A unique wardrobe space is just one of the personal touches that make the home of online fashion retailer Sarah Curran the perfect fit

IT COMES as no surprise to find that Sarah Curran, founder of my-wardrobe.com, one of the world’s largest and most successful online fashion retailers, has a well-stocked wardrobe… but forget any bulging-at-the-seams affair, this is pretty and practical walk-in closet territory.

The mother of one, whose wardrobe sports shoes by the likes of Jimmy Choo and Christian Louboutin alongside Missoni jumpers and Diane Von Furstenberg dresses, had it designed.

“I worked with a shopfitter to design the walk-in wardrobe, as I wanted to be able to see the clothes as you would in a shop,” Sarah explains. “Often, despite having a professionally-fitted wardrobe, I have found it difficult to see the clothes, so by using a shopfitter we created different side and front-facing rails mounted onto a mirror tiled wardrobe, and I really love it,” she adds.

Sarah bought her five-bedroom house in Great Bowden, Leicestershire, two years ago. It took six months for the renovations to be completed, during which time Sarah and her son Jake lived in the adjoining cottage.

Sarah opened her boutique, Powder, in London’s Crouch End in 2002 just after getting married and having her son. “We had so much to deal with and it all seemed very complicated,” she says. At this point, Sarah and her former husband, Andrew, decided to give up their hectic life in London, moving to a rambling wine chateau in the south of France.

“We thought it would be a better quality of life,” Sarah explains.

“I had been brought up in St Jean Cap Ferrat, which is where my mother is from, and always loved the scenery, beautiful skies and colours of France. We moved to be near to Bordeaux, St Emillion, where my parents now live and stayed for two years,” she adds.

During this time, Sarah kept her shop in Crouch End, and travelled back and forth to London from France. “This was when I started thinking about a new online fashion retail store. I was buying a lot of things on the internet as I was living in quite a remote area. That is what made me think there was a gap in the market for my-wardrobe,” she says.

The family eventually moved back to England. Sarah and Andrew divorced at the start of this year, but having played an integral role in the business he remains a shareholder.

Sarah loves living in Leicestershire. “It’s such a handy location, halfway between our London and Nottingham offices, which makes commuting straightforward. It is beautiful where we live, an idyllic setting with a local country pub, corner shop and church, and we are lucky to have lots of close friends in the village.”

With 100 employees, Sarah’s working life is once again hectic. Her day starts at 6am, before the school run and commute into London, where she spends her day in meetings with new designers, investors and clients.

As a balance to her busy daily life, Sarah’s home is a calm and relaxed space, decorated in a palette of neutral greys and whites.

“I used Lamp Room Gray by Farrow & Ball in the dining room and Pavilion Gray everywhere else. The building company just used to call it ‘the grey house’. I find it a very soothing and relaxing colour to live with,” she says.

The streamlined kitchen, designed by Alexander Lewis, has a marble island in the middle, making it ideal for entertaining and cooking. Next to the kitchen is the orangerie and beside that is Sarah’s luxury – a private cinema room, complete with velvet sofas, and holders for popcorn and drinks. “The cinema was something I always wanted.

It’s fantastic for Jake and I to watch films at the weekend,” she says.

The drawing room is also painted in soothing grey tones, while a gold metallic coffee table in the middle of the room, from London interiors store Brissi, takes centre stage. Some of Sarah’s own artworks, watercolours of hydrangeas, add a personal touch to the mantelpiece. A gold Louis XV chair sits beside two large grey sofas. “I bought the chair from an antique market in St Emillion in France, it was a bargain and I had it re-upholstered,” Sarah explains.

A second lounge is decked out in greens and creams. “The influence here was for a hunting style in this room,” Sarah says. An unusual light fitting, created from antlers, hangs in the centre of the room and the green tones by Farrow

& Ball add to the relaxed country feel.

Upstairs, Sarah’s bedroom is a sanctuary in pale tones and simple furnishings with a dramatic gilt chandelier adding to the grown-up glamour. The elegant upholstered bed came from sofa.com, while Sarah ordered a specially fitted mattress by VI-Spring, “My bed is my favourite piece of furniture,” she admits.

And when it comes to little luxuries at home, Sarah has a couple of favourites. “I love my Rose Diptyque candles, which I light as soon as I get home. I also have an amazing coffee machine installed in the kitchen, which makes the most wonderful lattes.”