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Sophie Robinson
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08 Jun 17

DIY SOS The Big Reveal

Living room open plan onto the kitchen and dining room. Space designed by Sophie Robinson for BBc1's DIY SOS, Isle of Sheppey episode.

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

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.

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Colour Psychology for interiors: The Summer Personailty My amazing time on DIY SOS

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Catch Sophie In All Her Colourful Glory On Instagram

Ah @the_rhs Chelsea! What a feast for the eyes! In Ah @the_rhs Chelsea! What a feast for the eyes! Inbetween biblical downpours, thunder and lightning, it was a wonderful day of colour, design and chatter with some wonderful women! I’m slowly falling in love with gardening and my phone roll is full of inspiration after being immersed in natures finest. Thanks @michelleogundehin and @hazelgardinerdesign @thesohoagencyuk for the company. And a big congratulations Hazel on this stunning floral installation. And don’t forget if you want to hang out and be inspired by all things colour then my FREE live webinar is on tonight (25th) at 7pm tonight! Hop on to my profile for the link to sign up. Cannot wait to share some inspirational colour filled time with you all 

#rhschelsea
This is the first room we decorated after our reno This is the first room we decorated after our renovations. The entrance to your home creates the first impression. It’s also the room you walk into first thing in the morning and when you return home at the end of a long day. It needs to create the right welcome and what that feels like is hugely personal. For me I chose my favourite colours, this powerful cobalt  blue has always been a colour I’m drawn to. My wardrobe is full of it. And the bright pink is another one that always makes me instantly happy. Together they are a striking combination and I think anyone who walks through my front door, immediately gets a sense of what I’m about. I’m passionate about creating interiors that authentically  reflect the people who live there. Studying the psychology of colour made it so much easier for me, giving me a deeper understanding on the affects of colour and streamlining my process. If you’d like to know how to unlock your colour super power, join me for a free webinar this Wednesday evening (available to up for 48 hours after). It an introduction into colour psychology for interiors and my hope is it inspires you to have the courage and conviction to know what’s right for you.  And for a deeper dive my online course Colour Psychology for interiors has opened for enrolment. All links to sign up are in my bio on my profile @sophierobinsoninteriors 
What does your hallway say about you? 
📷 @aluncallenderphoto 
CREDITS walls in lazuli by @zoffanyfw stair runner @roger_oates floor tiles @claybrookstudio door painted in rose ash @sanderson1860 

#colourpsychology #colourpsychologyforinteriors #banthebiege #punchyhome #hallway #boldcolourinteriors #colourlover
My kitchen, the heart of my home. The smallest, da My kitchen, the heart of my home. The smallest, darkest room in the house with no view, but that’s old houses for you! You’ll often find the kitchen in the worst place. So to amp up the joy I chose a forest green (hunters green by @zoffanyfw) for the cabinets to mirror the woodland outside. We sourced reclaimed school science lab work tops and I wrapped the room in one of my favourite papers, Rubarber by @borastapeter. Tom put in retro fit underfloor heating and we used reclaimed terracotta tiles from @ca_pietra_  so the floor looks as old as the house but feels so warm! . For the ugliest darkest room in the house it’s become our favourite because of the colours, patterns and rustic textures.that’s the power of great interior design! 
Next up in my series of posts about the psychology of colour is the Autumn personality. You’ll have a love of rich deep warm Colours, natural finishes, nature inspired patterns and period features. The autumn palette is warm, earthy abs rich and perfect for making spaces feel cosy and inviting. 
To learn more about the autumn personality, hop on up to my bio and click the link to be taken to the blog. And you can sign up to my FREE webinar I’m hosting next Wednesday if you’d like to learn more about this powerful framework. 
Meanwhile have a gorgeous weekend! 
📷 @aluncallenderphoto Styling @katemcphee 

#colourpsychology #banthebeige #autumnpersonality #colourpsychologyforinteriors #kitchen #greenkitchen #countryhomesandinteriors #countrykitchen #ihavethisthingwithcolor #myeclectichome #maximalistdecor
Come and join my FREE webinar on Colour Psychology Come and join my FREE webinar on Colour Psychology next Wednesday 25th at 7pm GMT 🤩 hop on up to the link in my bio @sophierobinsoninteriors to register.
My brilliant online course, Colour Psychology for Interiors, is open for enrolment this month, so if you fancy finding out a bit more about this utterly game changing framework I’d love to have you join. It’s SO MUCH more than ‘ red is energising’, ‘blue is calming’ stuff you’ve all heard before. This is a deep dive into discovering how colours work, how to harmonise them and discovering your own unique and authentic style. Only then can you create a home you live and one that supports you emotionally. I LOVE teaching this stuff because the feedback I get from students is mind blowing! Don’t take my word for it, sign up for the free webinar today! 😍 and if you’ve already done my course, please share in the comments below what you loved about it. 

#colourfulhome #colourpsychology #colourpsychologyforinteriors #banthebeige #colourlover #confidentcolour #confidentcolourscheming
Have you found your design mojo? Do you gravitate Have you found your design mojo? Do you gravitate towards a style of interiors that just feels so ‘you’. Making a home is so much more than creating beautiful squares for Instagram. It has to FEEL right and this is where the psychology of colour comes in. Colour is light, it has an energy which directly impacts your brain and emotions. And we all have a unique relationship to it. So rather than follow the crowd, be swayed by trends it’s so important to understand your own authentic relationship with colour. Over on the blog today I’m starting a series of posts all about the seasonal colour personalities. First up is spring which is all the joy, uplift and energy. My bathroom, pictured above, is very ‘spring’ with light reflecting walls, energetic patterns and bright colours. The mood  is uplifting, fresh and feel-good. Hop on up to my link in my profile to read the blog post in full and discover if you are a Spring personality and how to create rooms that reflect this joyful mood. 
Tap for credits
📷 @aluncallenderphoto 

#colourpsychology #colourpsychologyforinteriors #banthebeige #colourfulhome #colourlover #ihavethisthingwithcolor #spring #springbpersonality #colourfuldecorchallenge #homedecor #myeclecticmix #bathroom #bathroominspo
So proud of mr best mate @sophieabbottartist who o So proud of mr best mate @sophieabbottartist who opens her house this weekend to showcase her artwork in her home as part of Brightons artists open houses. She’s always been a creative whirlwind and keeps the joy of colour alive in her paintings inspired by the sea, and the local woodlands that surround her home in Brighton. For Sophie, colour gives her life, she’s the ultimate joy monger and I’m so blessed to have her as my side kick in life. If you get a chance today, pop round to heed for a bolt if the feel good vibes

#artistopenhouses #brighton #colourlover #banthebiege #ihavethisthingwithcolour
When you find the palette of colours you love, you When you find the palette of colours you love, you just wantto surround yourself  in every part of your home! This painting by @studiocoverdale really hits the mark for me, with all my favourites on one place. Today I’m opening my most popular online course, ‘Colour Psychology for a interiors’, ready  for your enrolment. This is my most popular and indeed  powerful course. It gets to the core of how colours work in harmony , how they effect you emotionally and how to bring all the design and pattern  elements together to make your home and your heart sing! I’m a Spring personality, and with that I adore all the busy patterns, bright and vibrational colours, plenty of pretty details and preferably all at once! While typical spring personalities prefer a more delicate and soft colour palette, my secondary season is Autumn, which prefers richer and punchier shades. Combined together my home is unique and perfect for me. I honestly rarely want to leave the house! And while this framework is an amazing tool for interior design, it’ll also give you colour confidence in every area of your life including your wardrobe. I can’t recommend it enough. When I started implementing this framework  in my own design practice six years ago it was absolutely game changing! While I’ve  always been confident with bold colour, this insight gave me the clarity to speed up my design process and get it right every time! Hop on over to the link in my bio to find out more. 
📷 @aluncallenderphoto 
#colourpsycholgy #colourlover #banthebiege #colourfulhome #colourmyhome #maximalistinteriors #boldbravebeautifulinteriors #dopaminedressing #dopaminedecor
The power of paint! I’ve been extolling it’s v The power of paint! I’ve been extolling it’s virtues my entire career. Roll a bold new hue on your walls and voila! Game changer. But on our recent podcast @mad_about_the_house explored the wider impact of paint on the environment. An astonishing 50 million litres makes it into landfill each year so it feels like, as serial decorators, we could all club together and do our bit to bring that figure down. 
It’s a minefield but over on my blog today I sum up my tips on how we can easily use less of it and round up the paint brands who are doing their bit to tackle the issues. From the ingredients in the tin, to recycling waste paint, to using pouches rather than tins, there is plenty of innovative ideas. Choosing natural paint feels like a good option and if you’re hooked on designer paint colours, it’s no more expensive. Last year I painted my bedroom Turquoise by @edwardbulmerpaint and I’m thrilled with the colour, quality and durability. Just goes to show lovely paint doesn’t have to cost the earth. Hop onto the link in my profile for the full post and if you know if a paint brand who are tackling the environmental issues raised, please give them a mention in the comments below.

#ecopaint #ecodecor #ecohome #paint #turquoise #bedroom #podcast #banthebiege #colourfulhome #colourlover #itsonlypaint #interiordecorating #interiordesign #colourscheme
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