With her clever blend of vintage and modern design, Katherine Atkinson has created a cheerful home full of colour and pattern for an up-to-date twist on Sixties style.
Pattern clashing is a brilliant way to bring a fun feel into any room! Katherine mixed and matched patterns and textures to create a retro-inspired home that feels very contemporary.
Read on to find out how Katherine transformed her home and achieved a colourful-yet-nostalgic style.
I’m Katherine Atkinson, 47, (@theoldforgeincolour on Instagram), and I‘m assistant director for the county council. I live with my husband Tom, 47, an electrical engineer, and our children, James, 17, and Charlotte, who’s 13.
Where I live… My home is a six-bedroom detached house in Maidstone, Kent, built onto the side of an old forge. We’ve lived here since October 2016.
My favourite room… Our bedroom is my favourite transformation. It feels like the perfect mix of colour and neutrals, modern and vintage, and it’s peppered with lots of items that belonged to my mum and my granny.
What I wanted to change… I wanted to make the most of the original features while also showcasing the extended 1960s part of the house.
How I made it my own… I love a vintage vibe but don’t want my home to feel like an ode to retro living, so I’ve balanced the look with pieces of sleek, modern furniture.
I know some people would look around a house that hasn’t been done up for years and be horrified, but I saw all the beautiful features and was immediately sold. I particularly loved the beams in the living room and the big 1960s windows, and we all loved the quirky design and layout.
As the previous owners had lived here for 28 years, it was ready to have new life breathed into it. We ripped up the carpets (sadly not revealing any beautiful floorboards!) and took out the old-fashioned fitted wardrobes dominating the bedrooms.
I enjoy decorating, so started adding wallpaper and paint in my favourite colours – yellow, teal and pink – and I also filled the rooms with cushions that I make out of beautiful vintage fabrics.
"There's still a long way to go, but I love the unique family home that we're creating"
Katherine Atkinson
The house has become more colourful as my confidence in my decorating choices has grown, but lockdown also played a part as we were spending so much longer in the house that I wanted to get more joy from it.
We haven’t done any major renovations in the bathroom or kitchen yet as I want to strip everything out and start again, which will be a big project.
As a quick fix, I’ve given the kitchen a refresh with bright yellow handles and patterned vinyl, and I’ve updated our en-suite with new fixtures, fittings and colourful tiles. There’s still a way to go, but I love the unique family home that we’re creating.
Living room
We bricked up an alcove where the yellow console table now is and I painted the beams a soft grey. They were black before, which felt too oppressive, but I still wanted to highlight them. I also wanted to include some patterned floral wallpaper in my scheme, but without being too chintzy.
This design, called Alice from Mini Moderns, is the perfect balance between modern and retro. I love a pink and yellow palette so painted the rest of the walls in Calamine by Farrow & Ball, which complements the wallpaper beautifully.
I wanted to sit on the new sofas and touch the fabric before we bought them, so we waited until the shops had re-opened after lockdown before replacing our old grey sofas. I love contrasting textures, so ended up choosing the same DFS sofa design but in two different colourways and fabrics.
Conservatory
This was always going to be a formal dining room, rather than just a conservatory, because it’s got French doors out to the garden so it’s perfect for entertaining, especially in summer.
We had to replace the whole roof as originally it was corrugated plastic and, as well as being incredibly noisy, it constantly leaked.
I painted the brickwork in white and because it’s quite a large expanse, I gradually created the fun 3D gallery wall, using plants, wooden masks and macramé art.
I put colourful tiles on the ledge around the room as a low-maintenance surface to house my plants and then painted the arch through to the living room to link the two spaces and make a colourful statement.
Kitchen-diner
These are the original kitchen cupboards and layout from when we moved in, apart from a wall cupboard on the right, which we ripped out – it made the room feel enclosed and I already had my eye on the colourful Amica fridge freezer to take its place.
The tiles were black, so I refreshed them with a lick of white tile paint and then replaced all the handles with yellow ones. I also replaced the window blind, which was originally an ugly, vertical office-style design.
I didn’t want to paint the front of the peninsular as I was worried about knocks and chips in a high-traffic area, so sourcing the vinyl from Faye Jennifer was a game-changer. It’s completely elevated the look of the old-fashioned cupboards, and the pattern and colour combo of teal and yellow is a thread running through my home.
Upstairs lounge
This was the grimiest room in the house as it had a green shagpile carpet, and when we ripped it up there was a black tidemark around the skirting board, but I knew it would be the perfect space for an informal lounge.
Our friends assumed we’d rip out the fireplace but it’s original to the house and, although it takes up a lot of wall space, it’s a cool focal point.
I originally painted the walls soft grey, but combined with the grey carpet the room needed some colour, and I felt it was big enough to take a bit of drama, so I wallpapered above the fire with this retro design from Lust Home.
I wanted to find some stylish bookcases for all of Thomas’ books but they needed to be really solid, so I sourced some from John Lewis and they fit perfectly.
Office
Pre-lockdown, this was my craft room, and I designed it without carpet so that I can see pins and thread if I drop them.
I chose a large trestle table with space to cut fabric and, although we have loads of bookshelves around the house, I wanted one in here to have my own art and interiors books to hand, and it also displays my collection of turquoise pottery.
I had the idea of adding a copper band around the room as a feature (scroll down for my easy tutorial), so I masked off the design, painted it with glue and then painstakingly rubbed the copper squares onto the wall. I wanted to paint the ceiling a colour that would complement the copper and finally chose Barcelona by Graham & Brown.
Then, during lockdown, this became my office, so I bought a decent office chair that was comfortable as well as colourful.
Main bedroom
We ripped out the dated fitted wardrobes, stripped off the peeling wallpaper and replaced the peach carpets with a neutral light grey throughout the whole upstairs as a timeless choice.
I’d already painted the en-suite ceiling and loved the look, so I decided to follow it though into here. But despite being a colour lover I wanted a chilled, calm vibe in the bedroom so chose a relaxing, soft pink called Ballerina Dance, which was the closest match I could find to the pink tiles in the en-suite, and I complemented it with Natural Hessian on the walls, both by Dulux.
I wanted to free up the longest wall for new wardrobes so moved the bed under the window, which some people find controversial, but I love it there. I’ve mixed my favourite vintage florals and pictures with mainly modern furniture and a pair of cute pink gingham blinds.
En-suite
I wanted the en-suite to feel as lovely as our bedroom, so I had a plan to add my trademark colour scheme of pink, teal and yellow to inject the personality it lacked.
We ripped out the bland suite, but the plumber kept finding DIY plumbing problems the previous owners had left, so the makeover took longer than anticipated.
But I’d already spotted the patterned floor tiles which became the starting point for the scheme, and I wanted to contrast them with a pink metro tile. I sourced these matt ones from Topps Tiles, which I think look more contemporary than gloss ones.
We replaced the dated quadrant shower with an easier-to-use square one and installed a curved, floating vanity unit to make the room feel bigger.
The finishing touch was painting the ceiling yellow, which feels like the sun is shining on me when I’m having a shower.
Charlotte's bedroom
We cleared the room of all the up-and-over fitted furniture, which completely overwhelmed the small space, and originally gave it a soft dove grey and baby pink paint job. But recently Charlotte asked for a room that felt more grown up so she gave me a brief.
She wanted more natural, earthy colours with a boho vibe, and I felt the room needed some interest, so we decided on a colour-blocked wall. We chose Natural Hessian by Dulux for the top to make the room feel bigger, and Sulking Room Pink by Farrow & Ball for the bottom half, which adds warmth and colour.
I’d already invested in classic furniture like the cast iron bed, so it was then just a case of updating the accessories by adding framed film posters, a classic Berber rug and some fun pompoms around the top of the walls.
How to add a copper leaf stripe
Add metallic sheen to your scheme with copper leaf, as Katherine has done on her office walls. You can use the same technique on furniture and accessories, too
- Start by marking out where you want your stripe to be on your wall using a spirit level, metal tape measure and pencil. Try a large stripe across the middle of the wall to make a bold impact, like Katherine, or play with different height levels to change the look – a thinner stripe further up the wall will help to make your ceiling feel higher, while a lower stripe will give you more space for artwork above.
- You’ll need copper leaf, adhesive size, clear sealant or top coat, and a soft paintbrush, plus sandpaper, painter’s tape, cotton gloves, a clean cloth, and a dust sheet. Lay out the dust sheet and sand down the area, then wipe with a damp cloth and dry off. Depending on the condition of the wall you’re applying the leaf to, you can paint a layer of emulsion or primer as a base, then sand it down as above.
- Next, apply painter’s tape all the way along the edges of your stripe, then apply the size in an even coat to your stripe using a paintbrush. Then, you need to wait for the size to become tacky. It should feel sticky, but shouldn’t be wet or come away when you touch it. However, if the size is too dry then the copper leaf will not stick to it, so keep checking on it while you wait.
- Once the size is tacky, you’re ready to add the copper leaf. Remove the copper leaf from the paper and press it against the surface in position. Then brush it gently in place, and continue carefully brushing to dust off any excess. Continue until you’ve filled your stripe with copper leaf, then seal it with a clear top coat or sealant for longevity, and carefully remove the tape.
What I learned
- Fresh flowers are a household essential! I love how quickly and cheaply they cheer up a space and in winter they’re a reminder of all the colour that will return to our gardens in spring.
- There’s always a lot of debate about gallery walls: are they still ‘in’? How should you arrange them? Random or uniform? But for me, the truth is that you should simply do what makes you happy.
- Soft furnishings are a colour lover’s friend and are easily added on a budget – rugs, cushions, blinds and throws all bring a room together, and even a cheap print can change the look and feel of a space.
‘It’s amazing what paint can do!’ – how this homeowner transformed a run-down home with a few clever techniques
Lorna McMahon didn’t want to wait for a costly extension to spruce up her 1930s home, so she got the paintbrushes out and transformed the space. Check out her real home makeover!
Feature and styling: Lisa Moses. Photography: Caroline Mardon.
