COLOURFUL TRANSFORMATION
With a background in fashion, Chloe couldn’t wait to shift her focus to interior design, creating plenty of colourful and budget-friendly ideas for her family home
Assorted prints and frames, Everlong, You’re So Cool, and Karina Mansfield. Wall painted in Portland Twilight, Valspar
Alphabet pouffe, Lorena Canals. Table, chair and toy storage, Ikea. Book rack, Vertbaudet. Lines at the Zoo wallpaper, I Love Wallpaper. Clock, Homesense
Willow sofas, DFS. Cushions, H&M and Next. Rug, Kukoon Rugs. Walls painted in White 04, Lick. Large print, Desenio
BEFORE
PROFILE
THE OWNERS Chloe Greenwold, who is studying interior design, lives here with husband Jim, who works in security, their children, Freddie and Eden, and their pug, Ralph THE PROPERTY A three-bedroom, semi-detached home, built in the 1930s in Colchester, Essex,
PROJECT COST £5,500
Door painted in, Village Smithy, Valspar. Render painted in French Gray masonry paint, Sandtex
Upsizing from a compact two-bedroom Victorian terrace to a spacious 1930s home with three-bedrooms, Chloe and Jim Greenwold discovered they didn’t have much furniture. ‘And what we did have was all on the wrong scale,’ says Chloe. ‘We brought our two-seater sofas with us from our previous house, but they looked like dolls’ house furniture in the big living room.’ It was clear from day one that the family’s new home called for a few changes.
The property’s initial appeal for former fashion and homeware designer Chloe was partly nostalgic. ‘I grew up in a typical 1930s semi, and loved it,’ she says. ‘So this house already felt like home. It also gave us more space for our growing family, and there’s a big garden with potential to extend.’
By the afternoon of their first day in the house, Chloe was already making a start, sanding back the pine woodwork in the living room. ‘There was wood everywhere; matching pine floors, doors and skirting boards, and the walls were a mix of lilac and terracotta, so it was a bit overpowering,’ says Chloe. ‘It was dark and claustrophobic with all the wood, and I wanted to make it airy and light in there, but also keep it warm and cosy. I was trying to create a happy space, as it felt a bit drab and unloved.’
First the living room, then the whole house was gradually transformed, with Chloe tackling the decorating almost si
