Irene Forte’s London Townhouse Is a Masterclass in Earthy Minimalism
Irene Forte, her husband Felix Winckler, and their two children moved into a townhouse on a quiet block in London’s Kensington neighborhood just over a year ago. But she’s felt connected to that address for far longer: “The street I am on is the street where my primary school was, where I went from the age of three to 11,” she says. “It feels a little like going back in time.”
The interiors are very much of the moment, however. Enlisting the help of designer Alice Gyllenkrok, Forte created a home that she describes as “minimalist but still cozy.” Prints and patterns a few and far between, but modern marble furniture abounds. The walls, meanwhile, are covered in polished plaster.
Photo: Genevieve Lutkin
Forte, who is the founder of the eponymous skincare line Irene Forte, always knew she wanted a palette of earth tones in her house—she uses the same tones for her branding, drawn to the sense of calm it provides. Her kitchen features a gentle eggshell, while her bedroom is swathed in a soothing flax yellow with ochre accents; a bathroom, meanwhile, boasts burnt umber. Natural accents are dotted throughout. (Many of them are courtesy of Irene’s mother, who regularly drops off blooms and branches from her garden in Surrey.) “It is quite a clean space,” says Forte. “Lots of greens and earthy tones,” says Forte.
