Urban chic interior design: 5 ways to warm up city living

Urban chic is the look of a stylish city home. Clean lines, a calm neutral palette, a few striking pieces and a feeling of polish. It’s grown up, uncluttered and easy to live with.

Done coldly, though, it can feel like a show flat, beautiful to look at and hard to relax in. Here’s what defines urban chic, and five ways to make it warm.

What defines urban chic

Urban chic sits somewhere between modern and classic. It borrows clean lines and simple shapes from contemporary design, and a touch of glamour from more traditional rooms: a beautiful stone table, a brass lamp, a piece of art with presence.

The palette is neutral: stone, cream, warm grey and soft black, often with one accent colour. Materials are a mix of the sleek and the natural, such as marble, travertine, metal, glass, velvet, linen and wood. And because city homes are often small, everything is chosen carefully and earns its place.

It also has a little of the industrial look about it, with its love of metal and city character, which I’ve written about in Industrial interior design: 9 ways to soften brick, steel and concrete.

Why urban chic can feel cold

Too much hard, shiny surface. Glass, chrome and gloss everywhere, with nothing soft to balance it. A palette of cool greys. Furniture chosen to look good rather than to sit on. And a flat that could belong to anyone, with nothing of the person who lives there.

5 ways to warm up city living

1. Warm the neutrals, and mix sleek with natural

Swap cool grey for stone, oat, sand and warm white. They feel just as sophisticated, and far more welcoming in British light.

Then, for every smooth, polished surface, add something natural and textured. A travertine table with a wool rug. A marble worktop with oak shelves. A velvet chair with a linen curtain. The contrast is what makes urban chic feel rich rather than cold.

2. Choose one statement piece, and make it yours

A large painting, a sculptural lamp, a beautiful stone table. One piece with real presence gives a room its personality. Several compete with each other.

Around it, add books you’ve read, art you love, things from places you’ve been. A few personal pieces turn a polished flat into a home, and stop it looking like a hotel room.

3. Make the balcony a room

In the city, a balcony or roof terrace is precious. A couple of olive trees in pots, a small table and two chairs, a lantern and a rug make it an extra room for half the year. I’ve written about how the studio designs outdoor spaces in Online garden design: can it really work from a few photos?.

4. Build in storage

City homes are often small, and clutter is the enemy of urban chic. Built-in cupboards, a bench with storage, a bed with drawers beneath. When everything has a home, the clean lines can do their job.

5. Light it like a hotel

Low, warm light from floor lamps, table lamps and wall lights, with dimmers wherever you can. Keep the overhead lights for cleaning day.

If you rent

Many city homes are rented, and urban chic suits renters well. Lamps, rugs, a statement piece of art, a good sofa and the balcony plants all move with you. There’s more in 7 ways to make a rented home feel like yours, deposit safe.

Urban chic and rustic luxury

Rustic luxury, the one style Sunday Ambience designs in, is quieter and more rural, but the two share a great deal: calm neutrals, natural stone, beautiful wood and far fewer, far better things. A city home can take the rustic luxury feeling beautifully. Tell me you love the urban chic look and it becomes part of the brief.

If this is the home you’d like

The Sunday Signature package is £1,495 for one room, designed in real depth, with photorealistic visuals and a concept walk-through with Rachel, live or pre-recorded. If you’d prefer to begin more gently, Room Ambience is the lighter option at £495, with one photorealistic visual of your finished room. A balcony or roof terrace counts as a room too.

Or simply send me a few photographs and tell me what isn’t quite working. I read every message myself, and there’s no obligation of any kind.