It’s unlikely I will ever fall into this category, but just to see how landlords operate flats which weekly rent out at somewhere around the £1,600 mark, I went along to a newly designed Belgravia apartment in Wilton Crescent, belonging to London landlord Pierre Brahm. I took the new baby, too. Just so that he is acquainted with high-end style right from the word Go.

The two-bedroom, two-storey flat has been redecorated by the designer Allegra Hicks. Forget heavy panelling and even heavier carpets. The look now demanded by top City tenants, as far as Hicks is concerned anyway, is walls gently washed in sophisticated pastels, dark wooden floors and lacquered furniture.

Think Blakes hotel meets Heal’s. Nothing is too obvious. There are no outrageous plasma screens dominating the walls, no scary curtain technology, no Philippe Starck. Wall-to-wall Starck (particularly in the bathroom) with accompanying Alessi accoutrements has been been put into too many mid-priced London flats these days, which means its special allure for the top end has been utterly dissipated.

No, the high-end look as evinced by Hicks is quite antiquey and faintly oriental; there are old-fashioned armchairs and a wooden dining table. Hicks has installed mirrored bookshelves in the sitting room and covered a sage-green day bed with fabulously detailed cushions. The idea is that when you are not making zillions in the City, you can lounge on the day bed and flick through Hip Hotels, a Nigella cookbook or a guide to Provence, all of which have been thoughtfully stacked on the adjacent shelves.

“It’s very minimal and the colours are unassuming,” says Hicks, who designed the wallpaper and used colours she provides for Paint & Paper Library. “I toned down my usual style. It’s modern without being too modern. I’ve kept clean lines in the furniture and added detailed prints in the soft furnishings.”

Brahm, whose residential lettings firm owns and manages more than 200 London flats, is sold on the notion of designer “names” decorating the top end of his portfolio. However, he reminds me that he is doing it not in order to sell his properties, but to let them and, as such, he has to be mindful of a budget. “I budgeted on spending about £140 per sq ft,” he explains.

“That is for everything from building work to Vat. I guess I spent about £100 per sq ft on the rebuild and the rest on the decoration. I had to cut costs by looking globally,” he continues, by which I think he means he beat Allegra Hicks down on a total cost. Her husband Ashley designed and supplied all the furniture, which Brahm says came at cost. Still, with a flat measuring 1,800sq ft, this means an overall budget of about £250,000.

The living spaces were also reconfigured: the poky dining room and minuscule galley kitchen were knocked together to provide a larger eating space with a low-key kitchen attached. “You don’t realise the kitchen is a kitchen,” says Hicks. “The whole thing is in limed oak panelling which looks more like furniture. Even the fridge is in wood, it’s a big thing with ice makers and so on, but you don’t really spot it.”

I think she could have gone further to make the kitchen look even more reticent; City tenants rarely eat in and when they do, they never cook. “We are used to getting a flat back after two years rented out and finding the instruction manual is in the oven,” admits Brahm.

The old tiny bathroom was turned into a dressing room. In its place, one of the bedrooms was sacrificed to provide an en-suite oval bathroom with matching oval bath.

Everything is pretty simple and straightforward, throughout. Even the art on the walls, bar a rather aggressive nude over the bed, is inoffensive and rather bland, but this is probably appropriate given the perfect London view of rooftops and trees from every window.

At the leather-topped desk in the master bedroom, there is a block of headed writing paper with the address of the flat, rather as you might find in a hotel. “We are looking for the style of a boutique hotel but in a domestic environment,” says Brahm, who rents out about 20 flats in London at this level. “That is what I am trying to emulate, but on a cheaper level.”

So, forget loud paints, bright colours and gimmicks. Today’s high-end client is not bothered about remote-controlled ovens, alfresco hot tubs or music systems that can follow you to the front door.

Think less about Tomorrow’s World and more about how to make things look classical, restrained and sophisticated. With clipped box out on the balcony, and orchids, scented candles and marbled books dotted around everywhere. It’s a very comfortable aura.

Sadly for me this was rudely broken when the baby woke up and instantly started to yell. Happily, he took one look at Pierre Brahm and broke into a huge grin. Well, I always knew I would produce discerning, high-end offspring.

Brahm, 020 7235 8861, www.brahmestates.com

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