So as I told you on Monday, I was able to tour some homes with AO as the sponsor of LivingEtc House Tours last week. It was amazing getting to peek inside some pretty amazing homes and I’m eager to share another one with you today. Not all of the homes of course ‘ticked my boxes’ but I had two distinct favourites.
Want to see the first house? Click here.
While my last post shared my favourite of all the homes I saw that day, this one came in a close second. I adored the use of bright colours and vintage items spread throughout. It was colourful and comfortable with a fun eclectic mix and I found it really inspiring.
Let me just say taking pictures of these homes proves challenging simply because there are so many people around and we were told as bloggers, we could take pictures as long as we didn’t get in the way! This meant, having to shoot angles that weren’t necessarily optimum and waiting until there was a bit of a break in passers by to get a shot. So, my pictures aren’t as great as I would have liked them to be (when I’m taking pictures of my own home, I have all the time in the world to set up my shots and aside from the cats, there’s no one getting in the way!).
Regardless, hopefully you can see how cool this house really was. The main room was open plan with the kitchen, dining area and sitting areas all opened to one another. The all white backdrop just provided an amazing excuse to have fun with prints and colours of every shade – from soft pastels to neons. Nothing really ‘matched’ but that was the beauty of it – it all worked so nicely together.
But it was the Master Bedroom that I particularly fell in love with. The long shelf running along the chair rail acted as part headboard, part gallery and metal lights (I think they are these ones from Habitat) strung casually over an open canopy bed. Lovely. The layered textiles including a Moroccan wedding blanket made me a little swoony too.
There was just so much fabulous original art in the space and you can tell it was collected over time. I also wanted to stick that pink peacock chair under my arm and take it home with me. (You’ll be happy to know I resisted.)
And check out that ceiling! Gah! Loved it!
The second bedroom was also dazzling with every shade of blue colliding in a symphony of colour. The vintage brass light fixture of course caught my eye.
I also found the outside space really inspiring. The patio had a little path that lead between the hedges to reveal a wonderful second patio hidden from view. It was such a warm sunny day that I could have easily kicked off my shoes and just hung out here for a few hours, cold cocktail in hand thankyouverymuch.
The other two houses we saw were nice, they just weren’t to my taste (one looked as if everything had been purchased from an expensive catalogue and set in place yesterday – it simply didn’t have any real personality and the other was a mid-century home, starkly furnished with lots of concrete walls but not in a way that I like my mid-century!) so I won’t be sharing those – I like to preserve this blogΒ to sharing those things that are truly ‘swoon worthy’ in my eyes! Like this amazing hallway ;)
I showed Wayne my picture of that outside space above and his first words were, ‘We could build something like that….” as he walked to the window to look at the patio, wheels turning… Oh I have him so well trained, don’t I? Ha! And I know with the first house, it’s really made want to consider purchases I’ve made more closely – will I really love this for years or just for right now?
I think that’s the beauty of exploring homes in real life – you leave taking something with you (no I didn’t steal the peacock chair, I swear!). Both of these homes made me think about my own in new ways and really drove home the point of decorating to suit your own style, your own tastes and your own personality. I loved them both for different reasons.
So of the two houses, which is your favourite? Anything you love about this home? I’d love to hear from you!
I so loved this one! The light, all the small touches (and that’s coming from somebody who doesn’t “do” colour!), the vintage pieces… Also one of my favourites! I know YOU didn’t steal the peacock chair because I did!!! Ok, only joking… xo
So unbelievably beautiful in every single detail. I’m in love with the wallpaper and vintage brass flower light fixture.
i am in love with that dining area!
I enjoyed parts of both houses, but today’s is my fave. Particular favourite bits were the mix of globe shades in the hallway, the neon touches with all the white…..and the steam iron etc tucked away in the master bedroom! A real life persons home who occasionally needs to iron stuff!
The second house is by far my favourite! So eclectic and I absolutely love the colour burst and Moroccan inspiration.
I much preferred the first house. This house had leather furniture that was painted and I don’t think that worked. But at least it was individual and the garden was amazing.
OMG that outside seating area – inspiring me seriously… esp as I peer up at scaffolding and see a strange beauty in it (worried for self here…)
Also deeply loving that hallway with the hanging paper lanterns hmmm! Loved the first house too and I can see why it was your favourite!
There’s elements of both homes which I love, like the entrance, the bedroom and the Cerise pink boudoir chair in the 1st house but then they had a 1960s sideboard and side table, which I thought didn’t fit in at all with the theme of the house…the second house is more cohesive, it has a soft blue colour palette running through most of the rooms, it’s a little vintage boho, upbeat and whimsical….so I guess I prefer the 2nd one…I keep forgetting to diarise this event so I can hop on a train and this event….next year.
I love this one too! Not quite as much as the other one, but the master bedroom art ledge is absolutely inspirational in here and I love those floral lanterns! Thank you for sharing!
I like the outside space here, but the first house wins hands down for me!
I think they were both gorgeous, but the first one you showed was my favourite, the use of colours, its style, and i agree with you a lived in look. You can tell there are so many memories in that house i loved it, it was inspiring. Xxx
Ohhhhh I love how shabby and relaxed this home is. Shabby in a good way! Like, shabby chic. This home is so beautiful. And homes like this make me want to ditch my love of dark colours and just go all things white and the palest of pink with lots of handmade things. Homes like this challenge what I think I like, and I like that.
Seriously good.
I love the metal flower string lights over the bed canopy. Could you be more specific where I could purchase some pleeeaaase?