Recession Busting

Every recession has a silver lining and for me, it meant being able to afford the home I thought I would never have.

Having moved flats with my husband Efi (40) seven times in nine years, I just wanted a proper house for my family, but in central London that is a big ask. Nonetheless, in late 2007, after two and a half agonizing years of renting and watching the market skyrocket, an agent showed me ‘the one’ – a lovely unmodernised 6 storey Georgian town house smack bang next to Hyde Park.  It was perfect, except for one thing – the asking price was exactly double my budget.

Remembering my mum’s adage of ‘don’t ask’ etc, I offered half the asking price. Unsurprisingly I was told where to go. But over the next year I dug in and made it clear that I was there and ready to do the deal – cash is king as we all know, and we had at least sold our flat. Fate was with me. As the recession began to bite, all the other buyers mysteriously disappeared, leaving just my offer on the table. I doubt I was the vendor’s favourite person, but by Christmas 2008 the house was mine.

Having spent every last penny on buying the house, there was practically nothing left in the kitty for renovation, and this house had last been decorated in the 60s. But the princess in me still wanted the luxury look. Then inspiration struck. It was a combination of realizing that paint was probably the cheapest way to glamourize the interior, and deciding that for the first time I would decorate to please myself, as opposed to decorating to sell.  I would indulge my love of colour – big time, preserve all the drama of the original features, smarten up old furniture and shop strategically on the internet. Cinderella wanted to have a ball.

Out went the floral wallpapers and in came the paint pots. Chocolate brown in the dining room, against which I placed lots of mirrored glass mirrors and a sparkly chandelier. Dark green with a shimmering gold wash in the sitting room, punctuated with acid green and pink cushions. Slate greys in the entrance hall, dramatic against the monochrome floor tiles. A sensuous, slutty mauve in the master bedroom,  and dotted about, the odd silver and gold wall, just for the hell of it.

Warming to my theme and delighted with the ‘cheap as chips’ paint transformation, I started to furnish the space. An inherited oil painting was taken apart and the canvas reframed for the hallway; the rococo frame meanwhile, became a huge mirror in the sitting room. Cushions were recovered in faux silks; old bits of furniture re-stained to blend in to the new interior schemes and dry leather chairs fed until they gleamed again.

I also got stuck in to reupholstering all my old sofas and chairs – my favourite being the huge armchair now covered in turquoise, canary yellow and lime green vinyl in David (9) and Ethan’s (6) playroom – a brilliant match for the fake grass flooring! Determined to give the boys some fun too, I made their bedroom a surrealist fantasy – a wonky Dali inspired clock hangs with a bowler hat ceiling light, and they love to hide in the huge Egg chair watching their pride and joy, a tv in the shape of a shiny red apple.

At the same time I went on the net – buying everything from reproduction chairs, which I then aged and reupholstered, to chandeliers, beds and even a  whole kitchen. I was very time poor, and doing it this way, only had to make one actual visit to the shops. And I found some real bargains – mirrored wall sconces for £6 ; smart lacquered red drawers from Tesco for £250; silver ingot shaped wall tiles for a few pounds a metre; a fantastic wall mosaic in kit form; and three fake “old masters”, commissioned online from a Bulgarian company, which arrived by Fedex rolled up in a cardboard tube.  A final touch I could not resist, a 6 foot high life size bronze stag, which now stands proudly in the front garden. My tiny decorating budget of 50K for the whole house had done me proud.

The result is fun, a riot of colour, and best of all, it says more about me and my family than any other place we’ve ever lived in. It’s quirky and glamorous, but also relaxed for the kids, as nothing cost so much that mum needs to nag about it. We absolutely love it.