{"id":20996,"date":"2023-05-11T14:01:55","date_gmt":"2023-05-11T12:01:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homesandantiques.com\/?p=17936"},"modified":"2023-05-11T14:36:46","modified_gmt":"2023-05-11T12:36:46","slug":"a-collectors-christmas-janice-issitts-1980s-home","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/rss_feed\/a-collectors-christmas-janice-issitts-1980s-home\/","title":{"rendered":"A collectors Christmas: Janice Issitt\u2019s 1980s home"},"content":{"rendered":"

The eclectic interior of this 1980s house is constantly evolving thanks to artistic homeowner Janice Issitt\u2019s passion for collecting antiques and her eye for new paint palettes. Photographs: Jan Baldwin. <\/p>

By Ellie Tennant\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 11 May 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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A lot has changed since H&A first featured Janice Issitt\u2019s quirky home in 2013. Her living room walls \u2013 formerly white and duck-egg blue \u2013 are now drenched in dark, inky indigo. Vintage gilt picture frames hang above the sumptuous sofa and plush, gold velvet curtains are draped at the windows.<\/p>\n

\u2018I redecorate<\/a> my home all the time so it\u2019s constantly changing,\u2019 says Janice, whose current look is a beguiling, bohemian mix that channels Swedish folk patterns and gothic Victoriana, among others. So French cast-iron chairs sit beside ornate Suzani textiles from Turkey, antique Indian side tables and Scandinavian-style furniture<\/a> upcycled with stenciling.<\/p>\n

Few could make such an eclectic medley of styles gel so seamlessly but decorator Janice is blessed with a gut instinct for what works. \u2018At the moment, I\u2019m experimenting with dramatic, dark colours for Christmas,\u2019 she says. \u2018Painting is so easy and if you\u2019re not happy with the result you can just paint over it. I painted a wall in our spare bedroom bright pink once and nobody could sleep in there \u2013 it was too bonkers!\u2019<\/p>\n

Janice is a dab hand with a paintbrush but it isn\u2019t just her home that she sees as a canvas for colourful experiments, she views her skin in the same way. \u2018My home is heavily influenced by my body art and vice versa,\u2019 she says.<\/p>\n

You might also like<\/strong> a traditional Christmas in a Victorian home<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018I have tattoos of my most treasured antiques. I had a pocket watch tattoo done after I inherited my late father\u2019s collection of antique watches<\/a> and I have a Dala horse tattoo inspired by my vintage Swedish painted horses. I\u2019ve also got Russian dolls tattooed on my arm \u2013 and a row of them in the hallway.\u2019<\/p>\n

Janice\u2019s knack for seeing the potential in otherwise unloved items means she often picks up \u2018waifs and strays\u2019 in junk shops and at nearby Tring Market Auctions for next to nothing. \u2018I bought an antique dark wood chair for just \u00a310 at auction recently,\u2019 she says, gleefully. \u2018Nobody else was interested in it but I liked the ornate carved details it had and knew it would look good painted.\u2019<\/p>\n

The chair is now a riot of colour, thanks to \u2018loads of Chalk Paint<\/a> tester pots\u2019 and makes a theatrical impact against a contrasting burgundy wall in the hall.<\/p>\n

Similarly, Janice could always envision how elegant the 1980s home she shares with partner Ian could be with a little imagination and some elbow grease. She swapped laminate flooring for reclaimed pine boards cut from ancient church beams and bought a Victorian fireplace for \u00a3100 on eBay.<\/p>\n

You might also like<\/strong> Inside Rachel Bates\u2019 colourful Christmas home<\/a><\/p>\n

Janice is lucky to have lots of local car boot sales to feed her vintage habit. \u2018I have been known to fill a jeep full of plunder for under \u00a320,\u2019 she laughs. \u2018If you get up early enough, you can do five different boot sales<\/a> in one day around here. The MK Handmade and Vintage Fair in Milton Keynes is a favourite haunt of mine, too \u2013 it\u2019s refreshingly affordable.\u2019<\/p>\n

If bargain hunting is a lifelong love affair, then stencilling is Janice\u2019s latest fling. Following many work trips to Sweden over the years, Swedish-style motifs have started appearing on everything from her 1930s marble-topped bedside table to her Welsh dresser<\/a>. \u2018I buy ready-made stencils and also make my own using a heat pen and acetate sheets,\u2019 she says. \u2018It\u2019s such fun and so simple. You just trace the design \u2013 it\u2019s really therapeutic.\u2019<\/p>\n

Christmas<\/a> is a great opportunity for Janice to indulge her love of crafting. She makes her own decorations, knits stockings and fills the house with fresh foliage from the garden. Like everything else in this warm, creative home, even the holiday guests are a little bit different from the norm.<\/p>\n

\u2018I volunteer for a local rescue charity and foster orphaned wild animals, so we often have a baby squirrel or a fallow deer to stay,\u2019 says Janice. \u2018It all adds to the fun.\u2019<\/p>\n

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Janice in her cosy living room.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Jan Baldwin<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
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Janice\u2019s festive garland on the living room mantelpiece is from Holy Cow Home and the painting above is by American artist Heather Sleightholm. The antique red German vases are from Brocant in Weedon.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Jan Baldwin<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
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Suzani cushions from Turkey sit on the sofa alongside skull and rose designs by Rachel Van Asch.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Jan Baldwin<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
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Janice uses jam jars as festive tea-light votives, tying berries to them with red and white butcher\u2019s twine.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Jan Baldwin<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
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The Dala horse and stocking decorations are handmade by Janice.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Jan Baldwin<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
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Janice has painted her Welsh dresser using folk-style stencilled patterns, inspired by her Swedish Dala horses.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Jan Baldwin<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
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Janice Issitt (an interior decorator, photographer and stylist) lives in this 1980s three-bedroom house in a Buckinghamshire village with her partner Ian (a composer) and their four cats. The house lacked charm when the couple bought it in 2008 but Janice has cleverly created a Victorian-style interior, giving it plenty of character.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Jan Baldwin<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
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Janice spotted her French garden chairs in a local antiques shop. \u2018They were too nice to leave outside so I made covers for them from an old rug\u2019.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Jan Baldwin<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
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The hallway walls are painted in Annie Sloan\u2019s \u2018Burgundy\u2019 chalk paint and then decorated with a peacock stencil that Janice cut herself.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Jan Baldwin<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
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Janice has hidden her TV inside a cupboard made from reclaimed floorboards.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Jan Baldwin<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
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An original Peter Blake print, Babe Rainbow, hangs on the landing wall. The hand-painted Indian cabinet is from fair-trade shop Namaste.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Jan Baldwin<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
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Janice found her bedside table in a junk shop. \u2018I liked the shape and the marble top. I repainted and stencilled it to match my bed linen,\u2019 she says.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Jan Baldwin<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
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The acrylic bath has been painted turquoise and then topped with a copper leaf. The 1930s mirror is from a local antiques shop.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Jan Baldwin<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

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