studiogabrielle-studioskey-weekend-sleepovers-interview — photo credit: CHRIS SNOOK / RACHAEL SMITH
(LEFT: georgina key, RIGHT: Sophie Scott)

Welcome to The Weekend Sleepovers, where we unveil the hidden secrets behind the bedrooms of design mavens. Today, we step into the ethereal realm of Studio Skey, where minimalist elegance meets practical ingenuity. In an intimate tête-à-tête, we delve under the covers with the co-founder of studio.skey, Sophie Scott, exploring the artistry that transforms ordinary spaces into havens of serenity. From custom daybeds that breathe new life into forgotten corners to the subtle interplay of light and texture, Join us on this enlightening journey as we uncover the thoughtful design elements and ingenious strategies that culminate in the ultimate weekend retreat.

Tell us about the vibe of your bedroom at home. How does it reflect your style as an interior designer?

The style of my bedroom at home is pared-back, soft, and neutral, which aligns closely with both my design taste and that of studio.skey, the interior architecture & design studio I run with my co-founder Georgina. However, I would say we tend to embrace eclecticism and layers a lot more with our client's projects, blending various furnishing styles and influences.

Whereas my personal space, and especially my bedroom, is very minimalist. This is primarily for practical reasons as space is very precious being in a duplex flat in London and I find it feels more tranquil and spacious keeping the furnishings simple and the space devoid of any unnecessary items.

With your expertise in design, what are the must-have elements that contribute to the weekend sanctuary feel of your bedroom?

One of the features I added to the bedroom was a custom daybed in an area of the space that was previously unusable. When we moved in, the ceiling above our stairs extended up into the floor of the bedroom and formed a strange 1m high box that made that area completely redundant. I managed to lower the height of this without compromising the headroom over the stairs to form the base of the daybed. I then had some custom cushions made to create a lovely seating space in the room which is now the perfect spot for reading, meditating or enjoying a coffee during a slow morning at the weekend. We often create these nooks and window seats in our projects (at studio.skey) to maximize space and create additional pockets of interest. Daybeds are a great hybrid between an armchair and bed so ideal for lounging and they can often double up as extra hidden storage space too, something which we’re all desperate for.

It was also important for me to have a double set of curtains, one sheer and one heavy linen, and for these to span the full width and height of the glazed wall out to the balcony. Having the double curtain layer allows for control of both privacy and natural light at all times, whilst the wall of the waved fabric also adds a softness and cocooning effect to the room. During the week I’ll leave the blackout linen curtains open to allow the sunlight to wake us up and during the weekends the curtains fully block the light if we want to embrace a lazy weekend lie-in.

Let's talk mattresses. How did you decide on the perfect mattress for your bedroom, and why is it so crucial for a good night's sleep?

I chose a medium-firm pocket-sprung Hypnos mattress, which I absolutely love. Investing in a good mattress is really important and I’m glad it hasn’t been a disappointment as it can be tricky deciding what to go for. Fortunately, we had stayed at a hotel which had an amazing mattress shortly before we had to purchase a new one so we just enquired with them and went with that model - always a good testing method. However, I would also argue that bed linen, pillows and toppers are equally important to a great night’s sleep and achieving a dreamy hotel setup at home.

Let's shed some light on your bedroom lighting setup. How did you curate the lighting in your bedroom to create that serene atmosphere?

At studio.skey we like to avoid downlights when possible and instead use a mixture of spotlights, pendants, wall lights and lamps. A varied, layered lighting scheme creates a nicer overall ambience and enables you to create different lighting scenes for different uses and times of day. I took the same approach at home and ensured everything was on dimmers and some on smart systems to allow adjustment of levels, particularly to create softer, low-lit options. The menu wall lights on either side of the bed offer focused light at night without being overly bright or intrusive, whilst the Plaster Serax lamp and Opal Cestita Santa & Cole Floor Lamp add more ambient light.

The quest for the perfect bedding is real. How do you navigate through the sea of options to find the ones that promise a cosy night's sleep?

When it comes to selecting pillows and bedding, I try to prioritise comfort and support as well as aesthetics, which is sometimes difficult. For pillows, ideally, you want to strike a balance of softness and firmness to create that compressing cloud-like sensation whilst also effectively supporting your neck and head. For me, no one pillow can do both so I have a set of firmer specialist pillows, that are contoured and supportive which I use for sleep, along with lots of classic duck-feather softer pillows. It’s always important to go for high-quality, breathable options for bedding to promote temperature regulation and the right tog duvet for the current season.

For bedlinen I love pure linen in the summer for its breathability and relaxed aesthetic and brushed cotton is so cosy for the winter. As it’s my preferred look, I always have a full-size draped linen bedspread over the top of the bed sheets and pillows, which means I can play around with sheet and cover options purely for comfort. My current go-to brands for bedding and linen are The Duvet Store, Soho Home, Tekla and Bed Threads.

Colour plays a big role in setting the mood. What's your colour palette for a soothing bedroom atmosphere?

It’s certainly a cliché but I find soft, neutral colour schemes to be the most soothing for a bedroom. The restful tones create a tranquil atmosphere that in turn promotes relaxation and makes it easier to wind down from work at the end of a long day. I’ve adopted this in my own sleeping space, opting for pale timber floors, chalky linen curtains and textured neutral plaster walls.

There is no doubt that colour plays a significant role in influencing the overall mood of a bedroom. Rich tones can evoke a sense of warmth and comfort, cooler blue-green tones can impart a feeling of calmness and relaxation, while darker hues, such as an inky blue or chocolate can create a cosy, enveloping effect.

However, I would argue that colour alone isn’t the determining factor in the overall ambience of a room. The aspect of the room, amount of natural light, size of the space, style of furnishings, the layout and functionality, materials and textures etc.(the list goes on) all play a vital role in how a space feels. Colour is also personal to an individual so what might be relaxing to one person, isn’t true for another so it’s most important to consider which shades resonate with a sense of calmness most for you.

Technology and sleep - a complicated relationship. How do you strike the right balance between tech and tranquillity in your bedroom?

This admittedly isn’t always easy but we have a couple of strategies that have helped, largely influenced by the products my husband’s company, Joy Resolve, manufactures. We definitely embrace technology with our Alexa, who plays sleep stories at night and we’ve also programmed it to turn our softly glowing Santa & Cole light on at the same time each morning to help ease us up in a gradual, comforting way. Another is that we set our Barisieur (the coffee alarm clock designed by my husband) each night before we go to bed which has become a winding-down nightly ritual. We use it to wake us up instead of our phones with the smell and sound of it bubbling, and we’re awoken with freshly brewed coffee (or sometimes now hot lemon water) to start the day.

The combination of light and coffee stimulates the senses and is a really nice way to be woken every morning, especially if like me you’re not a morning person. It’s a stark contrast from our anxiety-inducing phone alarms of the past and it also promotes a better nightly routine at the same time too.

What's that one item you absolutely can't live without in your bedroom? How does it elevate your sleep experience?

For me, there is nothing that enhances the mood of a space more than the magical light of candles. Whether I'm winding down after a long day or indulging in a moment of self-care, lighting my favourite candles always helps melt away stress and elevates the experience.

If you could wave a magic wand and tweak one thing in your bedroom to boost your sleep quality, what would it be?

Continuing with the earlier theme of technology, I would love to have had the curtains motorised and programmed on a timer. It’s definitely a luxury, not a necessity at all, but the ability to keep the light out until you want it and then to be able to allow the natural light in and reveal the day each day morning would be lovely. It would also help improve the quality of my sleep as currently I leave my curtains open as I find the blackout is so effective it’s difficult to wake up in such darkness but then I also run the risk of the light triggering a lighter phase of sleep too early now.

Another simpler change would be to utilise more smart bulbs. Being able to adjust the colour temperature and brightness of the varied bedroom lights throughout the day would be an amazing tool to help signal the body to wind down or wake up.

And finally, replacing my bedside tables with larger nightstands with proper storage. Who was I kidding, we all need that bedroom drawer beside us for bedtime essentials to hand and I’d much rather they all be neatly tucked away than on display. It’s disrupting the minimalist aesthetic so I’m on the hunt for replacements but haven’t found anything quite right yet.

What Studio Skey
are loving…

Barisieur Tea And Coffee Brewing Alarm Clock By Joy Resolve

Lily Pad Jewellery Dish In Flat White Glaze

top to bottom, left to right: Saint Candle by August & Piers, Cast Sconce Wall Lamp by Audo, Liston Onyx Bowl by soho home, Contemporary Papier Mache Lamp, CESTA LAMP By Santa & Cole, Barisieur Tea and Coffee Brewing alarm clock by JOY RESOLVE, Lily Pad Jewellery Dish in Flat White Glaze, Repose Heavyweight Bedcover by cultiver, Stoneware Mug Natural Sand by Jord

The Weekend Sleepovers: Under the Covers with Studio Skey