I'll hand over to Sam to tell you all about her southeast London house, her style, inspiration – and her ridiculously photogenic dog! (And isn't that the most stylish dog bed you've ever seen?)
I’m Sam Jones and I live in Brockley, southeast London. I started making cushions from vintage fabrics two years ago, purely for myself to start with, and it reawakened a passion that had lain dormant for some time. I’d forgotten how much I love the design and textures of old fabrics, particularly 1950s barkcloth and I’m drawn to strong mid-century modern graphics so, I set up HeyPico! really so I could indulge my fabric habit, make lovely cushions and sell them on.
I live with my husband and Bedlington terrier in a two-bedroom Victorian terraced house with a cute little garden.
I love furniture from the 50s and 60s and we’ve got several nice pieces including a lovely sideboard (see top photo) from eBay which we bought after my husband broke the leg off of our old Habitat one whilst trying to move it. It was a bargain, including delivery all the way from Norwich, I think it was a happy accident as it’s much more stylish.
I bought the arc lamp (also above) about 15 years ago in a little shop in Brixton, they’re a bit ubiquitous now but I particularly like this one as the stand is totally arched, no straight bit, with a solid marble base – impossible to move!
I love colour. And lots of it. The lounge is painted dark red, which I love, it’s really cosy and seductive, it doesn’t get a lot of light so my thinking was, "make it darker!" The kitchen has bright yellow tiles around the work surfaces which our builders were initially appalled but they did admit, once they were up, that they looked "nowhere near as bad as they’d thought." The bedroom is a "fruits of the forest yogurt" pink, the office a 50s pale green and the bathroom a 50s pale blue. The hall and landing are white which hangs it all together and prevents it from looking too much. Basically, I’ve never recovered from visiting the house of Frida Kahlo in Mexico fifteen years ago. I’d seen a picture of it in an interiors book and absolutely loved all the bright Mediterranean colours but I didn’t realise who it had belonged to. When I walked into one of the rooms and the penny dropped, it was, literally, like stepping into a painting or a dream.
The display cabinet in the bathroom (above) is lovely, I bought it at a vintage furniture fair at York Hall in Bethnal Green, the sellers are based in Milton Keynes, Retro Bazaar, and they’re great for furniture or if you’re looking for real cult 60s and 70s ceramics, telephones and electrics.
I do love ladies in Victorian garb and the courting couple in this picture remind me a bit of The White Stripes, had they lived in England in the 1900s! It’s hung in the bathroom, I found it in a junk shop in Devon – it’s great to have little finds like that on trips.
I really like the coloured storage jars in the kitchen, they complement the yellow tiles. I refer to it as "the sky line", if we’re a bit flush, it’s the full tourist treat, if not, it looks as though the wrecking ball has been in. The green lady’s head (below) I found in an antiques shop in Suffolk, I’ve no knowledge of her origins but she looks suitably snooty to preside over kitchen hygiene issues.
The bathroom’s a really good size and the roll-top bath sits under the window. If there is such a thing as a lovely net curtain, this is it! I bought it many years ago in a street market in Naples and it has accompanied me to many dwellings.
The bed is interesting, I bought it from the basement of a chandelier shop in Notting Hill and I had to put wooden slats across it myself. It’s Romanian and quite unusual. I love the cushion on the bed, I made it from a beautiful piece of tapestry that I found in a market in Madrid, it cost two Euros and it’s probably over 100 years old.
I covered a piece of cork in the office to use as a pin board for postcards and photos that inspire me. It’s a fab piece of fabric which I got from a US website called Repro Depot – they seem to be having a break on the fabric front at the moment, which is a shame as they did some great reproductions, really colourful graphics – hopefully they’ll be back.
Get the look (or at least the cushions)
Delores, Celia and Alice – all £40.
Get the look (or at least the cushions)
Sam's favourite links
Donna Flower For vintage fabrics from turn of the century through to the 70s
Fabbits An Etsy shop selling 70s European fabric. Great caravan vibes
Design*Sponge I imagine everybody knows this one but I love the DIY upholstery tips, which is something I’m veering towards at the moment
Interiors Nut The polar opposite to my house, all very neutral and grown up but beautiful with a real eye for classic design
Drake and Naylor A great little website with some interesting vintage ceramics and curiosities, they have a stall on the Broadway market in Hackney at the weekends
Retro Bazaar For dyed-in-the-wool retro fans.
The Vintage Guide to London All the markets, fairs and happenings around London, listed by area, which is handy
Things and People Only recently discovered this lovely little site dedicated to people talking about objects that are dear to them and the story behind it – heart warming
Your home is just beautiful Sam. I adore all of your finds. Thank you for the mention too x
ReplyDelete