A Bloomsbury mansion flat designed to look like Virginia Woolf had just left

That well-known phrase 'word of mouth' sums up how New York couple James LaForce and Stephen Henderson were brought together with London-based designer David Bentheim. Their meeting resulted in not only an eclectic and celebratory flat in Bloomsbury but also a firm friendship. James, who heads up his own communications firm La Force, and Stephen, a writer and artist, are both Europhiles and theatre lovers. They had impulsively bought a two-bedroom Edwardian mansion flat and were looking for a decorator to help transform it. David, meanwhile, was due to start work in New York on an apartment belonging to a style journalist who contributes to Vogue and The New York Times. However, this project never took off. The client, who was also a good friend of James and Stephen, suggested that they contact David.

The brief they gave him was to create a flat that looked as though Virginia Woolf had left minutes earlier. This marked something of a departure from David's usual Modernist style, which draws on his own family's connections to Central Europe as well as various Mediterranean influences. 'I was a product of Bauhaus training, where everything had to be balanced,' he explains. It was David's extensive experience as an exhibition designer, which had spanned 20 years and covered subjects as diverse as Cecil Beaton and Russian costume, that gave him the vision and research skills required to embrace a decorative English vernacular. Cressida Bell's fabrics, the designs of the Omega Workshops in Bloomsbury, William Morris prints and Arts and Crafts pieces were among the sources that informed his proposed design. He prepared a compelling presentation for James and Stephen, and the job was his.

The flat is built in traditional mansion style, with a central corridor leading to a spacious corner sitting and dining room that looks out over the cafés and pavements of Bloomsbury. David accompanied James and Stephen on regular sourcing trips to The Decorative Fair in Battersea. During one of these outings, they unearthed an enormous carpet at the Foster & Gane stand, which was the ideal size and colour for the main room. The process quickly became an enjoyable accretion of pieces and fabrics as they layered each room together.

On a visit to Tetbury in Gloucestershire, they discovered a set of late-19th-century paintings of male semi-nudes within Lorfords Antiques' vast aircraft-hangar showrooms, as well as a round table and two William IV chairs at Brownrigg. Another successful purchase (this time made without David) was a black and white painting by Victor Pasmore, which dominates the wall between the dining and sitting areas. One of Stephen's own collages - a wonderful cacophony of colour - was brought over from New York and now conceals the television above a pair of inviting George Smith sofas covered in Jasper Fabrics 'Remy' from Michael S Smith.