For Actors Dichen Lachman and Maximilian Osinski, a Temporary Move to London Turned Into a Colorful House Renovation

When actors Dichen Lachman and Maximilian Osinski first discovered their house in west London’s leafy Chiswick neighborhood, they were in the middle of a workout. The husband and wife, known for their respective roles in Severance and Ted Lasso, were at a nearby gym when Lachman spotted a listing for a place a four-minute walk away. “Oh, I will just go have a quick look—I will be right back,” Lachman recalls.

It was not love at first sight in the conventional sense. The three-bedroom Victorian property had barely been touched since the ’70s and Osinski says was “the complete opposite” of the colorful, joyful home it is today. Lachman, who stars in this month’s release of horror movie Other Mommy, could see the potential. As chance would have it, the couple already knew architect and designer Charlotte Lilford, a parent at their daughter Mathilda’s school, who had renovated another house down the street.

Lachman took Osinski to see that project for inspiration. He liked what he saw enough to make a decision without even viewing the house they were buying. “I thought, If we could have something like this, I would be so happy,” Osinski says. “I trusted the end result, and the footprint is the footprint.”

The resulting project was part renovation, part reimagining. Lilford, a French mother of five who works between London and Paris, extended the loft and ground floor, reworked the 1,779-square-foot layout and brought new life to the period architecture, retaining Victorian details where possible and reinstating others that had been removed over the years. Her approach is architectural first—understanding how a family functions in a house before deciding how it should look. “I like designing spaces that are practical,” she explains. “I cannot design a space if it makes no sense in terms of the usage.”

For Lachman and Osinski, who live here with their daughter and their dog, Whisky, the interiors needed to accommodate a life that is far from static. Their move across the Atlantic was intended to be temporary, after Osinski landed the role of the flamboyant footballer Zava in Ted Lasso and spent months filming in Richmond. Lachman was simultaneously filming Severance, in which she plays Gemma Scout and the enigmatic Ms. Casey. What began as a short-term move from LA gradually became permanent as they fell for the family feel of west London.

The house reflects that transition. Pieces from their LA home sit alongside objects with deep family history: Lachman brought a 19th-century tapestry that belonged to her Tibetan grandmother. Born in Kathmandu, Lachman lived in Nepal until she was seven, before her family moved to Adelaide, Australia. Those early years have remained an important part of her connection to her heritage.

Osinski’s collection of Polish circus posters similarly ties the interiors to his family history. Rugs crafted by Lachman’s grandfather, mirrors, and objects were retained because they carried memories. “We have this funny little ritual,” Lachman smiles. “When we go to a new city or country, we always buy a Christmas decoration. I know it is very cheesy and touristy, but our tree is really eclectic now and carries beautiful memories. I think that is what makes a home.” Osinski adds, “Our style is not very cookie-cutter, and neither is Charlotte’s.”

Lilford designed the kitchen to function as a hardworking family environment, making it feel like an extension of the rest of the house rather than a utilitarian zone. “You need kitchens to be practical but pretty because everybody is entertaining in their kitchen,” Lilford says. The couple arrived from LA with a formidable list of appliances, including larger-than-average ovens for the UK and a substantial range, but Lilford found a way to accommodate them within the more compact London layout.

Color, wallpaper, marble, mosaic, and Zellige tiling are used generously, but often in concentrated moments. A patterned corner of the kitchen doubles as a booth, while the compact courtyard is treated as another room. “The smaller the garden, the more money you need to put in it,” Lilford says. “You need to make a real splash.” The splash comes in the form of a marble wave mosaic tile pattern from Starel—a triumph of an outdoor flooring feature that flows inside too.

If anything, the couple, who met while living in West Hollywood and have been married for more than a decade, had to be restrained rather than encouraged with bold design decisions. “Charlotte is really good at toning us down,” Lachman says. “We are good at pushing back in terms of going a bit darker or wilder.” That conversation is visible throughout the house. The upstairs movie theater, for instance, is wrapped in a fantastical Matières Végétales jungle wallpaper by French design house Élitis. “The Fifth Avenue Hotel in New York was a big inspiration in terms of really leaning into the wallpaper and the color,” says Lachman. “I tried to track down some of their wallpaper actually, but it was custom.”

For a couple whose working lives continue to take them around the world, the house has become a constant. Lachman spent time in New Zealand earlier this year filming The Legend of Zelda. Meanwhile, Osinski has been working closer to home on hit BBC comedy Ann Droid. For all the places their work takes them, it is here that their life has become rooted.

During our visit, a neighbor is looking after Whisky, while Mathilda pops over to a friend’s house to play. The couple have become embedded in the community. “LA is built for cars,” Osinski says. “London is very human scale.” Their Chiswick house may be smaller than the new-build they left behind in California, but it has encouraged a more connected way of living.

It is practical enough for family life, playful enough to reflect its owners, and makes every square foot count. Most importantly, it feels lived in and loved.