Fern’s Room

While she sleeps (but stirs!) a few photos of baby Fern’s room. The scheme I chose was for bright colours and pattern, dark wood and eco friendly white painted walls. I sourced a vintage Ercol rocking chair and chalk painted a vintage ladder and Ikea herb racks. The vintage ceramic lion I found a couple of years ago and wooden blue birds block from a local vintage shop.  I made the “Let’s Cwtsh” banner using a mix of new and vintage cotton, pom pom trim and a broken wooden hanger.

Ideal Home Magazine Feature, April 2014

Last year, I emailed Ideal Home Magazine a few snaps of my home after they tweeted asking to see reader homes. I’d already taken some photos as was applying for an interior design program on the BBC at the time. I bearly expected a “Thank you for sending your photos, what a lovely home you have” email, let alone a “We love your home and would like to come and photograph it for the magazine” email!

The writer and photographer came and spent the day at my house back in October 2013 so it’s seemed a long wait to see the photos and article culminate in the April 2014 printed magazine. As I’m not a subscriber, it was a bit frustrating knowing that hundreds of other people were reading the feature before me! I eventually got the magazine today, and above is the spread. Very exciting to be featured, and nice to know that the love and creativity I’ve put into designing my home has been recognized in this way. The issue should be available in the shops from today until the end of the month.

Interior Design and My Home

I started decorating and adapting spaces from the age of 16 when my parents gave me free reign to decorate my bedroom. A keen ‘Changing Rooms’ watcher, I got creative with silver spray paint on my radiator, hot pink walls with hand painted graphic shapes, and upcycled an old wooden desk. It was pretty extreme but it wasn’t for me at the time (although hot pink was a brave choice of colour and a talking point!) I loved doing it, the whole process of a blank canvas to work from.

Making my home a place with individuality, character, makes people smile to be in is important, as we like entertaining. My style is a mix of bright modern and vintage with accents of colour and pattern. Yellow is my favourite colour at the moment – I’m mixing it with blue in my lounge and grey, black and white in my bedroom. I don’t like to spend a lot of money on things, and tend to find the best items for my house from charity shops or secondhand. I have recently spontaneously applied to be on a new BBC 2 programme to find Britain’s best amateur interior designer and had interest from Ideal Home about my interior designing. Not sure whether anything will happen with either of them, but will see! What’s your style and how do you make your house a home?

The Freud Chest

The Freud Chest from Graham & Green, made from mango wood and adorned with a variety of drawer knobs is just, perfect. I’ve never loved a chest of drawers more.