pastel power
In Lovisa and Paul’s Victorian revamp, soft sorbet shades set a calm palette – then a host of brilliantly wayward finishing touches stir things up
with her children. ‘I would carry little squares of paper in my bag and, every time we went into a shop, they would groan as I started to riffle in my bag for them,’ she says. But there was method in Lovisa’s rummaging. ‘When your mind is buzzing with ideas for a project, it helps keep a focus. If, say, a vintage vase caught my eye, I’d only buy it if it matched.’
Embarking on a creative project with something akin to a rulebook might seem counter intuitive, but Lovisa’s core colours – serene pastels and darker blues – provide the common thread for this home. Then, the randomness that always comes with vintage pieces injects the surprise elements. ‘Sticking to a set of colours doesn’t stifle creativity, it just keeps my quirkiness on track,’ she says.
The family moved to this Victorian house in east Kent two years ago, after biding their time in a stop-gap house nearby. A wise move, because a key part of Lovisa and Paul’s plan was to add a full-width extension to the back of the house for a spacious kitchen-diner. They also reworked the steep garden, turning a long, rutted slope into a series of stepped levels. ‘A total of 15 loads of soil were removed, which entailed plenty of mud and machinery,’ says Lovisa. The couple used the same building team and kitchen company as in their last home, which some readers might remember from the April 2015 issue of Livingetc.
‘When you’re already on the same wavelength as the builder, everything goes much more smoothly,’ Lovisa says.
In the intervening years, her style has become a whole lot bolder and brighter. And her talent for seeking out decorative vintage lights has only gathered momentum. ‘Some people buy bags and shoes. I buy lighting,’ she says with a smile.
Lovisa is a habitué of smaller European online auction sites rather than international antiques sites. ‘I now have a complete set of Italian tole and brass flower lights found in different locations,’ she says. Then, for Swedish designs such as their Hans-agne Jakobsson table lamp and chandelier, Lovisa (who is originally from Sweden) got her mother to bid at the last minute. ‘She’s my undercover agent over there,’ she jokes.
Then there’s Lovisa and Paul’s collection of art and photography, which is displayed all around the house. Some paintings are heirlooms, such as the portrait of Lovisa’s grandmother, while photography includes an atmospheric series by Nick Meek. Their newest additions are paintings by Hastings-based artist Rachel Glittenberg. ‘Her work is so compelling,’ says Lovisa.
Pattern is the final way in which Lovisa has added vibrancy to her serene pastel backdrops. Right from the tessellated hallway, tiles add an energy to her schemes. In the master en suite, she indulged her love of Moroccan zellige and encaustic tiles, but evened out the budget by using cheaper – but still dazzling – porcelain patterns in the family bathroom.
However, she’s quick to point out that pattern and colour were also an aesthetic she grew up with in Sweden. ‘The stereotype is that every Scandi home is all white, with maybe a dash of sober grey. But, actually, Swedes love colour,’ she says. ‘Think of the folksy 19th-century patterns, Josef Frank’s designs and even Ikea – colour has always been used to add warmth and homeliness.’
Lovisa now also runs interior design company Swenglish Home, but it’s here that she has honed her own blend of Swedish and English styles. ‘A home is where you can bring together something old and something new,’ she says. ‘It’s a mishmash of pieces from different places, but put together in a way that is personal to you.’