{"id":19502,"date":"2023-03-16T14:10:42","date_gmt":"2023-03-16T13:10:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homesandantiques.com\/?p=41452"},"modified":"2023-03-16T14:36:41","modified_gmt":"2023-03-16T13:36:41","slug":"a-victorian-home-filled-with-seventies-design","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/rss_feed\/a-victorian-home-filled-with-seventies-design\/","title":{"rendered":"A Victorian home filled with Seventies design"},"content":{"rendered":"

Claire and Kevin Christie\u2019s Victorian home in Dunfermline is a celebration of 1970s design and bold colour combinations. Feature & Styling Alison Gibb. Photographs Douglas Gibb <\/p>

By Molly Malsom\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 16 March 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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\u2018People often believe you have to be a slave to the architecture<\/a> of a property, but I don\u2019t agree,\u2019 says Claire Christie, textile designer and avid collector of all things Sixties and Seventies. A firm believer that vintage<\/a> pieces can make a statement in a modern home, she\u2019s also a keen advocate of using Modernist and contemporary furniture in a period property<\/a>. \u2018If you love a particular style, just indulge in it!\u2019 she says.<\/p>\n

And Claire certainly practises what she preaches: the Victorian semi that she shares with her husband, Kevin, and their children, Gracie and Joe, is a shrine to the eras she loves. From the Peacock chairs<\/a>, G-Plan coffee table and sculptural vases in the sitting room, to the McIntosh sideboards in the dining room, her home is furnished with classic British designs from the 1960s and 1970s. \u2018I\u2019ve always loved the shapes of Sixties and Seventies furniture,\u2019 she says. \u2018It feels futuristic and optimistic in a \u201cwe\u2019re all going to Mars!\u201d kind of way.\u2019<\/p>\n

Her passion for collecting started when she was a teenager and Glasgow\u2019s famous antiques market<\/a>, The Barras, became a regular haunt. \u2018The first piece I bought was a large, red glass decanter with a teardrop stopper. I think I was about 13 at the time. I used to go with my brothers and sisters and it became a bit of sport between us. We all got into collecting glass and we\u2019d try to outdo each other and see who could get the best piece.\u2019 The decanter has now been joined by many more that crowd the top of a G-Plan sideboard in the dining room.<\/p>\n

Claire\u2019s compulsion to collect continues to this day, which is no surprise, as it was her love of antiques and vintage shops<\/a> and their treasures that awoke a latent interest in surface pattern and design. This eventually led to Claire studying textiles at Glasgow School of Art.<\/p>\n

Kitsch bird ornaments are her current obsession. \u2018I bought a couple to use as props when I was photographing some of my work,\u2019 she says. The collection grows each time she comes across an interesting one. \u2018I call it my desktop aviary. I think they\u2019re mostly from the 1980s; that\u2019s the era of the ornament to me.\u2019 But her biggest collection is of carved wooden gazelles. \u2018I have a whole herd,\u2019 she laughs, admitting there were well over 20 at the last count, arranged in groups all over the house.<\/p>\n

Although he doesn\u2019t share her magpie tendencies, Claire\u2019s husband, Kevin, does appreciate the results. \u2018He has quite reserved tastes,\u2019 she says, and leaves most of the interior decisions up to her. \u2018But he secretly loves it all.\u2019<\/p>\n

There is one area where his opinion held sway: Peacock chairs. \u2018I love them,\u2019 she says, \u2018and I had this idea that they would be great around the dining table, but Kevin just said, \u201cThey\u2019re ridiculous, Claire,\u201d and put his foot down.\u2019 In the end, she was allowed to give two of them house-room and a third has been relegated to her studio. But apart from this small intervention, it\u2019s Claire\u2019s aesthetic that dominates.<\/p>\n

\u2018All the rooms in our house are led by my collections,\u2019 she explains. The plan for the sitting room began with a group of gilt-framed convex mirrors, which fills one wall. Dating from the 1870s to the 1930s, they reflect the ease with which she happily mixes different eras. The bold grey and yellow colour scheme was inspired by a favourite yellow vase, which sits on the mantelpiece.<\/p>\n

In the dining room, the collection of red vases and decanters was the starting point. \u2018I began with red and added shades of orange and so on,\u2019 she explains. Strips of Orla Kiely\u2019s classic \u2018Multi Stem\u2019 wallpaper completed the look, complementing the mid-century furniture<\/a>, the decorative glass and the current trend for pale grey walls. \u2018We chose the design soon after we moved in,\u2019 says Claire. \u2018It was hand-printed then, so it has a lovely texture. It\u2019s ubiquitous now, but I still love it.\u2019<\/p>\n