THE BRIGHT SIDE
Confident use of colour and pattern make for a joyful home
MADE TO SUIT To create a multi-functional kitchen island Kim had a simple wooden structure made and topped it with honed Carrara marble. It serves as a breakfast bar, work station and drinks preparation area. The dining table was custom-made to Kim’s design and the dining chairs are from Sika Design in Denmark.
As it is situated in a row of brick homes, the facade of this house is almost identical to those on either side of it. Step inside the front door, however, and the uniquely colourful style that interior designer Kim Stephen has brought to her own abode rapidly becomes evident. “I am naturally drawn to colour… and I’ve certainly got a very wide range of colours in this house,” says Kim. She’s not exaggerating – from the bright blue and green ikat wallpaper in the guest cloakroom to the bright pinks and yellows in the open-plan dining, kitchen and living space, a plethora of vibrant shades meets the eye all over the house.
Asked where her affinity for colour comes from, Kim simply says, “Colour makes me feel happy and brings interiors to life. My use of it feels intuitive – I’m just drawn to it when given a choice.” As her mother owns an interiors textiles showroom, she grew up being exposed to a huge array of interiors fabrics, “and I think I just found the colourful ones more exciting and interesting,” says Kim.
Bold moves
As anyone who has tried to put together a decor scheme using a range of bright shades knows, it’s not easy to get this sort of look right. Kim says that to make colour work in interiors, “it’s always important to temper with neutrals and texture,” and adds that here she made sure both of these elements were effectively used.
The best example of this is the textured charcoal wallpaper that covers one long wall on the open-plan ground floor, and then wraps around the far end of the living space to subtly demarcate the lounge area. The wallpaper is one of Kim’s signature materials. She says,
“It is the perfect ‘antidote’ to my full-on colour, and art looks amazing against it [too]. It brings warmth and texture and the light bounces off the linen-like effect of the paper.”
It’s got personality
Against this neutral backdrop, Kim has used a combination of boldly colourful pieces – the acid-pink rug and striking abstract artworks that feature various shades of yellow – as well as a cleverly chosen hanging light fitting, to make the space come alive. But these elements all came together very intuitively and ‘organically’, says Kim. “I spend so much time meticulously planning interiors within my work sphere, so I quite enjoyed just letting this space develop its own personality over time.”
Also a boon was the fact that the house had previously been given a considered structural renovation. This meant that its layout had been enhanced with excellent built-in storage, high-quality appliances such as the kitchen cooker and extractor hood, and skylights that give a number of the rooms a greater sense of airiness and spaciousness.
The home’s location – a stone’s throw from a main shopping area – is another key part of its appeal to Kim, her husband Graham and their two children, Jamie and Anna. “When we moved from South Africa, Graham loved the idea of living in a village but
I really wanted to be in the city – and to our surprise we ticked both of those boxes when we arrived here.”
While the family very much enjoys life out and about in their ‘village’, they must all equally relish time
Style tip Make a feature of your favourite bold colour but use it wisely. Kim loves yellow but uses it in small amounts, such as in a table lamp or a painting.