emerged from a tired traditional house near Amsterdam A FINE VINTAGE Second-hand finds and strong

A FINE VINTAGE

Ruthie Hudson’s love of bold patterns and antique finds has given this 1930s house a completely new character

FEATURE JO LEEVERS | PHOTOGRAPHY RACHAEL SMITH

KITCHEN-DINER

British factory chairs and a more ornate vintage table make for an interesting mix. Vinterior sells similar chairs, from £100 each. Walls in French Grey Mid flat oil eggshell, £69 for 2.5ltr, Little Greene. Painting, RH Prints

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For someone whose home is fi lled with artwork, interesting end-of-line fabrics and upcycled furniture, printmaker Ruthie Hudson has an unexpected confession. ‘Secretly, I like the idea of living in a sleek minimalist box,’ she says, ‘but in reality, I’m too sentimental. I enjoy collecting “stuff ”, especially things that feel as if they have a back story.’ Her 1930s Lincolnshire house might be short on echoey white spaces but it has plenty of personality.

Ruthie, her husband Michael, who runs a vintage and pre-war car restoration business, and their sons Jasper, eight, and Felix, fi ve, live in the house, which was originally built as accommodation for a police offi cer, but had been used as storage for many years by the time they viewed

home truths

THE PROPERTY

1930s house LOCATION Lincolnshire ROOMS Sitting room, kitchen-diner/living area, garden room, cloakroom, three bedrooms, bathroom, PURCHASED 2011

PREVIOUS PROPERTY

‘Before moving here, we lived in a Georgian terrace nearby,’ says Ruthie.

SITTING ROOM

Hanging artwork from the picture rail has helped to connect this diverse collection. Walls in Pigeon estate emulsion, £47.95 for 2.5ltr, Farrow & Ball. The Afaw Berber-style rug, £280, La Redoute, is similar

GARDEN ROOM Ruthie repainted this vintage cabinet in colours that echo the tones in the wallpaper. Cabinet in Stable Green oil eggshell, £72 for 2.5ltr, Paint & Paper Library and Calamine estate eggshell, £64 for 2.5ltr, Farrow & Ball

GARDEN ROOM A playful wall light adds a flash of contemporary style to this indoor-outdoor space. Let’s Dance LED neon light, £450, Love Inc

lesson learnt ‘Painting vintage pieces of

it. Weeds and plants had taken root in the window frames and the garden was so overgrown that they couldn’t see where it ended. This abundance of space at the back of the property was to become a bonus, though, as it meant that over the next few years the couple could extend the original two-up, two-down building, adding a larger kitchen-diner, a garden room and two bedrooms.

The most dramatic addition to the house is the light and colourful garden room, which is accessed via the open-plan kitchen-diner and the front sitting room, giving the property a circular flow. The room was inspired by a 1969 photograph of David Hockney and Sir Cecil Beaton, taken in Beaton’s conservatory at Reddish House. ‘Ever since I saw that image of a plant-filled room with an elegant black and white tiled floor I’d thought that I’d love to sit in a space like that,’ says Ruthie. In her version, leafy fronds drape down from shelves and bold wallpaper adds year-round florals. ‘I was drawn to this pattern because it feels as if there’s no beginning and no end to it,’ she says.

As elsewhere in the house, key pieces of furniture in here are vintage finds. ‘When we were furnishing our first home I kept finding really beautiful pieces of mid-century and second-hand furniture and couldn’t resist buying a few extra items, which I sold in a low-key way for a

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BEDROOM A mix of painted and pine furniture creates a relaxed country feel. Pamono sells old trunks, from around £500 each. Vintage insect poster, price on request, Fun Funky Living.

Print (bottom left), RH Prints

furniture from different eras helps to unite themÕ

while,’ explains Ruthie. She progressed from selling to friends to taking pitches at pop-up fairs. ‘This coincided with other couples we knew getting their first homes and wanting to furnish them stylishly but without spending lots of money,’ she adds.

Some of her best finds have been at auctions and more remote barn sales in the countryside: ‘There’s something about the buzz of being at an auction that I love,’ says Ruthie. But other items never made it onto her stall. ‘There were a few things that I put in our house to photograph in order to sell them, but liked them so much that I kept them,’ she says. ‘It wasn’t exactly a hard-nosed business plan.’

Vintage furniture has been re-covered in fabrics Ruthie found on a local market stall. ‘Almost all our chairs, the footstool and a sofa have all been given a new life with end-of-roll materials,’ she explains.

Ruthie now works as an artist and a printmaker, running RH Prints. She makes linocuts using a 19th-century lithograph press. ‘It dates from 1856 so it’s slightly temperamental and results can vary each time I make a print,’ she says. ‘But that lack of identikit perfection appeals to me. You know that each print is done by hand.’

It’s that love of personality that characterises the couple’s style. ‘Whether it’s furniture, clothes or art, it’s interesting to see signs of a life well lived,’ says Ruthie. ‘That’s what makes a happy home.’ MASTER BEDROOM An elegant antique side chair adds faded grandeur.

Leopard fringe cushion, £40, The French Bedroom Company

BATHROOM Bold material was used to make the blind, echoing the impact of the classic monochrome tiles.

Jura Stripe fabric, £47.50m, Ian Mankin, would work here. Octagon floor tiles, £23.98sq m, Target Tiles, are a match. Walls in Ammonite estate emulsion, £47.95 for 2.5ltr, Farrow & Ball