architectural antiques, textiles, Indian prints and unusual lighting, including a lamp made from three ostrich eggs. For Ananth, these objects connect the home to people, places and memories, with pieces from Southern India in particular offering a reminder of his heritage.


Stylish living room with an orange velvet sofa, art on the walls, flowers on a white coffee table, and warm decor.

Making Small Spaces Work Harder


The apartment demonstrates Ananth’s belief that smaller rooms can accommodate more than a plan might initially suggest. A revolving bookshelf sits surprisingly close to the living room furniture yet works comfortably in practice. The practicality extends to storage, with tall cabinetry, shallow furniture and well-designed alcoves used throughout the apartment. Instead of allowing functional requirements to dominate the interiors, Ananth integrates them into the design, making the most of the space without compromising practicality.

Warm dining room with red patterned wallpaper, wooden table and chairs, hanging white lamps, plants, and bright windows.

Cozy red-walled dining room with bookshelves, wooden table, flowers, framed art, and warm pendant lights.

A Dining Room with a Different Identity


The dining room is perhaps the clearest example of Ananth’s willingness to rethink conventional layouts. Although it could have served as the principal bedroom, the couple chose to retain it as an entertaining and working space. A found dining table forms the centre of the room, surrounded by 200-year-old Georgian chairs restored and reupholstered by Alex. The walls are enveloped in a rich terracotta-toned wallpaper with matching woodwork, creating a warm, immersive atmosphere in the evening. Silk blinds made in Bangalore reinforce the palette, while a drinks station, library shelving and inherited storage make the room highly functional. “It’s a lovely room to then have for hosting, but it also turned out for working” Ananth explains.


Bright white modern kitchen with marble counters, black stove, flowers and fruit on table, window view of rooftops and wall art.

A Kitchen Designed Around the View


The kitchen was substantially reconfigured to improve both its layout and relationship with the view. The dining table was moved beside the south-facing window, and the L-shaped kitchen was arranged around it, placing the sink, hob and refrigerator within an efficient working triangle. “We sort of designed the kitchen around that table” Ananth explains. White cabinetry keeps the room simple and practical, while a Carrara stone worktop introduces natural material and develops a patina through use.


Bright white kitchen with marble counters, stove, wall art, blue plates, yellow flowers, and fruit on a small table.

Vintage brass tiffin on a bright kitchen counter beside marble board, whisk and utensils, with wall outlets and strong shadows

Even here, art and personal objects have a role, from collected plates to a watercolour depicting a Southern Indian kitchen and a traditional brass tiffin carrier.


Bright marble bathroom with sink, toilet, tub, shower, and clock on shelf; green tile floor and warm light create a calm feel

A Bathroom Where Function Comes First


In the compact bathroom, Ananth prioritised good materials and everyday usability. The layout was reworked to place the bath below the window, while Carrara wall tiles and natural stone provide a timeless backdrop. Underfloor heating adds comfort, while high-quality sanitary fittings were selected for durability. Storage is carefully integrated, including tall cabinetry with internal electrical sockets for charging toothbrushes and shavers. “Bathrooms for me are all about function and good materials” Ananth says, keeping the small space practical and uncluttered.


Bright bedroom with wooden bed, patterned quilt and pillows, bedside lamps, wall art, and large window overlooking rooftops.

Bright cozy bedroom with white bed, orange pillows, patterned quilt, chandelier, window, wall art, and wooden floor.

A Bright and Simple Bedroom


The south-facing bedroom is kept bright and calm, with white walls, cool grey woodwork and natural textures. A rattan headboard continues a material language seen elsewhere in the apartment, while shallow alcoves are put to work with shelves and a narrow Georgian chest of drawers. The furniture is chosen for practicality, with bedside drawers, shelving, reading lights and planned out electrical sockets all contributing to a comfortable everyday space. Personal pieces bring warmth to the room, including a Moroccan pendant given to Alex by his mother. “There’s always something in every room that reminds us of someone, and we really like that” Ananth says.


Man on an orange sofa reads a bright green booklet titled THE SOUTH in a cozy room with shelves of books and art.

A Home Layered with Art and Memories


What distinguishes Ananth’s apartment is the relationship between architecture, function and personal history. There is a clear design discipline behind the spaces, but it never feels overly formal. Auction finds sit alongside inherited furniture, contemporary pieces and objects connected to Ananth’s Indian heritage. Art is used to introduce colour, texture, scale and memory, while practical decisions about circulation, storage and furniture proportions ensure the apartment remains comfortable to live in. The interior is naturally layered over time rather than designed in a single gesture, reflecting Ananth’s belief that “The final layer in a room is the objects and the art. And this is the bit that keeps changing, evolving, and you can keep adding to.”


Follow Ananth on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ananthramaswamy/  

Follow Arall Studio on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arall.studio/  

Visit Arall Studio's website: https://arallstudio.com




 
 
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