Wealden Times | WT178 | December 2016 | Interiors supplement inside

“Soon after the Housebound exhibition, I was involved
in a show called 100% Design - a big interiors trade
show in London. At the time there were very few doing
wallpaper - perhaps me and a couple of other girls. That
was it.” Though she is unlikely to say it herself, Louise
was a major player in the ‘wallpaper revival’. “A few of
us were starting to do exciting things with wallpaper
which hadn’t been done before,” says Louise, whose
innovative and fresh approach continues to this day.
As we walk through to the kitchen of this large, Victorian
semi, we are met with a delicious display of Louise’s designs.
The wall next to the kitchen table features ‘Midnight’ from
her Forest wallpaper range, while those with an eye for
Louise’s designs will also notice the ‘Old Blue’ Tile wallpaper
behind the cooker and on the teatowels hanging on its rail.
“The kitchen chairs were my bargain of the century,”
says Louise, who cleverly mixes a few budget brands with
her own high-end designs and gorgeous family heirlooms.
“I got them from Dunelm Mill for £5 each - and they’ve
since been discontinued.” The chairs are a simple, classic
design which fits nicely with 1950s and 60s items dotted
around the room, including a wooden 1960s starshaped
clock which Louise found in a junk shop.
The white kitchen units are wonderfully retro, with pale
blue crackle-glaze Formica tops tying in with the pale blue
walls and grey-painted floorboards. It is a far cry from what
the couple discovered when they first saw the house: “It was
in a complete state when we bought it,” says Louise. “There
was no real kitchen - just a sink hanging off the wall and all
the woodwork was orange pine. Every single thing... skirting
boards, door frames, walls, everything. It was hideous!”
Thank goodness for the house that it was bought by a couple
with such good taste... generations of good taste, in fact.
“I’m slightly embarrassed,” says Louise, “because so much of
our stuff is either from family or from junks shops.” The fact
that her relatives had more than their fair share of creative flair
and that Louise lives in Hastings - a hotbed of ‘junk shops’
and architectural reclamation - all adds up to a lot of potential.
“Both my grandmothers were artists,” says Louise,
before pointing to a pretty drawing on the opposite wall.
“Granny Jean did that pencil drawing and watercolour
of Bumper, our old cat.” Such personal touches add
an immeasurable sense of homeliness to the place.
I’m dying to look around the rest of the house...
Out into the lofty hallway and stairwell we go, and are
instantly reminded of the generous proportions of Victorian
homes. Space was one of the main attractions for Louise and
Jonny: “We were living in a three-bedroom cottage on
Above: The walls in the dining room are painted in Farrow &
Ball Pale Powder. The drinks cabinet was £16 from Courthouse
Mews reclamation yard in Hastings Old Town, the menorah was
from another Hastings antique shop. The low armchair by Ercol,
covered in Louise’s fabric Left: The wallpaper is from Louise’s
Murals collection, this one is called Still Lake. The painting
propped against the wall is by Oskar Barblain
57 wealdentimes.co.uk