DIY SOS The Big Reveal
Gary and Kyle Ratcliffe and their gorgeous kids were my dream family to design for, for my first ever DIY SOS. After they found out that I had been appointed as their designer, they found me on facebook and messaged me to say “GO FOR IT!!!!!!!”. Like I said, my dream clients in every way.
I created a gallery wall of some of my favorite artists to make the house feel home
When it came to breaking down their brief, the primary, actually only, details I was given were practical considerations to help the childrens disabilities and difficulties. The doors needed widening so wheelchairs could get through them. No steps into the front door or garden so Hayden could come and go as he wished without assistance. The means to get the children out of bed and washed. It was a long wish list, but at the same time it really struck me that they were all things that many of us never give a second thought. No surprise there was no mention of paint colours or favourite designers. That was going to be up to me to decipher. Because a big part of the reveal is the room schemes, I was careful not to reveal too much so they can fully enjoy the surprise.
a large corner sofa is a great way to zone of a living area in an open plan space. The gallery wall is highlighted by this lovely warm airforce blue. Brown leather is practical but I brightened it up with a bevy if cushions
The table was custom made to suit haydens wheelchair and teamed with joyful multi coloured chairs
I worked very closely with DIY SOS in house designer Gordon Whistance who is a man of dreams. Accutely charming, talented, well connected he put me at total ease considering we only had 2 weeks to come up with all the schemes and source all the donations. He’s also a master of designing spaces for disabled users which is not a feather I have in my hat. Like I say this is a Herculean team effort and I felt blessed to have such incredible support from the team at the BBC.
An extra wide hallway, with sky lights, crittal doors and a clever internal garden made the house feel so light, bright and spacious.
So as we were building a house from scratch, I had a complete carte blanche. As I was designing for a young family who seemed, despite adversity, to have such an incredulously sunny outlook on life, I really wanted to reflect that in the design. Crisp modern pieces, lots of colour, and going out of my way to try and reflect the personality of all the children in their own bedrooms. For most of them having their own bedroom was a novelty in it’s self, so I wanted each room to have a very strong identity and for it to feel incredibly special. Overall it was a very special experience, one that I don’t think could ever be repeated.
haydens love of comics and super heros gave me the colour scheme for his bedroom. Complete with comic prints and neon signs
two Bisley storage units are built inside a bespoke desk and wall shelves
Isobella’s castle in the sky bedroom complete with pink castle cabin bed, cloud wallpaer on all walls and twinkly fairy lights
her little princess bedlinen and pretty pink cushions complete the look
Simple shaped furniture and modern graphic prints keep the look cute and not too frilly
The soft pink and rustic wood tiles, yes their tiles, linked the two girls bedrooms togther
One of my favourite designs with design inspiration taken from Kitty McCall. Bespoke decal transfer design was applied over the fitted storage
Curtis’s scheme was bright and graphic with ceiling projectors and tactile fabrics to stimulate his senses
The boys bedroom is kept fresh and bright with aqua blue brick tiles
I had this cabin in the woods bed made especially for little Pheobe and dressed it with painterly florals from Bluebell Gray
The cute accessories were so key in creating this magical woodland vibe
Grey and pale pink is so perfect to create a calm bedroom. I love the large scale wall mural by Sian Zeng that lends to the sense of whimsy
I wanted Kyle and Garys room to be a sanctuary of complete escapism. So I painted the walls a very dark Cocoa with this wow pow totally incredible feature wall from timorous beasties
When using really crazy prints I like to balance the look with chic geometrics like these designs from Margo Selby
The masterbed led through to a gorgeous dark bronzed tiled ensuite
I adore this all black timber and slate exterior. Even more so as it gives no clue to the riot of colour that lies inside
The best bit of all is that six months all the family wrote to me to tell me that little Curtis hasn’t been back in hospital with any more critical chest infections since we did the big build. The house is now fit for purpose and can allow this very special family to prosper and flourish.
