This London flat has been almost two decades in the making for Katy Orme. Since she was a little girl, decorating, designing and redesigning rooms has been a passion that has shaped her. From sponge-painting her childhood bedroom at age 11 (and redecorating each year after) to refinishing the family’s living room floors as a teenager, Katy has a love for making spaces come alive and has turned that love into her career. Now as a freelance interior stylist and blogger, she gets to be surrounded by projects, images and spaces that she is inspired by every day.
When Katy was loft-hunting in Bermondsey, a district in south London, she knew that apartments in historic buildings would be out of the question because of the price. She found a new-build in her budget and immediately saw potential to give it an edge. “I knew this flat was the one because of the floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room and bedroom, so the light floods in and it has brilliant views across London, as I’m up on the sixth floor,” Katy says. “My main decorating goal was to add character to what is essentially a white, soulless box. There are no period or quirky architectural features, so I had to try to add as much style as possible. I didn’t want to lose any of the white walls as I love the brightness and flexibility of the space, so I tried to layer up character and color by using furniture, textiles, books, plants and artwork.” Katy’s eye for balancing color with white space and seamlessly incorporating pieces from various eras has been in practice since she was a girl, and her talent for layering a room is unmistakeable.
Katy met her now fiancé, Jules Copeland, just a week after moving in and when he moved in a year later, Katy got to transform the space again to suit both of them. “I consciously decided not to buy anything new until I had lived there for a few weeks and had a better understanding of how I was going to use the space, what the light was like, what I needed,” Katy says. “Very gradually over the next year I bought new pieces of furniture and made it all pretty perfect. Then Jules moved in and everything got turned upside down. I had to rearrange the whole flat to fit it all in.” Her time arranging, rearranging and DIYing over the years has served her well. Katy’s new-build flat is vibrant, beautiful and full of character. —Lauren
Photography by Katharine Peachey
SOURCE LIST
LIVING/DINING ROOM
Striped sofa – Sofa Workshop
Cushions – Abigail Borg
Teal loveseat – Habitat
Kilim rug – Etsy
Trunk coffee table – my mother’s school trunk
Green glass vase – belonged to my grandmother
G-Plan sideboard – eBay
Terrarium – found in my parents’ garden
yellow lamp – John Lewis
Dining table – French brocante
Ercol chairs – my parents’ neighbor gave them to me to take to my university house. I nearly left them there when I came back to London!
Mirror – Antiques shop on Camden passage.
Small antique bureau – present from my parents for my 7th birhday
Letter press drawer mounted on wall – Antique shop
KITCHEN
Blue shelf – antiques market
Stool – came from a science lab at the school I taught in as they were throwing them all out!
HOME OFFICE
Desk – Made MDF tops and used IKEA trestle legs
White desk chair – Out There Interiors
Black desk chair – Herman Miller
Pegboard – Amazon
Sideboard – bought from eBay and I painted it and lined it with Mini Moderns wallpaper
String Shelving – Haus
Pendant light – eBay
Blue table lamp – Loaf
Large anglepoise – Dwell
Do Re Mi print – Double Merrick
BEDROOM
Bed – Coco bed from Loaf
Linen – Loaf
Bedside table – Victorian washstand from eBay
Glazed pink vase – House Doctor
Round mirror above bedside table – belonged to my grandmother
Lamp – Houseology
Gold framed painting – used to hang in my parents’ bedroom
Old pine drawers – eBay
Tall ceramic jug – House Doctor
Nude pink vase – Bloomingville
Mirror on drawers – used to hang in my parents’ wine bar
Wardrobes – eBay and I painted them
Floral chair – belonged to my grandmother and it’s covered in 1950s Sanderson fabric
Curtains – John Lewis
Jute rug – Heal’s
Bloomingville brass hanging planter – Out There Interiors
HALLWAY
Table – an old school desk
Atomic hooks – eBay
Yellow cushion on chair – Orla Kiely
via Design*Sponge http://ift.tt/1GZffBy From Lauren Chorpening
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