Hello. My name is Lynne. I live with my husband and our three children (aged 14,9 and 6) on an island off the west coast of Wales in the United Kingdom. The island is only about 20 miles long and can only be reached from the mainland by crossing one of two bridges (and if it’s windy, only one of them is usable!!)
We moved to our current home in 2002.It was a bit of a panic buy as we sold our last house in just 5 days. It’s not really where we want to be but it’s our home for now.
Just after the birth of our son in 2004 , I started my business selling primitive gifts and home décor. Although most of the style originated from here in the United Kingdom and across Europe, getting the British to fall in love (again) with the old and primitive look takes a bit of effort but it’s catching on!
For most of our married life, my husband and I have lived apart as he served in the Royal Air Force and was sent all around the world and so the house wasn’t really decorated to any particular look. It was only at the beginning of 2010 that my husband commented to me that I sell the primitive look to other people but we don’t have it in our own home. Taking that as a green light, I set to and made plans to change our home into what it is today.
All of the work has all been done on a budget, more or less, with a combination of hard graft by my husband, my father and myself. We have indulged a little in a few antiques but overall, it hasn’t cost us much. My choice of colours has been an eye opener to most people as when I mention black, they look very suspicious and sometimes even horrified! I must admit, I was rather cautious about incorporating that colour into our home at first, but now it’s everywhere. I might not have the proverbial little black dress but I have a little black house instead! Numerous people have told me that I should decorate the interior of our home to reflect it’s age but unfortunately (or fortunately, I should say) I don’t agree. Our house was built in 1975 and there was no way we were going to go back to the 70’s style! It was primitive or nothing!
It is very rewarding to sit down in a room that we have remodelled, even though times were often a bit tense when our DIY skills were pushed to the limit. When I look back through the photographs of how our home used to look, I cannot believe how it was then and that we obviously liked it like that. We have decluttered a lot throughout the house which takes a bit of being ruthless but we really like this look now.
We are always watching out for that special property to come available, something with true character of it’s own but, until then we will create the character ourselves.
Thank you for this opportunity to share a little bit of our home with you.
With best wishes,
Lynne
Visit Lynne's Picturetrail at A Simpler Time