An Incredibly Colorful Victorian Has the Dreamiest Custom Curved Bookcases
Posted in Angelcityfurniture
Name: Gemma Gear , my partner, Tom, and dog, Digby Location: Worthing — West Sussex, UK Type of home: Two-bedroom Victorian terrace Size: 840 square feet Years lived in: 1 year, owned
Tell us a little (or a lot) about your home and the people who live there: My name is Gemma and I’m an interior stylist . I live with my partner, Tom, and our much-loved dog, Digby. We moved in to our two-bedroom, Victorian terraced house in August last year, and as it was our first owned property it felt so amazing being able to put our stamp on it. It felt like a long wait to get on the property ladder, but it was so worth it!
Because of my profession, creating interior spaces and design ideas comes a little more naturally to me. I normally have to be very versatile in the way I work and have to improvise to any given brief. In my own home however, I love color and vibrancy! I’m always looking for ways to inject more color in to our home whilst keeping it looking modern and fresh.
Tom also loves color and eclectic interiors so our home is the place we can show off our passion together. Although I normally have the main ideas (and final say ha!) on what goes, Tom generally always agrees with my choices and likes to input his own ideas as well. He works as an accountant by day, and a DJ by night. I always joke and say he’s “mixing music and numbers.”
We got the keys at the beginning of August last year and spent two months renovating the house to get it up to scratch before moving in. It was dated and lackluster, so it needed some TLC. We plastered the ceilings to remove the Artex, and had new floorboards laid downstairs to replicate the originals on the first floor. Along with a good lick of paint, we had a nice clean canvas to work on.
We began by starting with all white walls, to get a feel for each room and understand the lighting. Then, after a couple of months we started adding pops of color; the green triangle headboard, our color contrasting chimney breast, and the pink triangle mural in my office. This really made each space come to life! We’ve been renovating the garden as well this year whilst in lockdown, so it’s not a restful place we can enjoy in the sun. I DIYd some stenciled patio slabs in the garden and it completely transformed the look!
I’m a sucker for a DIY; I always like to give things a go myself and I love making DIY and craft tutorial videos ! I share these across my Instagram page and blog too. In just a year we’ve created a home we love! We still have lots more plans but taking it one step at a time!
Describe your home’s style in 5 words or less: Colorful, eclectic, modern, creatively curated.
What is your favorite room and why? My favorite room is the bedroom. I feel we’ve created a good balance of excitement and comfort in one space. We’ve utilized space very cleverly with the wall-to-wall shelf above the bed and open clothes rails to make the room feel bigger. I have a flower rattan chair in the window, which I love to sit and relax on, although I have to fight off Digby as that’s his favorite spot in the house! I also love the original cast iron fireplace, which is one of things that made us fall in love with this house!
What’s the last thing you bought (or found!) for your home? My living room has recently been photographed for a feature in Homestyle magazine, so I treated us to this new rug for the shoot! The most recent colorful things we’ve added are these cute bar trolley accessories from Oliver Bonas: Gold & White Marble Bar Tools ; Nomu Aqua Glass Decanter ; Iko Blue Glass Cocktail Shaker ; and an Ombre Blue Glass Gin Bottle .
Any advice for creating a home you love? Fill your home with things that inspire you and give you joy! Don’t get too caught up on the latest trends or worry about what’s ‘hot’ and what’s not. At the end of the day all it really comes down to is if it makes YOU happy. With this in mind, you can begin to create your own unique style by adding touches to your home that are unique and tailored to your own taste. Listen to your gut and create your own design style!
This submission’s responses were edited for length and clarity.
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