More is more is the maximalist message in this uplifting book
Yorkshire fashion and interiors star Siobhan Murphy spreads maximalist joy in her new book. Sharon Dale reports.
If ever there was a person destined to be a star it is Siobhan Murphy, though it took over two decades before the multi-talented Yorkshire woman got her rightful place in the spotlight.
It was the BBC TV and Netflix series Interior Design Masters in March last year, 2021, that showcased some of what she was capable of and the audience clearly loved her colourful, sensational and occasionally outrageous interiors schemes and outfits.
Since taking part in the TV contest, in which she was a finalist, it has been non-stop for Siobhan.
She gave up her job as a digital communications manager with the NHS to devote herself to a new career as a designer, writer and stylist.
Designing for a living was something she longed for as a teenager when she studied fashion at Leeds College of Art and she is now fulfilling that ambition.
The offers of work have rolled in and, along with transforming other people’s homes, she has created a clothing line under her own label, Interior Curve, modelled clothes for Bradford-based Freemans and designed a 35-piece range of homeware for them, which includes bedding, furniture, accessories and lighting.
She also writes an interiors column for OK! magazine and is a regular on Channel 4’s Steph’s
Packed Lunch, giving home styling advice.
Her latest venture is her newlypublished book More is More Decor, which is billed as “a fearless home interiors handbook that celebrates maximalism and shows you how your taste in fashion can influence your decor.”
“I really love colour, pattern and textures and like using them in a happy and joyful way and the book is about helping others to be brave in their approach to their home decor,” says Siobhan.
“It’s also about showcasing your personality, not following the crowd and being true to yourself and the things you love.”
She sums it all up by adding: “It’s decorating from the heart, going with your gut and not worrying what the neighbours think.”
One of her top tips for embracing a maximalist aesthetic is to examine your wardrobe to get an idea of what colours and prints and textures you love best, while other liberating advice includes “banish the beige, ditch the drab and throw the interiors rule book out of the window”.
The latter hints that maximalism is a subtle form of anarchy, a breaking free from convention, but there is also an art to it.
“When I am working with clients I ask what their interests are, I look at what colours they love and also what they like to collect and if that collection is in a box in a cupboard I urge them to I bring it out and put their treasures on display.
“Maximalism is all about bringing personality and joy into a home and surrounding yourself with things you love,” says Siobhan.
Her book is also a celebration of other maximalist influencers past and present.
They include Elvis Presley’s Graceland home, Liberace’s mansion in Las Vegas, which is now open for tours, Jayne Mansfield’s Pink Palace in Los Angeles, along with Dorothy Draper, an American prima donna who revolutionised the decorating business when her design company opened in 1923.
In the first house I bought I painted the skirting boards bright orange and the radiators pink.
Dorothy threw the old rules out of the window, dismissing the idea that you needed specialist knowledge to refurbish your home and advocating the use of bright colours, including her favourite cherry red, emerald green, turquoise and bright yellow.
Her schemes for luxury hotels, homes, restaurants and bars were dramatic and vibrant and in her book Decorating is Fun, she channelled her belief that a home should be a “colourful and comfortable shelter from the world and its troubles.”
Siobhan says: “Dorothy understood that maximalism can fuel your passion and creativity and remind you of all the things that can excite you and give you energy.”
More is More Decor is packed with pictures including some of Chatelaine, Siobhan’s Art Deco home in Castleford, which we have featured in The Yorkshire Post.
The 1930s property was decorated in safe neutrals when she bought it and is now a maximalist palace that shows that she who dares wins.
“Maximalism is much more difficult to achieve than minimalism,” she says.
“For me it’s all about throwing the rule book out of the window, including always painting skirting boards white and not painting a small room in dark or bright colours.
“In the first house I bought I painted the skirting boards bright orange and the radiators pink. I remember my mum saying, ‘what are you doing?’ and I said, ‘what’s the worst that can happen?’
“Ultimately, our homes should be a reflection of what makes us happy.”
Pink is the predominant colour in her own home, in her wardrobe and, quite often her hair is sprayed pink too.
Meanwhile, Siobhan is working on her next project, designing her own range of wallpaper and fabric. The idea is that she can use them in her own house and in schemes she does for clients.
Those clients have included homeowners, shop owners and even a GP surgery, which commissioned her to liven up the staff room.
She says: “I’ve been non-stop since I was on Interior Design Masters. Everything changed for me after that and it’s been a real rollercoaster ride, but I have enjoyed every minute of it.”
More is More Decor – a handbook for maximalists, £25, is published by Studio Press. You can find Siobhan Murphy on Instagram @Interiorcurve