Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Bloggers at Home: with London's Sarah Akwisombe

So it's unofficially London week on the blog!  On Monday I featured an interview with Jonas Almgren, CEO of London based online art dealer, Artfinder, who shared with us 3 great tips for selecting artwork for your home.  Now we're showcasing the home of London interior designer, Sarah Akwisombe!   I am loving the mod elements in Sarah's home design along with the balance achieved with her fantastic vintage accents.  Take a look.  I'm sure you'll enjoy this unique home tour as much as I did! 


I'm Sarah Akwisombe, I'm 29 and a double award winning blogger and interior stylist / designer from South London. My blog empowers people to take risks and try out statement style within their home.  I'm passionate about getting people to be a little more experimental and really develop their own unique style. 

I love bringing people's ideas to life. I believe that as an interior designer it's not about pushing your own style onto a client but instead taking their ideas and personality and turning it into the best, most exciting version.  I also just love the transformational side - having something that starts off a little lacklustre and becomes the most inviting room in the house. 

My favorite decor accessory at home has to be a vintage heron lamp that I found in a little pop-up antique shop in Barcelona when I was there once on vacation.  (see below) I've never seen anything quite like it.  Along with it being a really unique piece it's also got great memories attached to it. 


My decorating style is Modern eclectic.  I like to take really random and unique, one off pieces and mix them with affordable modern pieces.  I love statement colour and pattern, especially geometrics.  It's a real mix of quite urban influenced art and shape lines with more luxury finishes and materials.  It's a nice juxtaposition!

For inspiration, I often go to galleries, museums and antique shows to get design ideas from history and less obvious sources.  Colour inspiration can come from anywhere, especially when I travel or look at creatures from nature.  Instagram is my biggest source of online inspiration - you can look at one account, then another, then another.  It really is like falling down a rabbit hole of great visual imagery. 






















































My favourite place in my home is my living room.  It was one of the first rooms that we finished and it's totally 'me'. Dark walls, geometric monochrome wallpaper, retro teak furniture and loads of random little accessories.  It's really cozy and welcoming too so it's just nice to hang out in there! (see below)

Sarah's Akwisombe's real life decorating tips...

Firstly, create a watertight budget and allow 10-20% as things can quickly escalate.  When it comes to design scheme I've learnt to make sure I order fabric and paint samples as what you see online can often be so different in real life.  Also not to forget the little details - accessories, artwork and extra lighting can really give the space that wow factor.  Most importantly, go bold or go home. 

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