By Design Truffle Editor Images: Sarah Hubbart //
Where: Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England.
Residents: Sarah, her spouse Michael, their two children Tom and Taylor, and their three dogs Buster, Bobo, and Barney.
If you’re following Sarah Hubbart (AKA nudeandthenovice) on Instagram, then you probably know how hilarious and colorful this girl is. I knew it was just a matter of time for a beautiful home to be featured here.
Every room she posts is decorated with amazing patterns, hues,
So, we feel extremely honored and totally privileged, to introduce you to Sarah (:
Tell us a little bit about yourself
”I graduated from the University of Leeds in 2016 and work as a Social worker in an adult care management team. We bought our home in 2016, its a 3 bedroomed Edwardian Terrace with High ceilings, spacious rooms
”I’ve always had a passion for
”I would say interiors is my one true passion, which has never faltered over the years. I was never very good at Art whilst at school, and thought if you couldn’t draw then really you weren’t able to move into a more creative profession. So I was creative in my home instead, using it as an outlet to express myself.”
I would say interiors is my one true passion, which has never faltered over the years.
Your style is very eclectic and yet so coherent- How do you do that?
”I’m not a very confident person, but with interiors I can be bold and brave, making my designs stand out with bright colors and clashing patterns. I use my love of interiors to distract me from my job which can at times be stressful.”
”I absolutely appreciate neutral minimalist schemes but I just love things too much to be able to be disciplined. My eclectic style is not something which is easy to explain, I don’t really plan a scheme it just happens, I spot a pattern or a color and my mind goes into overdrive thinking of how I can make it work.”
”I have a vision of what the room will look like and start collecting art, ornaments and soft furnishings to bring the look alive. I work with a small budget and wallpaper has been the backbone of most of my designs, it can change the feel of a room completely and doesn’t always have to be expensive.”
My eclectic style is not something which is easy to explain, I don’t really plan a scheme it just happens, I spot a pattern or a color and my mind goes into overdrive thinking of how I can make it work.
Notice how the room above appears as pretty colorful, but in fact, the palette here is quite accurate, and in some other rooms it’s even completely monochromatic. One of the things we’ve learned about Sarah’s place is that palettes can be quite moderate and that patterns and accent colors play a significant role in creating the ‘wow effect’ (and as you can see, there’s a lot of wow here).
We really wanted to know how Sarah’s super creative mind handles design challenges and technical limitations. You know, like when your big leather Sofa is a given in the new space, or you moved to a house with a really tiny bathroom, so we asked-
Tell us about a challenge you had in your decorating process and how did you work it through?
”The biggest issue we faced when starting to renovate was what we could do with the tiny awkward shaped bathroom. The previous owners had squeezed a bath in which was so difficult to access unless you were a contortionist.”
”The master bedroom, on the other hand, was large and airy but I didn’t want to cut into it by adding a conventional ensuite, so we came up with the idea of introducing a bath to the bedroom. I love having the bath in my bedroom, it feels like such a luxury, my own little hotel suite.”
”By doing this we were able to remove the existing bath from the teeny bathroom and fit a shower enclosure instead making it a much more usable space.”
Where do you buy your home accessories and furniture?
”I love Homesense it has such a great eclectic collection, everything from rugs to ornaments, I can spend hours in there looking around. I’m also a huge Ikea fan, their furniture
I can spend hours in there looking around.”
Your kitchen is a masterpiece of colors and patterns! Tell us about the design process in this room.
”The kitchen I inherited just wasn’t to my taste, I struggled at first to think of how I could overcome this, as we didn’t have the money to buy a new one. Although the size of the kitchen was perfect for family meals and entertaining, I avoided using it, as I found it so depressing to sit in.”
”After spotting some kitchen makeovers on Instagram, I decided to take the plunge, I picked out my colors and researched primers to cover melamine cupboards. I used Owatrol primer on the doors as a base to paint, this was a lot easier then I had anticipated, you basically just wipe it on, wipe the residue off and leave overnight.”
”I chose Farrow and Ball paint to paint the doors, in contrasting
”Although I was pleased with the transformation there was still something missing, I just felt the scheme was too neutral and I wanted to inject some pattern, so wallpaper came to the rescue. I love the bold pattern of the wallpaper and the colors of the cupboards really jump out, it brings the space together.”
Name a designer or an artist that you’re inspired by.
”I think my
Recommended design book?
”I’ve just bought Be bold, by Emily Henson, I would recommend this book if you enjoy bold brave interiors and your wanting to experiment more with color and pattern. The book features some inspirational homes, brimming with fabulous photography, providing tips and advice on to achieving the braver interior.”
Any funny stories you have on one of the items in your home.
”There have been plenty of comedy moments during the renovation, but the one time that sticks in my mind was the time the rear sitting room was being decorated. My dad decided to surprise me and wallpaper to save me from having to hire a decorator, unfortunately, the spotted wallpaper had an adverse effect on his eyesight.”
”Every single piece was wonky, I didn’t have the heart to tell him so as soon as my dad left I unstuck it and ended up wallpapering the entire room again. To this day my dad thinks he did a grand job and is offering his services readily, luckily no one has taken him up on his offer.”
Haha! It is pretty funny. let’s hope Sarah’s dad won’t read this article.
Now, if you’ve been following us for a while, you probably are familiar with our obsession for gallery walls. And by obsession, we mean that we’re pretty sure that heaven is filled with gallery walls (floor to ceiling). For that
She even shared with us some photos from the making of the gallery wall, so you can actually see what a huge impact it has on the final design result.
