Through the Keyhole: Sarah Akwisombe

Interior designer and blogger Sarah Akwisombe shows us her bold and bright Art Deco-inspired home.

Sarah Akwisombe's eclectic London flat is a riot of colour and pattern. Her unique style mixes Art Deco with midcentury modern, sprinkled with urban chic. Here, she shares her inspiration and design influences from eBay to art galleries and even Tarantino films. Take a peek below.

‘Our home was a bit of a shell when we first moved in. The walls were really badly washed with Magnolia paint. it didn't have any carpet and the kitchen and bathrooms were pretty gross! But we could see past all that and saw that it had some really lovely original features with good room sizes. The biggest challenge was probably just getting everything to the level of being liveable! We had just had a baby and were living in my mum’s house so there was a big scramble to get everything painted, floors laid, furniture in place etc. But we got there!

‘I'm proud of our home being a really good representation of our family. Nothing's predictable and there's a lot of vibrant colour (like our bedroom painted in Hawaiian Blue 2) with some statement wallpapers to finish it off. We really like to mix vintage with modern so I'm proud of some of the bargain pieces that I've managed to pick up along the way, like Art Deco sideboards for £20!'

‘My advice for picking out colours for your home would be to create a palette of colours that tonally work well together but can be used in different parts of your home. They don't need to be the same colour, or even shades of the same colour but instead just work together as a collective.

'That's one thing I didn't really think about when we started painting here so now I'm a lot more aware of it. It helps to tie all the rooms together and create a look that's coherent but still has fun and variety throughout the rooms.

'I love the unexpected bargains you can discover at charity shops but there are also some really cool independent online retailers who can help you to get something unique at a good price.

'I love eBay for random little pieces of decor. You can find really unusual bits and bobs that someone else just doesn't see the value in. On the other hand you can also find stuff that's super rare and will hold it's value.'

'I get inspiration watching old movies, or really stylised stuff by directors like Tarantino or Wes Anderson. I also find a lot of inspiration from the art world, so I go to galleries and museums, antiques fairs too. When I work on interior shoots I get to see a lot of cool location houses and sometimes they have new decor ideas or gadgets that I then want to try out at home.

'We really want to get our kitchen done so I am currently saving up and letting a concept come together for what I want that space to look like. I'm excited!'

www.sarahakwisombe.com

Inspired by Sarah's style? Check out more real homes for tips and decorating ideas in Patchwork Harmony blogger, Caroline Rowland’s DIY home.