The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Making a home work
As they grow their business, these Made In Chelsea stars needed a space where they could work and relax in style. They invite Gabrielle Fagan in for a tour
Made In Chelsea stars Louise Thompson and Ryan Libbey are a couple in a hurry. Since reportedly taking a break from the popular show earlier this year, they’ve been focusing on their own business – and have just revealed transformations to their townhouse home.
Bubbly, glamorous Louise, 29, is happily chatting about these style updates and their long list of plans – including their wedding which they recently announced they’d postponed from Christmas until next year – before giving us a tour of their “new look” home.
“We postponed the wedding for nine months to focus on work,” she explains. “We’re so excited about our wedding day... I adore flowers, fashion and food, so the process is going to be a lot of fun – but you can forget the idea of the ‘perfect’ wedding. We’re going wildly off piste!”
It’s clear the pair have played by their own rules for their decor makeover too.
With help from stylists at Wayfair UK, they’ve transformed their lounge and office space into a personally tailored sanctuary, where they can work as well as relax.
“I’d describe our interior style as traditional blended with a contemporary touch,” says Louise, who’s owned the property in London for six years and which, until now, has mainly been furnished with old furniture gifted by her parents.
She wanted to express her love of “symmetry” and take a “minimalist” approach, as well as “decluttering” and making storage a priority.
The fitness fanatic says her vision was a “liveable and comfortable” look for their living/chill-out space, which has been achieved with a soft neutral colour palette and a Chesterfield sofa upholstered in cream linen.
The setting is enlivened with pops of colour – accents of forest green and navy – which feature in accessories and plants.
“I wanted our living room to be a cosy space that allows us to relax in the evenings after work, but at the same time we occasionally use it as a space for meetings,” explains Louise.
They’ve ramped up the elegance with a mirrored coffee table, a large white rug and a gold-and-wood chequered bar cabinet, which holds a collection of metallic cocktail glasses perfect for parties.
“The room’s adjacent to the study,
The room’s adjacent to the study so it was important when planning furniture that there was a good flow between the rooms
so it was important when planning furniture that there was a good flow between the two rooms,” Louise adds.
“I wanted the colours to be fairly neutral, using different tones of wood.”
She and Ryan, also 29, have lived together for three years (their beloved pet dog, Koji, joined them last year), and Louise’s younger brother Sam, 27, who was also on MIC and lives next door, is a frequent visitor.
“He’s around every single day. It’s a blessing and a curse having him living next door,” Louise jokes. “But he’s seen the makeover and is a big fan and a little jealous!”
So do Louise and Ryan always agree on decor choices?
“I do have my own taste but Louise calls the shots (on decor),” admits Ryan, smiling fondly at his fiancee.
The couple first met when Louise employed Ryan as her personal trainer back in 2016, and they got engaged in summer last year.
“My interior style is traditional countryside home – think SoHo Farmhouse style – but here we’ve got an old-meets-new look,” Ryan continues.
The house revolves around the office space on the ground floor, which Ryan describes as his “special room for me – my sanctuary”.
Louise reveals they compromised on its style by opting for a “flexible” approach, with a dark wood dining table which doubles as a desk, and two sleek leather desk chairs.
It had to be a “welcoming” area, with plenty of space for them both to work from home without getting in each other’s way, and where they could also hold business meetings.
“Ryan was very keen on the idea of a traditional study area with a large Cambridge desk, but I knew the space wouldn’t fit such clunky antiquated pieces. Let’s just say we compromised! For me, it’s all about balance,” says Louise, who points out that Koji has commandeered the green velvet chair in the corner.
“He’s obsessed with it! It’s his hangout spot. He sits there and watches us typing away all day long. I swear he even sleeps with one eye open to make sure we’re not slacking,” she says with a laugh – adding, ruefully, that their pooch’s “accidents” have made it necessary to change their bedroom carpet.
She’s clearly thrilled at compliments they receive on their “smart space” office, which is decorated with framed maps – Louise’s choice as a former geography student – and also reflects the couple’s passion for travel.
Louise – who joined hit reality show MIC more than eight years ago now, and has a million-plus social media following – has just launched her own business, Live Like Louise, with an app due out soon, along with two new collections for her sportswear brand, Pocket Sport. She’s also starting her own YouTube channel.
In June, she admitted she got “really stressed” about planning her and Ryan’s big day, so they decided to put it on hold for a while, until they could create an event “that’s really us” in style.
Ryan says: “The main focus this year is to grow the business. It’s a do-or-die situation, so almost all of our energy is focused on this.”
Louise adds: “It’s the first year where we haven’t worked for someone else, and it’s alarming how much you can do when you break free and use a little creativity.
“Finally, (we) have the time to focus a bit on our wedding plans. We’re trying to plan our wedding abroad without help, and hopefully investing in a place in the countryside to Airbnb. So 2019 is a big year for us!”
But, she confides, there’s still one home project she’d love to achieve – fitted wardrobes for her extensive collection of clothes, which are taking up space in three bedrooms.