Home Tour: Dreamy meets bold

I am so glad we live in the age of Instagram. You meet super talented people from all around the globe on this app! One such encounter happened when I came across a vibrant and bold living room on my insta-feed. I couldn't stop staring and zooming in to see every inch of the room. So much so, it inspired me to paint a giant wall in my own living room (coming up next on the blog)!

Today I am taking you all the way to Cardiff, Wales for a home tour and rendezvous with the amazing woman behind that insta room. Meet Pati Robins :).

Pati shares this gorgeous eclectic home with her husband (a veteran and on a wheelchair), daughter and 2 dogs. Get your cup of tea, and let's go get a peek inside her colorful and happy world.

Pati's mantra in creating this artful home is to display pieces that are personal to each member of the family; and mixing high street + second hand finds along with hand-me-downs and giving them a new lease of life. In her words " I am a gumtree and ebay addict - trying to find nice and equally cheap pieces to fill our home, as well as hand-me-downs that we have to this day. As a full time carer, I have limited time and funds to purchase everything new. I also believe that mixing the old with the new is the key to a truly individual and unique space. Every time I scored a bargain, I either up-cycled it to fit the current scheme or strip it and made it something else." 

She continues "I think the hardest part in making our house a home was trying to blend in and hide all the disabled equipment my husband needs to use on a daily basis, while also making sure the wheelchair will pass through the space with ease"

It took a few years, but hey - a home is created over time when you fill it with pieces that you love and have accumulated over the years!

Pati shares, " Walls got painted in dark grey which is a perfect backdrop for wooden cabinets and black worktops. One of the worktops is our breakfast bar area that also serves us as a extra "after school" working space for our daughter, so I can keep an eye on her while making dinner for the family. The bar table was a simple worktop attached to the wall using wooden brackets screwed into the wall, with chrome leg for support. Since the bar area also serves as a workspace I've added adjustable wall lights." You see its all about versatility in her household. I love how Pati has used every corner for functionality without compromising style.

Whats your favorite room in the house?

Pati: The living room is our favorite room as we spend most of our time in there. When we moved in, it was painted in magnolia making it rather depressing looking; the white also looked quite dingy in places due to lack of light. So instead of trying to make this room to appear lighter we embraced the dark side and painted all walls and trims in beautiful shade of graphite grey. Its an excellent backdrop for all our wall prints and plants. The living room is quite small so having dark walls helps the space to blur our the corners making the room appear larger than it is. 

What inspired you to go for a dark paint?

Pati: Abigail Ahern. It all started with her Debenhams edition hare lamp. I remember falling in love with it but since I didn't know anything about the designer behind the lamp, I decided to look her up on the internet, and I was both shocked and in awe at the same time. I bit the bullet and went from medium grey into dark overnight. While hanging our favorite vinyl records with yellow and pink design on the walls, the pink and yellow just "popped" at us so much that I went a little yellow paint crazy all over the house. Yellow makes us smile and brightens up whole space :).

We love the artwork and frames hanging on your walls, how do you choose your pieces?

Pati: I think all of us should surround ourselves with objects we cherish, or those that put a smile on our faces, to make our homes personal. Over the years we managed to acquire few of our favorite pieces - some random art cut out of a magazine or pieces found in a charity shop.

When we arrive home rather than being unhappy by the sad appearance of our space, we are welcomed by the pops of yellows that brighten up our day.

Isn't her place just gorgeous!! I could stay here for a while (or forever :)). Thank you Pati for sharing your story and opening your home to all of us.

Don't forget to follow Pati on her instagram journey where she regularly shares her new DIY's :).

Follow me on FB and Instagram for more updates to this blog.

 

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