Interior Design Masters star Siobhan Murphy used bold colours, clashing prints and a mix of high street and vintage buys to give her 1930s house a flamboyant twist.
Here, she tells us all about her home makeover experience...
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Siobhan's new book, More is More decor, tells you everything you need to know about banishing the beige, ditching the drab and throwing the interiors rule book out of the window!
Siobhan's story...
I’ve always loved this house. Even as a young girl I can remember passing it in the car and wondering who lived in such a spectacular property.
So, when it went up for sale around the same time Nick and I were on the hunt for a new home, it felt like it was meant to be.
We had viewed a number of character properties, but Nick wasn’t keen, and I began to lose hope.
When I spotted that Chatelaine, the magnificent 1930s Art Deco house was for sale, I half-heartedly sent the link to him. I didn’t think we could afford it as it was over our original budget, but his reply was, ‘It’s great! Let’s buy it!’
Welcome to my home
A bit about me I’m Siobhan Murphy, 42, an influencer and stylist. I live here with my husband, Nick Wilson, 47. You can see more of my home style @interiorcurve.
Where I live My home is a 1930s four-bedroom Art Deco-style house in Castleford, West Yorkshire. We’ve lived here since August 2019.
The White House, as it’s lovingly known by locals, was refurbished by a local architect in the 1970s, so although it was in good nick and needed no structural repairs, it was crying out for a décor refresh.
When we moved in, the interior was extremely plain with lots of white and magnolia. The house had great bones and beautiful character features, but it was lacking colour, pattern and personality, something I set about changing as quickly as possible, and have been working on ever since.
A bit more about my home...
What I wanted to change It was magnolia from top to bottom and in need of some colour and character. Revamping the brown, dark kitchen was my priority.
How I made it my own I gave it a playful, vibrant makeover inspired by the Art Deco movement but with a modern, flamboyant twist using lots of bold colours and prints. I’ve filled my house with a mix of designer high street and vintage finds. I’m constantly decorating and styling up our house.
My favourite part The original features – the bathroom, archways, curved staircases, poured terrazzo flooring and oversized coving – are just beautiful.
Living here is such a dream. Every day I have to pinch myself to make sure it’s real. We love it here so much we will never leave. This is our forever home.
Kitchen
‘When we moved in, the kitchen was dark and drab with brown cabinets – not my style at all. To give the space a speedy refresh on a budget, I spray-painted them in a playful jade green, and switched the handles for black metal half-moons. I painted the walls, ceiling and radiator in Barbie pink, and the coving green to match the cabinets.
‘The worktops, although not my favourite colour, are granite and therefore too expensive to replace at the moment. I’d love to completely revamp the kitchen one day, but for now I’m happy with our mini makeover.’
Cocktail bar
‘Having an in-house cocktail bar certainly took the edge off the lockdowns for us. It’s a one-of-a-kind room, at the very top of the house, which we call The Tower, which feels like a boutique bar.
‘It has a curved wall and large, black-framed windows that wrap around the space. I’ve styled it in pinks, with a candyfloss sofa and pastel ostrich plume lamps. Metallic gold accents help to give it Jazz Age glitz.’
Living room
‘We’re lucky to have some really beautiful original features in the living room, like the curved archways and ornate ceiling roses. I wanted to emphasise these nods to the 1930s while putting my own playful spin on the scheme, so I painted the archways monochrome to highlight the details and papered the walls in a zebra print paper by Avalana Design.
‘Animal prints were surprisingly popular in Art Deco interior design. We brought the green sofa with us from our last home – it’s fine for now, but eventually I’d like baby pink velvet sofas to really complete my vision for this room.’
Office
‘Previously used as a teenager’s bedroom, the now-office had silver glittery wallpaper and was really not my taste. I stripped the paper and repainted the white and grey walls pink, then added houndstooth wallpaper panels in a monochrome colourway.
‘I’ve added lots of colour through artwork and accessories, and not to forget my collection of brightly coloured wigs.’
Dressing room
‘According to the original architect plans, this room was designed to be a dressing room when the house was built. I went all out when it came to design with a gorgeous mural and walls painted in a complementary green hue, which is Brooklands by Vintro.
‘I had the ceiling gilded in gold leaf and added lots of texture and metallics for a glitzy finish. Getting ready in this room is the biggest treat and the best – not to mention most decadent – start to my day.’
Hallway
‘The landing was a completely blank canvas when we moved in, but it had the most gorgeous original polished Japanese parquet flooring. For the walls, I had a bespoke, 12m mural made by Avalana Design, featuring leopards, toucans, monkeys and butterflies, and I painted the ceiling pink.
‘The black coving has to be the most effective feature in this space – it frames the mural perfectly. I added a couple of plush cocktail chairs, two sideboards and some other furnishings to fill up the space and add much-needed storage; it would feel very big and empty otherwise.’
Master bedroom
‘My inspiration for the master bedroom was the fabulous Beverly Hills Hotel, which we visited a few years ago on our honeymoon.
‘I’m an all-or-nothing kind of girl, so rather than creating a feature wall I wanted to go over the top with pattern. As a result, the walls, cushions, pelmets and lampshades all share the same bold, botanical design.’
Bathroom
‘The original Art Deco bathroom is a real showstopper. It has everything, including tiled steps leading up to a sunken stone bath with a chrome lion head tap.
‘The walls are covered with ornate green and grey tiles, which the first owner had shipped in from Italy – quite the undertaking in the 1930s!
‘I had the ceiling, radiator and woodwork painted black, and added a black velvet cocktail chair to soften the space. It’s like having my own spa. It’s a very special room.’
Feature Abbi Henderson. Photos Georgia Burns.
This is a digital version of a feature that originally appeared in HomeStyle magazine. For more inspirational home ideas, why not subscribe today?