SO - Im back from Paris and guess what? I'm half a stone heavier than when I left...I couldn't stop shovelling macaroons down me throat! #OBSESSED#ADDICTED#CRACKWHORE
Anyway - Just in case you miss it! This is the interiors feature that appeared in YOU magazine the day before we left for Paris.
Putting the wow factor into your home is easier than you think.
Renovation: The terraced house
A two-storey, five-bedroomed house that was once wall-to-wall chintz. The couple are renovating the property in two stages: the first – the bedrooms, en suite bathroom and living rooms –
took six months to complete and involved stripping back the house to its bare bones and reconfiguring the layout to suit their needs. Phase two – a large modern rear and side-return extension – will provide a spacious kitchen/diner and utility room.
The family
Michael (below right), interiors blogger and art director, and Jonathan, founder of location website www.shootfactory.co.uk, share their Edwardian semi in the East Riding of Yorkshire with Jacob, an English bulldog, and pugs Oscar and Charlie.
The living room
An enormous leather sofa, bought for a song from Barker & Stonehouse (barkerandstonehouse.co.uk) because of its size, is dwarfed by the three-metre ceiling height. A vintage ceramic pineapple lamp is paired with a gold shade from HomeSense (homesense.com). The artwork is by local artist Andy P.
The base palette
A classic monochrome scheme of black, white and grey replaced ‘the masses of chintz’. The original pine floors were sanded and painted in either Great White or Pitch Black floor paint by Farrow & Ball. The walls are finished in matt estate paint in All White, Downpipe (grey) or Pitch Black, also from Farrow & Ball. The architraves, skirting boards and picture rails are in eggshell to match the wall colour
The dining room/ library
A Parabel table, a design classic by Finnish designer Eero Aarnio, doubles as a dining and library table (eero-aarnio.com). It is paired with two red wing chairs, bought at a house clearance and re-covered in red velvet (for similar, try Designers Guild’s Ruzzini in Scarlet, designersguild.com). The knitted pouffe, one of many throughout the house, is from HomeSense (as before). A painting by local artist Geoff Keen hangs above the refurnished original fireplace, and will soon be available through Michael’s new online shop, launching soon.
Dining room before
The bathroom
The couple knocked through from the original master bedroom and en suite to a smaller adjoining bedroom to create one enormous master bedroom with a stunning open-plan bathroom. The freestanding bath, basins (not seen) and brassware are all reclaimed and have been restored and either re-enamelled or replated with nickel. Salvo.co.uk is a great place to find your local reclamation yard to hunt down similar fittings. For traditional-style baths, sinks and brassware, try Albion (albionbathco.com). The kudu head is from taxidermyemporium.co.uk
Bathroom before
The master bedroom
Styling tricks picked up over the years – as Michael worked his way up from window dresser to art director for fashion and home brands – are evident throughout the house. In the bedroom, a basic £99 divan bed base was upgraded with extra wadding (available by the metre from fabric shops) before being ‘reupholstered’ in a muted-grey flat sheet. ‘It’s something I used to do all the time for window displays – it’s quick, cheap and simple. All you need is a staple gun and a friend to help you pull the fabric tight,’ explains Michael. A black and white map of London mounted on MDF serves as a headboard – part of Michael’s upcoming collection. The floorlamp is from Ikea (ikea.com) and the table lamp from B&Q (diy.com)
Michael's dressing room
The couple sacrificed two bedrooms for a dressing room each. Michael’s is given a gentleman’s outfitter’s feel with a mahogany glazed cabinet for shoes (just seen on the left) and an antique central ‘island’ unit with original marble top, used as a dentist’s store cupboard in its previous life. Andy Thornton specialises in similar antique shop fittings (andythornton.com). For a range of 1970s chrome ceiling lights, try the French House (thefrenchhouse.co.uk)
Before
The hallway
A stuffed zebra greets visitors at the front door (taxidermyemporium.co.uk). The carpenter’s workbench came from an antiques fair, and the table lamps are from HomeSense (homesense.com). The artwork is from a selection soon to be available from Michael’s online shop
The Landing
Vintage industrial lights (trainspotters.co.uk) hang above Michael’s home office outside the
master bedroom. A reconditioned neon sign brings the only element of colour to the landing; for similar, try Michael’s online shop later this year
Landing before
The sung
The dark grey of the walls and ceiling (Farrow & Ball’s Downpipe) help to create a cosy feel. A combination of designer classics (the white Egg chair by Arne Jacobsen, conranshop.co.uk), vintage finds (such as the blue chair and gold table), and high-street bargains (the table lamps and pouffes, all homesense.com) are typical of Michael’s decorating style. ‘Just as I’ll wear my Prada shoes with a Gap shirt, I’ll put a £60 lamp in the same room as a handmade piece that cost a few thousand,’ he explains. The chandelier is from the French House (thefrenchhouse.co.uk)
The snug before
www.clarenolan.com is the lifestyle editor of the Mail on Sunday's YOU magazine and has been writing and styling for interiors magazines for nearly 15 years.
