Decorating & Design

See London Designer Beata Heuman’s Whimsical English Style

Author: Wendy Jacob

Published on March 21, 2022

The heavens were definitely smiling on 21-year-old student Beata Heuman in 2004 when — disillusioned by the interior design course she was studying in London — she landed a job interview with one of the lions of British design, Nicky Haslam. Beata admitted she didn’t even know who he was, but Nicky, always a rebel, wasn’t snubbed and took a chance on the Swedish expat.

Over the next nine years, mentored by both Nicky and his number two, Canadian designer Colette van den Thillart, Beata developed her own theatrical style (think bold colors, layered patterns and timeless furniture). In a move she called a natural progression, she launched her eponymous firm in 2013, taking on projects such as Chelsea restaurant Farm Girl, London townhouses, a Nantucket clapboard house and a new-build in Hamburg. The firm was included on Architectural Digest’s prestigious Top 100 in 2020 and 2021.

To further her commitment to craftsmanship, Beata had been selling artisanal items on a small scale since 2015, and unveiled her e-commerce site, Shoppa.beataheuman.com, in 2019. Offerings include sumptuous velvet pillows, marbled wallpaper, lighting, and brass coasters and hand-forged hardware produced by small, independent Swedish, British or Italian makers.