Trend journalist Lauren Bravo’s flat is a treasure trove of classic thrifted finds (Image: Daniel Lynch)
You don’t have to step far into Lauren Bravo’s dwelling for her ardour for interiors of yesteryear to be self-evident.
From the Nineteen Sixties teak sideboard in the lounge, to the William Morris wallpaper within the eating room, each nook is stuffed with fastidiously collected treasures from the previous.
‘I’ve at all times been obsessive about the previous,’ she admits.
‘One among my favorite furnishings outlets is Arch 389 in London Fields, as a result of it specialises in mid-Twentieth century furnishings.’
The tall, terracotta lamp with a Nineteen Sixties vibe in Lauren’s lounge, is from there, and so is the sideboard, and outsized West German ceramic lamp that stands on it.
From the teak sideboard to the outsized lamp, this cosy nook screams 60s (Image: Daniel Lynch)
The primary-time home-owner was eager to have naked wood floorboards all through the flat, however lots of them have been ravaged with woodworm, so have been ripped out and changed with thick composite flooring after which carpeted.
However within the eating room, the floorboards have been changed with hardwood flooring. These with out woodworm have been varnished and used as guide cabinets for the lounge and eating room.
Earlier than: When Lauren moved in along with her boyfriend in 2018 the flat was drained and run down
‘It’s good that the great floorboards are nonetheless part of the flat. Having them additionally saved us cash as we didn’t have to purchase cabinets,’ says Lauren.
Her house is plagued by ‘road freebies’ she discovered exterior houses within the native space. Finds embrace a 100-year-old Persian rug, which sits underneath the espresso desk in her lounge, a classic espresso jar and a model new set of frying pans.
One of many few fashionable items within the plush blue velvet couch (Image: Daniel Lynch)
You’ll spot secondhand treasures all around the flat (Image: Daniel Lynch)
‘We wish to joke that our flat is the native waste and recycling centre – we take all of it!’ laughs Lauren, who lives in Leyton, east London, along with her associate, Matt Brennan.
One of many few new or fashionable gadgets in Lauren’s beautiful light-filled lounge is a super-comfortable, midnight velvet couch, which she bought from an eBay enterprise based mostly in Yorkshire.
Lauren’s determination to furnish her dwelling with primarily second-hand items was partly right down to affordability, but in addition right down to her dedication to sustainability.
The William Morris wallpaper is straight out of Intercourse Training (Image : Daniel Lynch)
‘I’m making an attempt to restrict the influence my purchases have on the planet by not shopping for new furnishings,’ says Lauren.
The 32-year-old says that her purchases all mirror her character – ‘a bit of battered across the edges, however stuffed with character,’ she jokes.
Lauren’s obsession with the previous can be evident from her behavior of trawling charity outlets and eBay for classic garments.
Lauren has a ardour for classic clothes (Image: Daniel Lynch)
A fast peak by means of her fantastic wardrobe reveals floaty and flowery clothes from the Nineteen Seventies and even garments that after belonged to her grandmothers, one in every of whom is now 94-years-old.
‘I actually love sporting issues that have been owned by my grandmothers. I’ve a number of of their outdated jumpers and coats, they’re my model icons,’ enthuses Lauren.
Lauren additionally takes inspiration from the previous for her outfits (Image: Daniel Lynch)
As a style journalist and writer of How To Break Up With Quick Trend, a information to extra sustainable methods of procuring, it could be truthful to say Lauren positively walks her discuss.
Her inspiration for getting second-hand items comes from her dad and mom, whom she says have been sustainable lengthy earlier than it was cool.
‘After I was rising up, loads of my garments have been second-hand and my dad and mom have been obsessive about automobile boot gross sales and charity outlets; they nonetheless are,’ she mentioned.
The bed room (Image: Daniel Lynch)
‘My dad, for instance, collects and sells vinyl. For my 18th birthday I obtained a report participant and an iPod – I assume I’ve at all times had one foot up to now and one within the current.’
The report participant sits proudly in a nook of her eating room subsequent to a group of vinyl information, which incorporates The Kinks, Elvis Costello, Blondie, Stevie Surprise and Aretha Franklin.
Take a look at that guide stash (Image: Daniel Lynch)
Additionally, within the eating room are transport-related objects akin to a mannequin prepare. All of them belong to Matt, who Lauren affectionately describes as a ‘prepare nerd’.
Matt, 34, works as a challenge sponsor for Community Rail in Stratford and coincidentally, the flat has a historical past associated to trains, because it was initially constructed to accommodate railway employees.
One wall within the eating room is adorned with William Morris patterned wallpaper.
‘The wallpaper is one in every of his designs known as Blackthorn,’ explains Lauren. ‘We had completely different samples of his wallpaper designs and couldn’t determine which one to have. Then I watched Sex Education on Netflix. Gillian Anderson’s character within the collection has essentially the most unbelievable home within the Wye Valley.
‘It’s very Nineteen Sixties/Nineteen Seventies, with completely different loud floral wallpaper clashing in several rooms and in her kitchen, she has the Blackthorn wallpaper and so I believed, proper, we’re having that one!’
There’s retro wallpaper all through (Image: Daniel Lynch)
And classic plates (Image: Daniel Lynch)
Lauren and Matt beloved the format of the flat once they seen it again within the spring of 2018 – six months earlier than they bought it.
‘We favored the truth that you could have your personal entrance door and also you go up the steps to the primary flooring the place you could have the dwelling space and you then’ve obtained the steps once more on the again, resulting in the backyard,’ explains Lauren. ‘It felt enjoyable and made the place really feel extra like a home.’
The pair dubbed the again steps that result in the backyard ‘homicide stairs’, as they seemed so grim, with outdated, brown carpet and rust-stained partitions.
Lauren redid the backyard in lockdown (Image: Daniel Lynch)
‘When lockdown occurred, we thought, “proper we’ve obtained the time, we will really give the world a great paint job”, and so we stripped and sanded the again stairs, painted them and painted the partitions. We additionally took the door off that results in the steps to present it a extra spacious, homely really feel.’ The couple’s subsequent renovation tasks would be the kitchen, earlier than tackling the loft.
‘We wish to get that transformed if we will afford to, in order that we now have extra space,’ says Lauren. An incentive to dwell of their property for so long as doable shouldn’t be solely as a result of they adore it, but in addition the slightly arduous nature of house-hunting. ‘We have been doing 5 – 6 viewings each Saturday for about six weeks and so we most likely checked out 25 to 30 flats.
‘Each Saturday, we might get on the Overground, from Stroud Inexperienced the place we lived, to have a look at flats in Leyton or Walthamstow, and it was so humorous as a result of we at all times noticed the identical {couples} in each flat.
‘There was one time we have been taking a look at a flat concurrently one other couple, and I keep in mind pondering they’re our competitors. Then, once we moved in, it turned out they’d purchased the flat subsequent door. Now all of us exit for drinks.’
Lauren Bravo is the writer of How To Break Up With Quick Trend, a information to extra sustainable methods of procuring, from the garments swap to the charity store.
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