‘I have always loved the 70s,
the experimentalism, colours, textures and shapes’, muses singer,tv presenter and interior designerwhinniewilliams. her home, a fivebedroomedvictorian townhouse in theenglish seaside town of Margate, pays undivided homage to this era, with marbled wallpapers, a profusion of jungle-green house plants, wood panelling, soft earthy colours, textured walls, gold swan head taps and shagpile. Perhaps the most extraordinary detail is the cost, as almost everything is second-hand.
raised on a strict diet ofelvis Presley,
Brigitte Bardot anddel Boytrotter,whinnie has a penchant for vintage.when she first moved in with her fiance, the directortom dream, the house was broken up into flats with an overgrown garden, and the couple spent the next 18 months transforming the place. ‘I said totom, I want to live like I am in a movie – so that is what we did’.
home to her 18 pets (two poodles, ten rabbits, two guinea pigs, three chickens and her grandmother’s cat), the house pulsates with an eclectic mid-century vibe, once de jure on the pages of Playboy magazine. her ‘elvis room’ includes a carpet-covered sunken bed, complete with an integrated record player.the living room sofa was an ebay bargain. ‘Yes, it is disgusting,’ she admits, ‘but I love rescuing something. It is such a statement piece that it is a challenge trying to make it work, and I love that.
‘I wanted each room to have an obvious purpose, for people to be taken to another place when they come here, for it to feel special,’ explainswhinnie, whose interiors brand, Poodle & Blonde, whose soft furnishings, wallpapers and modish furniture has rapidly gained cult status, is heavily influenced by the colours and shapes of the 60s and 70s. Midcentury is key towhinnie’s style. In the dining room a smoky glass-topped, geometric dining table and chair set complete with brass edging and brown upholstery, was found in a local charity shop, and works perfectly alongside ag-plan cabinet fitted with an original turntable – it all adds to her film-set aesthetic.
The lighting takes its cue from the 70s, with shades updated bywhinnie using her designs.the sitting room floor is a utilitarian Forbo flooring, a practical, hard-wearing and cheap material usually found in schools, but here it feels stylised and fits perfectly with the mid-century feel.
With a love of unwanted things and working to a tight budget,whinnie is unconcerned with fashions or fads, and this singular vision places her firmly in that rare camp of individuality, asthe King said, ‘There is no job too immense when you have got confidence’.
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