{"id":12535,"date":"2022-07-06T09:30:59","date_gmt":"2022-07-06T07:30:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homesandantiques.com\/?p=32039"},"modified":"2022-07-06T09:56:11","modified_gmt":"2022-07-06T07:56:11","slug":"a-1930s-home-filled-with-colour-and-pattern","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/rss_feed\/a-1930s-home-filled-with-colour-and-pattern\/","title":{"rendered":"A 1930s home filled with colour and pattern"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Serena Fokschaner\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 06 July 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

A whistle-stop tour of Ottoline de Vries\u2019 London home feels like plunging, head first, into a living swatch book of print and pattern. Mournful Kabuki actors gaze from lampshades, Victorian chairs hum in primary, Pop Art colours, over-scaled tulips<\/a> cascade across a dining room wall. Like colourful bohemians gatecrashing a sedate garden party<\/a>, unorthodox clashes of motif and hue bring a rebellious exuberance to the prim, 1930s semi.<\/p>\n

\u2018We Dutch have a saying, \u201cJust be normal, that\u2019s crazy enough\u201d. It\u2019s part of our Calvinistic upbringing; there\u2019s no subtext, we\u2019re direct, we don\u2019t like to overdo things. You can see that in our interiors: Dutch style is calm and minimalist,\u2019 explains Ottoline, a furnishings designer, who moved to Britain from the Netherlands<\/a> four years ago. \u2018But in Britain, you\u2019re much more open to mixing patterns<\/a> and styles, which is why I felt instantly at home over here.\u2019<\/p>\n

Moving from a smaller apartment, Ottoline and her husband were drawn to the tranquillity of the house, which is tucked into a hillside terrace of inter-war properties in north London. \u2018The first thing that struck us is the south-facing terrace at the back with its views of the small wood behind. We\u2019re in the middle of the city, but surrounded by tree tops and greenery, so we feel as if we\u2019re in the country.\u2019<\/p>\n

Joining an increasing number of Londoners, Ottoline rents her home. This could have been somewhat frustrating for a designer who \u2018enjoys a bit of theatre\u2019, but a bland rental interior, coupled with an aesthetically inclined landlady was an incentive to sign the lease, she says.<\/p>\n

\u2018We\u2019re allowed to hang wallpaper<\/a> and pictures and to put our stamp on the property, so I thought, \u201cHere\u2019s a chance to go a bit crazy with the decoration\u201d.\u2019 Ottoline traces her resourcefulness to growing up, one of four children, in a rambling, antiques-filled house near Haarlem.<\/p>\n

\u2018My mother did everything in the house: made curtains, painted furniture, upholstered antiques. She taught us how to wallpaper a room and how to steam it all off. My mother\u2019s favourite saying is \u201cWhere there\u2019s a will there\u2019s a way\u201d,\u2019 she says, pointing out the make-do curtains in the bedroom, which are simple linen panels pegged over the existing drapery.<\/p>\n

\u2018There was no point in making new ones, so I improvised,\u2019 Ottoline explains. Upstairs, a pretty antique<\/a> desk was a present from her aristocratic grandmother, another key influence. \u2018She was a teacher, who taught herself woodworking. She made me a beautiful four-poster bed<\/a> and a desk.\u2019<\/p>\n

In pursuit of a \u2018safe profession\u2019, Ottoline trained as a tax lawyer. \u2018But when my husband and I bought our first house together in The Hague, I became obsessed with decorating. I wanted to create a wonderful world for my children, wallpapering their rooms and hunting for antiques and vintage furniture<\/a>. I\u2019d spend my weekends sanding, painting and wallpapering my finds. I fell in love with my new hobby and my day job began to feel like a distraction from what I really wanted to do.\u2019<\/p>\n