My pal Suze has been doing up her home and it's beautiful, bright, zany and welcoming. But she hasn't just painted doors and furniture, she's collaged them with retro images from music, art and film. Behold...
The lower bathroom is the best room in the house, each wall is covered in copies of movie posters from the 1930s right through to the 1970s. Lawrence of Arabia shares space with Moon over Miami and Some Like it Hot. White paintwork and ceramics are a good foil for the explosion of colour from the film memorabilia.
The light pull is a colour-changing flashing 'lightbulb'.
Kitchen door is black & white with iconic 1950 images while the kitchen chairs explode into colour from pages of Beano, Harvey, Richie Rich, Little Dot, Judge Dread and Marvel comics all set off by red vinyl seats.
There's a small homage to Kruder & Dorfmeister DJs in the living room above the trendy metallic blind covering storage shelves. The door under the stairs presents a series of wonderful illustrations by the great American Pin-up artist Gil Elvgren.
In the front room, alongside the orange leather suite, sit 2 stools each collaged with 1960 images. The coffee table, a vintage piece, was upcycled with black paint and pictures of Suze's fav actress Shirley Maclaine and topped with collaged coasters of jazz musicians John Coltrane and Solly Rollins. If you sit too still in this house there's danger of your being decorated.
Two very tame bedside sets of drawers from Ikea weren't thrown out but given a top coat of more 1960s images...
...while the vintage tallboy in the spare room is covered with pages from Crisis Comics. A disco lamp, tin toys and retro radio sit on top while Tank Girl and Love & Rockets by the Hernandez Brothers look down from the walls.
Suze's house is great to visit. I've been to a jazz party there with a trio - drummer David Lyttle, John Leighton on keyboards & saxophonist Meilana Gillard in the front room. Friends get together regularly to eat good food (she makes a mean curry), play board games and share the craic. A wonderfully decorated house.
Copyright © 2016 by Roisin O'Hagan/bloowabbit
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