Get The Look: A colourful vintage home

It is the home of Sarah Maguire, whom I caught up with to find out more about her influences, and to have a better look at her lovely home. Over to Sarah…

My name is Sarah Maguire I am 45 and I live with my partner  of 10 Years, Mark and 3 cats: Boo Boo, The Dark Lord and Cub. We live in a Victorian 3 bedroomed end terrace house in Swindon. It was built around 1860/70 as part of the expansion of The Railway Village built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. I am a Freelance Event Manager and work from home so this gives me lots of time to work on my hobbies which are ‘faffing’ in my vintage home, upcycling furniture, rummaging in charity/junk shops and sewing.

We have lived here for 8 years and in that time the house has developed into what it is now. All the walls in the house are painted in a neutral colour as I have a tendency to cover them. Mostly with vintage florals, embroidery, tapestry and of course the Lynch Ladies and the Tretchikoffs. The curtains are vintage 50’s barkcloth, a fabric I truly love.

The living room is the smallest room in the house bizarrely so we have had to make good use of the space in here. It’s peppered with bits of bright colour, Tretchikoff paintings and heads. One of my prized possessions is in here- the blue display cabinet. I love the shape, the colour and that it’s full of lots of bits and bobs that mostly have sentimental value to us. I bought it on ebay for £5 many years ago. Mark actually chose the colour for it when we decided to paint it and I was very pleasantly surprised. The TV cabinet was a nasty orange pine one that a neighbour was getting rid of. I painted it and descaled it and put new handles on it. It’s perfect for this small room.

 The dining room is my favourite room in the house. This is where I do all my creating and thinking. I bought the green dresser on ebay when we first moved in. It was the first piece of furniture I upcycled. The other piece of furniture that i would never part with is the green cupboard that has hand painted flowers all over it. I found it in a junk shop in Worcester. The previous owner had used it as a TV cabinet so the back was missing. It needed a lot of TLC and it still looks battered but I love it. The whole of this room is filled with all my charity shop finds and things I’ve inherited from family. We have a 1930’s clock in here that chimes every quarter. I love it. The curtains are quite modern for this room.  Laura Ashley but oh my, who wouldn’t fall in love with that pattern. This room is the home to most of the bits of furniture that I ‘find’ sometimes on street corners and rummaging in skips.

The kitchen is quite modern as we inherited it unfortunately. I just tend to fill it with as much vintage as possible so the eye is drawn to all the knick knacks rather than the cupboards. We have a large plate rack in here that displays all the gorgeous plates I’ve found on my travels. A lot of the really nice ones are on the walls around the house. There is quite a lot of pastel colour on the shelves in here. I like how it looks all grouped together. I am a huge fan of enamel kitchenalia too.

The bathroom is another of my favourite rooms in the house. It’s pink and full of vintage toiletries. I was inspired whilst watching old movies and how glamorous the ladies dressing tables were. The pictures on the walls are original toiletry adverts from old magazines. The curtains are original 1950 barkcloth. The cabinet is an old dentist’s equipment cabinet painted calamine pink.

Our bedroom is quite eclectic, it’s mostly good quality wooden ‘brown’ furniture that I don’t have the heart to paint. The walls are covered in framed vintage wallpaper and reproductions of old 1930’s posters. Again there are splashes of bright colour in here. I am a huge fan of colour and if it clashes then so be it. I love the crochet blanket on my bed knitted for me by my Sister in Law. The colours are incredible Our bedroom is quite eclectic, it’s mostly good quality wooden ‘brown’ furniture that I don’t have the heart to paint. The walls are covered in framed vintage wallpaper and reproductions of old 1930’s posters. Again there are splashes of bright colour in here. I am a huge fan of colour and if it clashes then so be it. I love the crochet blanket on my bed knitted for me by my Sister in Law. The colours are incredible

We have 2 bedrooms; one is our guest room which is the next on the list to do. It’s in dire need of a facelift. It’s pleasant enough but it needs a good faff I think.

The other, smallest room is Mark’s “man” room and I don’t venture in there too often!

The whole house is my individual taste really. It’s a mixture of vintage, kitsch and granny chic. I would say that I’m mostly influenced by the 1940s and 50s. I love the muted greens and the beautiful embroidered linens of the 40s but then again I like the florals of the 50s especially in the barkcloth, then to the kitsch of the 1960s and 70s.

I know you will all agree that Sarah has oodles of vintage and crafting style. Make sure you follow her on Instagram at sarahmaguire_myvintagehome. And if you have a fabulous vintage or retro home you would like to share then drop me a line a few photos to yourvintagelife@hotmail.com
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