9 minute read
I embraced my love of colour
‘I bought this dining table from MADE.com in a clearance sale reduced to £300, along with the ceiling light. The rug with parrots on was an IKEA collaboration with Craig Green, my favourite designer of all time’
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MY STORY
I’d been renting a house with my ex, but when we broke up, I wanted to buy my own place. After a week back living with my mum, cramped together with all my houseplants, I knew it was the right decision. As soon as I walked through the door of this house, I could immediately see myself living here.
Lockdown happened just after I moved in, so I was put on furlough from my job as a model agency booker. I really made the most of the free time and decorated the entire ground floor. Funnily enough, I never planned for my house to be this colourful. At first, I thought it would be quite neutral, but it seemed to be crying out for colour. My mum made me promise I’d wait two weeks to get a feel for the place. I’m glad I did, as I was champing at the bit to start, but waiting changed the way I felt about it.
In December 2020, I was made redundant but luckily, I was starting to get some paid partnerships though Instagram. My sister persuaded me to ride the wave and make it my full-time job. Now, I work with different brands, from paint to whisky. Being asked to be a Dulux Ambassador was completely crazy. They’re such a renowned brand and I’m just a man with a paintbrush!
Welcome TO MY HOME
A BIT ABOUT ME I’m Richard O’Gorman, 29, an interior designer, mural artist and Dulux Ambassador. I share my home journey on Instagram @househomo.
WHERE I LIVE My home is a two-bedroom Victorian terraced house in Birmingham. I’ve lived here since February 2020.
WHAT I WANTED TO CHANGE It was very traditional with cream and beige décor throughout, except for the blue bathroom. Also, I wasn’t keen on the vertical office-style blinds.
HOW I MADE IT MY OWN The walls and ceilings have been transformed with colourful murals and I’ve upcycled lots of furniture. I love a bit of fringing and the odd quirky torso motif! Most things are from Facebook Marketplace or free, so I only spent about £2,000.
MY FAVOURITE PART The dining room feels like it’s the most ‘me’ and I love having dinner parties in there. I was really scared to reveal it, but the reaction has been amazing. Rather than feeling too in your face and garish, it’s actually really calming.
‘I found these six boardroom chairs on Facebook Marketplace for £20. They were chrome and leather, but I sprayed the legs gold and recovered them in velvet costing £30. All the paper garlands and balls are from RE’ ‘I repainted the kitchen units using Montana Gold spray paint from B&Q in Mortadella and Beetle. The oven was cream, but I found some black stove paint in the shed’
Dining room
‘I started with the dining room in the centre of the house, so I could work my way out from there. The first thing I did was paint the walls orange and the picture rail blue, which my family thought was a bit wild. They had no idea what was coming! When I was asked to collaborate with Pickleson Paint, I picked some colours from the website and spent five weeks creating all the shapes. The rug is from my last place, and it works really well with the wall colours. I didn’t have a dining table for six months. I didn’t really need one due to lockdown and I wanted to take my time finding something I really loved. So, for a while it was an empty but beautifully designed room. Last New Year I was by myself, which I actually enjoyed, but this year I’m hoping to host a party in here.’
‘ This sideboard was the first thing I bought for the house after my offer was accepted. It was £15 on Facebook Marketplace and painted black with a wooden top. When I upcycled it, I discovered “HH” engraved into the front before I’d even set up my Instagram account, @househomo’
MIAMI BEACH p68
‘A company called Yellow Pop offered to make me a neon sign in whatever design I wanted, so I drew three squiggles on a piece of paper to represent a torso. I’m so in love with it. The velvet stool is from Dunelm’
‘The beechwood shelves are from Nordic Nest and I personalised them with some paint. I love the print from Doodlemoo and garland from RE. I’ve put a few of my fave cookbooks on display for extra colour and the painted arch adds another layer of interest’
‘Having a glass of wine while I’m doing the wall murals helps – until I get to the second glass!’ Kitchen
‘The walls used to be white with a bit of pink, alongside cream cupboards and a cream cooker. I love pink and green as a combination, so that was my starting point. After spray-painting the cupboards, and nearly gassing myself, I added some curves on the walls to soften the edges. Then I covered the wood laminate worktops with concrete-effect adhesive vinyl and bought new handles. I also hated the horrible lumpy lino, which you couldn’t sweep properly. When I peeled it back, I was pleased to see yellow tiles underneath but unfortunately, they were just around the edges with concrete in the middle. After using loads of floor leveller, I put down the ceramic tiles myself. In future, I’d love to change the layout and add a door to the back garden.’
HOW TO... Play with paint effects
Embrace your inner artist with these fun techniques For an industrial-style backdrop, try Craig & Rose’s Artisan Rust Effect base paint in conjunction with its Activator. They also have a concrete-effect paint.
Try colour washing: this involves applying a satin base paint then a glaze on top with either a large brush for texture, or a sponge for a more diffused look.
To mimic linen, try the Strie technique. A white or neutral water-based paint with an eggshell sheen is best for the base coat. Then mix one part glaze with your coloured top coat and two parts water, before applying with a paint pad. Before it’s dry, brush the wall vertically and then brush it horizontally.
Stencilling is an easy way to add wowfactor to your walls. Find great ideas at Dizzy Duck Designs or Stencil Library.
Create circles by attaching a pencil to one end of a piece of string and taping the other end of the string to your centre point. Once you’ve drawn the circle, paint around the edges and fill it in.
‘ The cabinet was a freebie. I glued wood onto the bottom and drilled copper legs into it and added layers of fringe with hot glue’
make
FRINGED TABLE p69
Baldaz pendant light, B&Q ‘I won a £1,000 Sweetpea & Willow voucher for being its Best Home Influencer of 2020, so I treated myself to this furry chair. It feels like a floating cloud and really fits in with the retro futurism theme. The cushion is from Silken Favours’
Steal my style Get Richard’s modern retro
Double Trouble art print, Fy
Pineapple stacking glass tumblers, Oliver Bonas
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Style idea
Highlight framed artwork with a painted arch around it
‘I spent a long time trying to find the right green for the walls as a lot are too dark. Estate Green from Wickes has the perfect richness’
‘ The curtains on the window, which overlooks the landing, give it a theatrical look. The spotty duvet cover is from Habitat’
Master bedroom
‘I found a screenshot on my phone from 2015 of a bedroom with dark green walls and ceilings, so I think this scheme had been brewing for a while. At first, I thought I’d be edgy and try a red and green scheme, but it felt too Christmassy! I changed lanes and went for deep green with rust-effect paint across the door and chimney breast, plus a geometric wallpaper panel. The wardrobe was an upcycling project with Wayfair. I took the top panel off, got a piece of plywood and sawed parallel lines into it, so it would bend into a curve. Then I painted it in lavender and turquoise tones. To go across the top, I got a white plastic pipe and filled it with hot sand to make it bend, then sprayed it gold.’
‘I didn’t want to use the wallpaper from Lust Home in a traditional way, so it’s just a section in the middle of the wall to highlight the chest of drawers. I’d never applied wallpaper before, but it was so easy. Me and my mum threw it up in an hour’
‘I don’t think there’s a colour I dislike, except perhaps grey’ Bathroom
‘I started by ripping out a bulky cupboard and took off the bath panel so I could paint the bath green. The existing sink was a bit ugly, so I ripped it out and found a quirky hexagonal cabinet to use as a base for a new round basin. That led to an archway behind the sink and a curved mirror. There was grey laminate flooring but it didn’t go all the way under the bath, so I decided to tile the floor instead.’
Guest bedroom
‘This room was initially a white box with a red feature wall, so for a while it was just a dumping ground. Then RustOleum asked me to decorate a room for a paid partnership, and I built a retro palette from its colour range. I didn’t plan to paint all the ceilings in the house, but when I decorated in here, I tried two semicircles around the pendant light and really loved it. Then I went a bit wild, which kicked off my whole ceiling love affair! So far, my mum, sister and best friend from uni have all stayed over, but it’s crying out to be used more.’
‘I love this console table from Cult Furniture as it fits perfectly in the alcove. It was really low, so I added wooden dowels on the bottom to raise it up. The velvet chair is from HomeSense’ ‘I found this unusual hexagonal cabinet on Facebook Marketplace. I painted it, added hairpin legs and sourced a blue basin for the top. The floor tiles from Total Tiles are so beautiful and reasonably priced’
WHAT I LEARNED...
When creating my wall murals, I never use masking tape. I just draw the designs on the wall with a pencil, string and a ruler. Having a glass of wine while I’m doing it helps – until I get to the second glass!
I’ve always been into sewing and making clothes, so I tried my hand at reupholstering the dining chairs. It was a steep learning curve and the second one is much better than the first!
There are no rules! Even if you put two colours together, which everyone else thinks is an horrific pairing, if you love it, it will speak for itself.
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