Apartment Therapy is one of my favourite blogs for nosing around stylish peoples homes and picking up tips for my own interior decor.
I recently agreed to have my house photographed as my friend and ex colleague Rebecca (of the Futurustic blog) writes for them. I tidied the house within an inch of it’s life, made sure the teens were out of the way (in bed with hangovers probably) and gave Archie a good brush. I left Rebecca to do her stuff, we had a cup of tea and a chat and I thought no more of it, until she told me the pictures were on the site.
I was pleased with the way it looked, a true reflection of a messy family home – but I wasn’t quite prepared for the comments. Maybe we have a particularly loyal and nice bunch of readers (we do) but it surprised me that people feel the need to say negative (there are also lots of positive ones too) things about someone else’s style! After all isn’t personal style just that – personal!!
I actually find it quite funny that a few old stags heads could provide such controversy and it doesn’t bother me if the AT readers like them or not – I do and that’s all that matters. Since the shoot however, I have re-organised the kitchen shelves, but I did buy a huge stuffed Golden pheasant. In the words of my teens “haters are my motivators”.
Take a look at the tour here – and leave a comment, nice or not, I won’t take it personally, I promise!
Absolutely stunning…..when can I move in! Just bought a stags head myself for over
the mantle piece (all be it in plywood from Urban Outfitters). I only wish there more shots of the bathroom.
Love your orange metro tiles. Where are the gingers ? Did they refuse to pose?
I’d give my eye teeth to live in a house like this. Love the way the stags seem to be bursting out of a woodland and the crammed shelves under the skylight.
I’m glad it is a home and not just a house. Like the pottery collections and injections of colour and print.
Well I love (= covet) your green vases. And there is a cheap-skull-off-of-ebay-for-his-19th (known as the creepy sheepy) taking pride of place in my son’s room. So it’s all good. Very cosy and familiar.
We don’t go onto the comments and bewail the unaccountable American passion for up-cycling macrame, do we?
Gorgeous. I love the way you’ve used the same wallpaper in different colours to tie adjoining rooms together but give them their own identity – I’m going to pinch that idea if you don’t mind.
I love the house! And the fact that it’s a bit different to my taste makes it all the more interesting – and inspiring. I’ve always thought that AT commentators often cross that line between lively curiosity and judgemental bossiness, to which we Brits are painfully sensitive – which, as ever, says as much about ‘us’ as ‘them’ (-: x
Esmerelda, hands off the green vases, I’m having first pick if she ever sells them Ax
Looks absolutely wonderful to me.
thanks for the lovely comment everyone. Most of the green vases are from eBay Esmerelda.
J x
The best and most inspiring houses tell you about the people who live in them and honestly reflect their interests and passions – an old cliche I know but true. Your home says original, vibrant,engaged,creative and most importantly welcome. I rest my case – thank you for letting us have a peep Jane.
It was so weird to see 2 of my favourite blog headings together, most discombobulating! One of the comments says ‘very London’. Loving the ‘London’ look.
How brave of you to bare your soul, I mean, home. So cosy and I love your tiles in the bathroom ( and Archie – natch, what a fabby poseur).
I LOVE it is full of books for a start – the wall paper is gorgeous too you dont see it as much here in Aus we seem to paint everything its just so lovely.
What a wonderfully chic but friendly home! Where are your kitchen chairs & table from please? They are the answer to my dilemma – little childrens’ food sticking to our current cloth covered kitchen chairs!
Well, as I look around the Bates Motel, er, I mean my own house, I am just flabbergasted that any AT posters thought your beautiful home was ‘cluttered.” Where do they live? In a prison cell? Convent? With some exceptions, the offerings on AT and other such online magazines seem so similar to one another in style, so bland and predictable, that I seldom look at them anymore. Infinitely more fun are location-scouting sites (or, of course, WOI). And just a word about taxidermy: Personally, I’m all for it and would rather live in a natural history museum than any other space I can imagine. It’s always so disheartening when something you love becomes a trend (remember the toile frenzy?). First prices go up and then there are the inevitable ‘so last year’ comments once the hipsters have gotten over it. So, pay them no mind. Your house is beautiful and I would kill for the wallpaper.
Love it. Very brave of you both to open your doors to the world! (Used to work with Rob years ago on projects for my former employer, by the way.)
I love your home, and that’s what it is a home – I feel I could relax and enjoy good conversation there. Now you have inspired me to make some changes, which I was unsure about, but are similar to your look. Thank you.
Love everything! My father had a deer head over his mantle, and when my girls were little, I had to hold them up so that they could pat “Papa’s cow.”
Crumbs, they’re a snippy lot, aren’t they? Love your wallpaper.Love your house, Jane.
wonderful………. bathroom and room wallpaper color is nice, and bathroom floor color black is great combination.
Of course interior and exterior design is very important for a comfortable stay. I advise you to pay attention to the alucobond installation service https://glamourdecor.com.au/ thanks to which you can quickly and inexpensively update the facade of your house and give your house additional protection from the weather. Such a modern solution allows you to give various buildings a new modern look, which is useful for residential buildings. as well as for commercial buildings.