Yes, I know it’s kitsch but that’s why I love it

URSULA FORBUSH, 48, is single and a manager for a charity and lives near Bristol. She says: from the red glass vases and psychedelic wallpaper, to the Formica tables and G-plan dining suite, everything about my two-bedroom terrace home is a tribute to the late Sixties.

I fell in love with the era as a twentysomething in the Eighties while feeling uninspired by the New romantic music and the fashions at the time.

After digging around in my mum’s record collection I realised I loved Sixties music, particularly The Beatles and rolling Stones, and devoured books about the decade.

Covetous of the style of Pattie Boyd, Marianne Faithfull and Edie Sedgwick — Andy Warhol’s muse — I scoured the second-hand market in Leicester, where I grew up, for Sixties fashions. I have a like-minded friend who completely decorated her home in Sixties style, and I vowed to one day have my own Sixties abode.

The first thing I did when I bought my home 12 years ago was to have genuine Sixties wallpaper put up.

I imported a funky pink and brown swirled paper for about £20 a roll from holland which adorns one wall of my dining room, while in the hallway there is orange flowery wallpaper from Italy, and a calming blue pattern in my bedroom. At the windows hang original Sixties curtains bought from second-hand shops.

I adore anything kitsch and spend hours rummaging at auctions, car-boot sales, flea markets and in charity shops, never paying more than a few pounds. A Sixties lamp with large swirls all over the tall shade was one of the more expensive items, at £100 from eBay.

I have a record player reminiscent of a white space helmet, and there are original white fluffy flokati rugs on my lounge floor.

Formica tables are scattered around the house and the walls are hung with prints of iconic paintings like the Chinese Girl by Vladimir Tretchikoff.

In the kitchen is an old Kenwood mixer and Sixties crockery and glassware. I also have an orange slow cooker, plus Boots heated curlers, and hood- style hairdryer which cost £5 from a charity shop — I don’t use the hair gadgets in case they blow up.

Although I don’t like modern decor and furnishings and have very little of either, I’ve had to be practical with certain items.

An old twin tub wouldn’t fit in my kitchen so I’ve got a modern washing machine. And while my TV is also new, I paid more for one that’s smaller, white and in keeping with the white fibreglass Sixties table on which it sits.

Every night I come home to my Sixties bubble, switch on my old record player, listen to some vinyl, and all the stresses of 2015 melt away.