11 minute read
OUR HOME’S AN ODE TO RETRO
from Cdfgcfg
‘Our home’s an
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ABOUT ME I’m Kate Beavis, 47, a marketing consultant (theindie practice.com). I live here with my husband Adam, 46, a carpenter, and our children, Herbie, 12, and Kitty, 10. MY HOME A four-bedroom detached 1920s house in Bedfordshire. We moved here in February 2011. WHEN WE MOVED IN The house was damp and decrepit. There were mid-century wallpapers, a rickety extension and worn-out carpets everywhere, even in the kitchen. AND NOW The old kitchen has been transformed into a big, bright family hub, and we’ve incorporated the old wallpapers to make each room a backdrop for our vintage accessories. STYLE TIP Fill shelves with just two or three colours, and not too many items – the trick is knowing when to stop. Buy it Shop Kate’s colour happy style PAGE 42
n ODE TO RETRO’
Instead of ditching dated decor, Kate celebrated it by mixing vintage treasures with modern touches
COOL CURVES
‘My “kitchenette” came from a house-clearance sale. It’s really useful, and I love its rounded sides, which work well with all our curved Ercol pieces’ hile house-hunting for
Wmy next project, I was determined not to compromise,’ says serial renovator Kate. ‘I knew that I wanted an older, detached property, with a garage and garden, and it had to be a doer-upper.
We looked for ages before we found this house. It had been extended over time from a two-up, two-down to a fourbedroom house, but inside, it hadn’t been touched for decades, so there were 1950s, ’60s and ’70s wallpapers everywhere. The carpets were completely worn out and the kitchen had polystyrene ceiling tiles, and a damp, makeshift extension at the back. I think the amount of work might have put some people off, but Adam and I knew from experience what we were getting into, and for us it was perfect. Quick fixes The children were quite little at the time, so we started with redecorating, which we could tackle quickly and easily. Vintage style is a huge passion for both Adam and me, so we knew we wanted to keep some of the amazing old wallpapers. I loved that they were original, but they were everywhere, and just a bit too much. Also, our stuff, such as lighting, ceramics, glassware and fabrics, is all quite colourful, so I needed to tone the background down a bit to make it work. There was mustard-yellow wallpaper all through the hall, stairs and landing. We painted it all white, apart from one section on the landing. It’s more subtle now, and works really well. In Kitty’s room, there was a very pretty blue-green 1960s paper that I loved. To refresh the room, I painted white everywhere except for one wall and the chimney breast, and her duck-egg blue and lilac colour scheme grew from there. The wallpaper in our bedroom is a modern reproduction of a 1950s
KEEP IT SIMPLE
‘The kitchen itself, from Howdens, is quite understated. It was a good choice, as the room is open-plan and there’s so much else going on’
3 of the best
RETRO DINING CHAIRS Relax on a period-style piece
COMFY CURVES New Reka, £89, 4Murs
METAL MIX Leora, £149, Made
IDEA TO STEA L ‘A drop-leaf dining table is flexible and family-friendly’
BLOND WOOD Uley, £180, Garden Trading
MATCH UP
‘I chose wooden worktops to echo the Ercol furniture, and Adam cleverly rounded off the edges to tie everything in nicely’
design rather than an original, but design rather than an original, but it sparked the idea of the green and purple tones in the room. With so many accessories on display, I find having a colour theme for each room is a good way to keep things organised. The big change We lived with the existing kitchen for quite a while, but we always knew we’d change it. The whole room was cold and damp, the flat-roof extension was flimsy, and the office-type ceiling tiles were awful. Adam works in construction, so he and a builder friend did everything, and although it was disruptive, we’d done similar projects before, and we just worked through it. We extended out a little way, and Adam built a new, pitched roof with three large Velux windows, making the whole space lighter and more airy. He really wanted a completely open-plan room with a big island, but for practicality, I insisted on a separate utility room. We chose a new Shaker-style kitchen, but the cabinets have rounded edges, which feels a bit retro, and echoes the curves of our ’50s and ’60s wooden Ercol table and chairs. I’d have loved coloured kitchen units, but plain white made the best backdrop for all the WAR M WOOD
‘We’ve collected quite a few pieces of Ercol furniture over the years, often from eBay – it’s so practical’
TWO TONE
‘Our Arkana 1960s Tulip dining set was another eBay find. The blue seat pads are from the kitchen dining chairs, but better suit this room’s scheme’
Do it!
PAINT A WOOD FLOOR
Paint is a great tool for revitalising a marked or stained wooden floor and it’s a job you can easily do yourself. Invest in speciallyformulated floor paint for a durable, washable finish.
1Clear all the furniture out of the way, then sand the floorboards lightly, getting right into the corners and up to the edges. Wipe all the dust away, and once the floor is dry, it’s ready to paint.
2Apply the paint around the edges of the room first, then paint the rest of the floor, starting in the farthest corner from the door. Two coats will give a longer-lasting result, and you can touch up or repaint whenever required. RETRO STYLE
‘Our big fluffy 1970s rug insulates against draughts. The 1960s G Plan coffee table, which was Adam’s, is very collectable’
IDEA TO STEA L ‘Pile a plain sofa with cushions in colourful vintage designs’
Do it!
BUY VINTAGE FURNITURE
‘Vintage’ usually means items between 30 and 100 years old. Vintage pieces have unique character and it’s an eco-friendly way to furnish your home. There are masses of online specialists as well as sites like eBay offering second-hand furniture. Be careful buying online as you can’t inspect the item, and delivery may add to the costs. If you source from auctions, charity shops, antiques fairs and house-clearance sales, you can check the size and condition, and make sure the item will suit your space. Don’t expect perfection. You’re sure to find scratches, marks or damage. Some problems can be fixed with a little TLC, so you’ll need to decide how much wear and tear you can live with. STITCH UP
‘I make a lot of cushions myself. I recycle old curtains and mix in more contemporary fabrics’
CLEVER MIX
‘For the wall colour I made my own mid-tone teal blue, adding white to a darker shade’
orange-y tones in our 1960s cookware. I’m very into Catherine Holm’s bright, mid-century kitchenware, which all gets used as I don’t see the point of having something lovely and keeping it in a cupboard. We don’t tend to buy so much these days as we don’t really need it, but I keep my eyes open and I’ll snap up anything especially collectable. Savvy sourcing The kitchen-dining-living room has become the absolute heart of our home. It’s got bifold doors out to the garden and we can happily spend all day there. One of my favourite items is the kitchenette, a 1930s freestanding kitchen unit, where I keep all the baking kit. It makes a great linking piece between the kitchen and dining areas. We’ve sourced most things second-hand, from car boot sales, auctions, house clearances or eBay. My glassware cabinet was a skip find. I painted it and added the mirror at the back and it’s such a useful piece. We’ve got some lovely 1930s panelled internal doors that I spotted, stacked outside a house, ready for the dump. I knocked and asked if we could take them. They’re
OLD AND NEW
‘The headboard is a 1970s G Plan vinyl one, but the cabinets came from Ikea. I like their rounded, ’60s-style corners’
beautiful, solid and a real feature of the house. I’ve learned that you don’t always need to spend a lot of money on new things. I’ll try to upcycle rather than discard something – I even turned one of Herbie’s old skateboards into a shelf for his bedroom! I use Pinterest a lot for ideas and it’s all about being inventive. Restful retreat The kitchen-diner-living room is the main family space, so Adam and I liked the idea of making the lounge more of an adult room and we decided on calm whites and teal blues. One of our treasures is the white Tulip dining table and chairs, which gets used for more formal occasions, but also for homework. We painted the floor cream, which fits in with the different blue tones, and there’s artwork, ceramics, glassware and fabrics as well as one blue feature wall. A lot of the furniture was originally Adam’s. When we met, I was amazed that he shared my love of all things vintage. He had lots of ’60s and ’70s items like the dark leather sofa and swivel chairs, which belonged to his grandmother. My things were more 1940s and ’50s, and over time we’ve incorporated other bits like a lovely starburst clock and a retro wall light, left behind by the previous owners. We don’t worry too much about mixing up different eras and it all works well together. That’s one of the best things about this house – it truly reflects us.’ FASHION FORWARD
‘I’ve been into vintage fashion since my teens and collected handbags for years’
PAST TIMES
‘I was so pleased to save some of the lovely old wallpaper in Kitty’s bedroom’
IDEA TO STEA L ‘Hang paper party pom-poms for a fun, budget-friendly colour pop’
SOFT SHADES
‘Kitty’s bedroom is all duck-egg blues and lilacs, inspired by the wallpaper we found when we first moved in’
Where to buy her style
IKEA Affordable, pared-down furniture and accessories, inspired by mid-century design classics.
EBAY The go-to website to buy or bid for old glassware, ceramics, toys, artwork, furniture and more.
MARIMEKKO A wide selection of Scandi-designed homeware and textiles with a bold 1970s flavour.
GRAHAM AND GREEN Offers plenty of choice of colourful, decorative glassware, including textured and etched styles.
MISSPRINT Eye-catching graphic wallpapers and fabrics, ideal for adding a retro splash.
Find more tips for creating a colourful, family home at idealhome.co.uk
