Second-hand finds fill my home

Ami has painted the walls up to the picture rail in Little Greene’s Obsidian Green, with Light Peach Blossom above to tie in with the French Connection rug. ‘ The Barker & Stonehouse sofa was free. A home mover had been let down by someone who was due to collect it,’ says Ami. ‘I’ve dressed it up with velvet cushions’

MY STORY

When we bought this place in 2006, it wasn’t really my dream house. We’d seen a much bigger rundown Victorian property that we loved, but we decided not to overstretch ourselves and went for this three-bed semi instead. It seemed like the sensible option as it had the parking space and garden we wanted, plus scope for extending in the future. Once everything was stripped back and replastered, we could redecorate one room at a time.

Five years ago, I had the idea to make the living room smaller in order to create a bigger kitchen-diner next door, and we added a conservatory off the kitchen too. As the living room had spanned the whole length of the house, we didn’t mind making it a bit smaller.

My favourite local shops are Rutherfords of Morpeth and Antiquites Francaises in Jesmond, Newcastle, but I also love Anthropologie and TK Maxx. I’ve always got a project on the go, so I’m often on Facebook Marketplace or eBay looking for bargains. Seven years ago, I opened my shop, Glebe House Vintage in Newbigginby-the-Sea. I adore sharing my passion for upcycling with others through workshops and one-off commissions.

Welcome TO MY HOME

A BIT ABOUT ME I’m Ami Wootton, owner of interiors shop, Glebe House Vintage @life_behind_glebehousevintage. I live with my husband, Paul, a painter and decorator, children, Archie, 13, and Kitty, seven, plus our family dog, Naughty George.

WHERE I LIVE Our home is a three-bedroom 1940s house in Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, Northumberland.

WHAT I WANTED TO CHANGE An old couple had lived here for years so we had to remove layers of woodchip and painted blown vinyl, as well as ripping up all the 1960s carpets.

HOW I MADE IT MY OWN We moved an internal wall to make the kitchen-diner bigger and fitted a new bathroom. I love a rustic French look, so there are lots of pieces with imperfections and contrasting textures, such as wood and velvet.

MY FAVOURITE PART Our cosy living room. It’s the first room people see when they come in and it makes such a statement.

‘ This year I’ve gone for pale pink and metallic baubles, mixed with brass leaves that I sell in my shop,’ says Ami. ‘ The presents are wrapped in Golden Leopard paper from Cox & Cox’ ‘ This is the first French shelf I ever bought and now I sell them in my shop too,’ says Ami. ‘ The mini wooden Christmas tree was picked up at B&M’

‘I absolutely love the log-burner,’ says Ami. ‘We went for cream so it would stand out and I bought the surround on eBay.’ The garland is made from chicken wire, pine branches and dried leaves, while the Christmas tree log holder was a £20 bargain on Facebook Marketplace’

HOW TO... Wallpaper a ceiling

Get creative on the fifth wall with a daring new look overhead Put up a sample first, as you would with paint. The effect can look different from below, so make sure you’re happy with your choice.

If you’ve decided to be bold with your ceiling wallpaper, keep the walls quite plain in either white or a colour that picks out a hue from the overhead pattern. If you’re feeling particularly brave, you could use the same wallpaper on the walls and ceiling. It’s a dramatic look that has a cosy effect and works particularly well in a small space, such as a bathroom or in a room with sloping ceilings.

If your ceiling hasn’t been freshly plastered, fill any holes or cracks. Then apply a coat of 50/50 PVA glue and water to size it. The semi-glossy surface makes it easier to slide wallpaper into place and match the pattern.

After pasting your first piece of wallpaper and folding it into the middle, start along one edge of the ceiling. Make sure it comes down onto the wall by a few inches, so you can trim the excess with a Stanley knife after smoothing with a brush. This ensures a neat edge with no gap. At the corners, you’ll need to cut a diagonal line before trimming.

Living room

‘ This room used to be bigger and had space for a dining table before we put up a stud wall to extend the kitchen. With dark brown walls and a green carpet, it was pretty uninspiring, so we put down oak-effect laminate flooring and painted the walls a dark greygreen colour teamed with pink. They say you shouldn’t use a dark colour unless you’ve got high ceilings, but I disagree. Although I’m drawn to pale neutral colours, they don’t feel right in my house. A couple of years ago, I spotted the lovely Rebel Walls pink wallpaper in a nursery on Instagram and decided to use it on the ceiling. We ordered eight strips made to fit my measurements, which cost about £600. Luckily, I had a 50% discount code. Paul was worried it might be a bit overpowering, but I absolutely love it.’

‘I normally have ivy and eucalyptus hanging from the chandelier, but I wanted to do something different this year, so I got these tealight holders from a wholesale florist’

Dining ar ea

‘We often have family for Christmas dinner. We tend to bring a second table in here as there’s normally about 11 of us. The Victorian dining table was a great find on eBay, and we’ve teamed it with chairs painted in different colours to break things up. Eventually, we’d like to knock down the conservatory at the side and extend the kitchen further to add an island.’

Steal my style Get Ami’s cosy vintage home style with these buys

Paper lanterns, Cielshop

Flo wall light, BHS Above the window is an advent calendar inspired by @pandora.maxton on Instagram. ‘It’s basically mini zinc buckets from Hobbycraft hanging from a long branch, with little treats inside,’ says Ami. ‘I steeped some of the buckets in bleach to make them look aged and rusty. The plates are a mixture of new ones from Anthropologie and vintage ones from France’

Happy to mix old and new, Ami chose pink tableware from Dunelm and vintage candlesticks from her shop to coordinate with her colour scheme. ‘I always have a few bunches of eucalyptus dotted around the house at Christmas,’ she adds

make

GOLD LEAF GLASSES p58

Bathroom

Ami decided to rethink the bathroom again during lockdown. ‘I needed a project, so I repainted the walls, spray-painted the chrome fittings in black, including the taps, towel rail and shower surround, and added black vinyl tape onto the shower screen to create a Crittall effect. I love the Quick-Step shiplap flooring as it’s waterproof and non-slip. The only thing that bugs me is having the boiler in the bathroom cupboard. I was at work when they came to fit it and would’ve preferred it in the utility room. It cost £400 less, but it’s a bit awkward as we could’ve had a shower in that spot.’

Ar chie's bedroom

‘Archie wanted an orange bedroom, but it wouldn’t have worked with the rest of the house,’ says Ami. ‘When he went away for a weekend, I redecorated his room as a surprise. I got the pallet wood from Facebook Marketplace, painted the walls grey and added a new carpet. Luckily he loved it and we did compromise with an orange stripe featuring his date of birth to add a little detail.’

Style idea

Spraying a chrome radiator black will give your bathroom an instant designer look

A gunmetal IKEA cabinet ties in with the industrial rustic look in here, while vintage crates make handy side tables. Ami found the 3D paper animal head at Assembli ‘Although I plan to eventually take out the bath and get a walk-in shower, I gave the bathroom a mini makeover during lockdown, and added pink towels from H&M Home’

WHAT I LEARNED...

Always go with your gut instinct. There have been a few times where I’ve picked a colour, chickened out and then ended up changing it back to what I originally wanted. Think differently to create a better use of space. When I first suggested the idea of making part of the living room a new kitchen, nobody thought it was a good idea. Your Christmas decorations are only there for a few weeks, so just go for it! There are so many fantastic ideas on Pinterest that can be adapted to suit your home.