A London flat transformed by Schumacher's chameleon European CEO Benni Frowein
'I think I am a bit of a chameleon,’ says Benni Frowein, CEO of the Europe and Middle East arm of American heritage fabric house F Schumacher & Co. ‘I’ve lived in different places and been exposed to a lot; I can adapt.’ In a previous life, he was a (sometimes literally) high-flying consultant, working in the banking, mining and luxury automotive industries, with stints in China, South Africa and Brazil.
Though the experience was hugely formative – Benni loved exploring new cultures and the countries he lived in – it was also gruelling. For the best part of a decade, he worked 90-hour weeks and spent much of that on long-haul flights. A dramatic pivot came in 2015, when he set himself up in property development, taking on interior and landscape design projects in Europe from a base in Germany. A year later, however, he was contacted by a former colleague, who had taken up the reins at Schumacher and asked Benni to help transform its fortunes. It turned out to be the perfect job, in which he could combine his business experience with a growing appreciation of design and decoration. He spent five years in New York as president of Schumacher, then in 2021 he moved to London to take on his current role.
So, yes, like a chameleon, he is adept at blending in with and adapting to his environment. But from the look of his apartment in Chelsea, he is also good at changing his environment to suit his needs. It was on a dark and ugly lockdown-era day in January 2021 that he originally visited this flat, which takes up the first floor of a substantial end-of-terrace house built in the late 19th century. Despite its low ceilings, poky rooms and odd corridors, Benni could see the flat was a space he could reinvent, which he did over a six-month period.
He had continued developing properties on the side, often helping friends and family members with their homes, so he felt more than equipped to take on the design and project management of his own. Benni drew up plans for not only a new layout, but also every bit of joinery (there is a huge amount of built-in storage). ‘I was on site at 7am every day to discuss problems or solutions with the contractors, so I could make decisions quickly, allowing them to get on with their work.’
Floors were laid, walls came down and tons of rubble were removed. Mysterious pipes were discovered and gingerly discarded. (‘We still don’t know what some were for,’ Benni admits). Every cornice and architrave was replaced, doorways straightened and false ceilings taken down. The location of bedrooms and rooms for living were flipped to create an elegant new layout.
‘Maybe it’s my German blood,’ Benni says with a smile. ‘But I really needed a sense of symmetry. As much as possible, at least.’ A wide, newly created hall connects the two sides of the flat. This windowless space has a mirrored wall and ultra-glossy, ink-black flooring, which reflects the light that creeps in from the rooms that radiate off it. It is the core of a now perfectly aligned enfilade of rooms: to the left is Benni’s bedroom and bathroom; to the right is the dining room, sandwiched between the kitchen and sitting room. It is possible to stand in the bay window of Benni’s bedroom and see straight through the bay window of the dining room into the communal garden beyond. There is also a small reading room that doubles as a spare room for guests.
Benni’s childhood home in Hamburg was filled with antiques. ‘My mother decorated it beautifully,’ he says. ‘I recall sitting with her and the seamstresses as they cut out fabric for the pelmets.’ She remains an influence and inspiration; in fact, Frau Frowein was visiting at the time of our photo shoot and created some of the flower arrangements. ‘But I’ve made a break from the style I grew up with and the way I decorated previous homes, which were always quite classic. I’ve forced myself out of my comfort zone to create a more modern look.’
One way this is expressed is in his combination of new, bespoke furniture with vintage finds, inherited pieces and artefacts from round the world. The artworks above his bed were bought by his parents in the 1970s and a writing table in the dining room belonged to his late aunt. He commissioned London-based architecture and design studio Atelier Pendhapa to make a raku-ceramic-topped dining table and his brother-in-law’s firm Helder Johannes to create the sitting-room rug, its curving geometric patterns referencing the vintage Cassina sofa.
It is not surprising that, in the home of someone who runs a textiles business, fabrics have been used expertly. There are plenty of classic Schumacher designs, but Benni’s choices also show a different – and perhaps more masculine – side of a brand best known for floral and figurative patterns. His wardrobes are upholstered in a plain camel linen. The bright yellow chintz silk of the sitting room curtains has been muted with a top layer of oatmeal sheer, which creates an ombré effect.
And there are clever ideas and unexpected details throughout. Black and white geometric Porter Teleo wallcovering has been used on the kitchen walls and also the floor – coated in several layers of varnish, it is holding up remarkably well. What looks like skirting board under the built-in wardrobes in Benni’s bedroom conceals wide drawers for storing his shoes. The cut-out patterns on the radiator cover echo those of the black brick tiles in the hall; their glossy surface is repeated in the tiles lining the double-sided fireplace Benni had cut into the wall between the sitting and dining rooms.
Although his career has taken him all over the world, Benni says London has been ‘the city of his heart’ since he came to do an internship here in 2003. ‘It’s just taken me 20 years to get back here and make it my home.’
Michael Sinclair1/3A bright yellow Cecil cotton chintz overlayed with Galapagos sheer, both by Schumacher, brings a sunshiny vibe to the room on even the dreariest London days.
Michael Sinclair2/3Schumacher's Textured Check woven paper wallcovering and Hoxton porcelain tiles in black gloss from Mandarin Stone create a dramatic monochrome look in the hallway.
Michael Sinclair3/3Pale tiles from Mandarin Stone and a freestanding bath from Lusso are enlivened by a custom vanity unit in cappuccino onyx, a tapestry from the Ramses Wissa Wassef Art Centre in Cairo and a blind in Schumacher's Maxwell cotton.
