'Living with colour around us has been transformative - this is such a happy home!'

When my husband Ray and I first rented together in Kingston upon Thames, I played it safe with colour as I was unsure if he’d love it as much as I do.

We decided to move to the countryside when I became pregnant, and my host family – I’m German and was a nanny for them – offered us their flat, which is part of their country home but entirely separate. We have lots of space and help with the garden and their kids, and they help me with Lorelai when Ray is at work.

I’m Louisa Linde, a German teacher in a German school. I live with my husband, Ray, a car sales executive, and our daughter, Lorelai, who’s eight months. I’m from Germany and Ray is Latvian.

Our home is a three-bedroom, self-contained flat attached to a house near Uckfield, East Sussex. We began renting here in May 2023.

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I’ve loved colour since I was a child – back then, I chose a red carpet for my bedroom and yellow walls. I remember feeling like I was walking into sunshine. In my opinion, you can never have too much colour! My host family (and Ray) were completely onboard with my idea to decorate in pastels. We began by painting the bathroom in pink and the kitchen in yellow.

I love quirky homeware, particularly the playful feel of products at Oliver Bonas. I offset the spend with Facebook Marketplace deals, like the £20 bamboo coffee table I spray-painted bright pink, and the free IKEA dining table.

We completed the transformation in just a few weeks, in time for the birth of Lorelai. Ray’s been really supportive of all my decorating decisions and loves what I’ve done. Although we couldn’t change the bones of the flat, living with colour around us has been transformative – this is such a happy home!

Living room

‘I fell in love with a set of chinoiserie blue and white coasters from Oliver Bonas, and the pattern led me to choose the rug and the wallpaper I wrapped around the structural pillar.’ Louisa added the Addilyn four seater sofa from DFS for cosy, family-friendly seating

‘The flat is part of a Victorian addition to the 1500s house and thought to have been where the servants cooked and ate. The large dresser used to hold the crockery. We painted it white, and chose a restful sage green for the walls. I’ve never lived anywhere with a fireplace, so I was excited to make this a feature and arrange the furniture around it. I love the romantic styling you see in period dramas – floral patterns, gold and ornate detailing.’

Kitchen

‘I chose the Erwin Fruits floral blind from Dunelm for the green tones and the rug with the green trim to connect with the adjoining living room, painted in Rust-Oleum’s Laurel Green,’ Louisa explains. The A Collection of Vases poster is from Juniqe

‘The existing kitchen is still in place, but I gave it a lift with some easy updates. The room is north-facing and had been decorated a cold, pale blue. I took inspiration from @thehousethatcolourbuilt as I like how Jessica posts colour charts and explains which colours work best in which rooms. I decided on Rust-Oleum’s Mustard as this shade is lovely and warm.’

Dining area

‘It’s lovely to sit by the window and look out onto the garden. The built-in utility cupboard formed the perfect alcove, and the chair looks like a high-end brand, but was a bargain on Amazon,’ says Louisa. The green birds roller blind is a Sara Miller design, and the Colourful Flowers Meditation poster is from Juniqe.

‘The dining chairs were given to us by my host family, and Ray sanded them down before painting them white. I wrapped the faux leather seats in a pink striped fabric. I like how it looks with the yellow stripes in the tablecloth. It’s the first time we’ve had space for a table and it’s nice we don’t have to eat on our laps anymore.

‘I considered painting the chairs a bright colour but Ray preferred white, and he was right as it’s given a bit of balance to the room,’ Louisa says.

If you love the look, why not learn how to upcycle a kitchen chair yourself?

Hallway

The free-standing hanging rail with space for coats and shoes is an ideal set-up for renters who don’t want to fit hooks to the walls. The tasselled cushion is a design from Joules

‘I wanted a cheerful welcome and really loved the results of the mustard colour we’d painted the kitchen, so I used up the leftovers here. I appreciate neutrals but never choose them as brights cheer me up, especially in the winter months – this is a gorgeous sunny yellow.’

Main bedroom

The velvet chair from Wayfair ties in with the headboard, and the large Koppang IKEA drawers provide additional storage. ‘The mirror was a lucky find at TK Maxx,’ says Louisa. ‘I always buy things as soon as I see them’

‘The bedroom still has its original parquet floor and built-in wardrobes. I used Duck Egg by Rust-Oleum for the walls and chose a patterned duvet cover – I’ve always been drawn towards bright bedding, even when I lived in a house share. I wanted the bedroom to be a light shade of blue, and this tone is interesting because it looks different depending on the light and time of day. I would’ve loved a bamboo or rattan headboard, but they were too expensive. Instead, I found the pink velvet headboard on sale for £60 at Dunelm, which was a bargain for a king-size bed and looks so lovely next to the blue.’

‘This room’s blue and pink scheme also led to me choosing soft pink for the blackout curtains from Next – an investment buy, but totally worth it as the tassel trim is beautiful.’

Guest bedroom

Tropical prints give the guest room a holiday vibe. The Floral Paradiso art print is by La La Land on Fy!, the walls are painted in Rust-Oleum’s Wanderlust, and the duvet cover is furn.’s Juicy design

‘We didn’t want to spend too much on this room, so it was lucky we were able to make use of furniture we already had from the bedroom in our previous flat. We’ve used various shades of green elsewhere in the house so effectively, so I knew it would work beautifully in here too. As it’s not one of the main rooms, I decided to experiment with a slightly stronger shade – a spearmint green – and was really pleased when I found this duvet cover with details in the same colour. I couldn’t resist the dog table lamp as it looks exactly like our mixed breed dog, Lana.’

Nursery

‘This room is quite narrow, so I didn’t want to fill it with bulky furniture. A hanging rail was a great solution, as it feels so much more open than a closed-off, imposing wardrobe would, and the clothes being on display adds a little extra colour to the scheme. This is one of my favourite palettes in the house – I love the combination of pink shades with the walls, clothes rail, and Lorelai’s name in the artwork, and how it all works with the soft blue. The hot air balloon pendant looks really cute too. It feels really playful yet restful in here, which is exactly what I wanted.’

Bathroom

‘I wasn’t able to change the existing bathroom, but painting the walls pink instantly brought the space to life. I like pretty things in quirky designs, which are pleasingly arranged. The large mirror makes a great centrepiece, as the shell shape is unusual and really draws the eye.’

Styling Marisha Taylor, Photos James French