Photography by Boz Gagovski and Sarah Button
From his sage advice on Instagram to in-home colour consultancy, our Brand Ambassador Patrick O’Donnell has helped countless people transform their homes. Today, we’re taking a look at how he’s decorated his own. Specifically, the little touches in each room that make them feel even more special. For Patrick, these range from practical features, like a staircase scheme designed to help his mother navigate the steps, to purely aesthetic additions designed to simply make him smile.
The Hallway
In his hallway, practicality was the order of the day. Both how to hide a functional but unappealing mirror and support Patrick’s mother as her eyesight starts to diminish.
‘It was a two-fold solution when we were decorating. We painted over the existing wallpaper using a really lovely, soft Farrow & Ball colour called Pink Ground. It’s really nice because it’s kind of like a neutral but gives this lovely edge of warmth. There’s this slightly ugly mirror as you come in and I was like what should we do with that? Do we make a feature of it or do we lose it? So, I created this pearl motif all the way around.
‘As you come through the hall, the staircase is a very ordinary spindle staircase. But my mother is of a decent age and she has cataracts, and there’s a brilliant thing called light reflective value, which really helps you define boundaries for people who have diminished sight. So, I used a dark Archive green called Sutcliffe Green on the woodwork and kept the Pink Ground on the wall. Now she can really define the staircase edges, which makes it a much safer journey for her to go from top to bottom.’
The Office
Patrick’s office is the perfect example of his follow-your-heart philosophy:
‘It’s not a rulebook approach to colour, it’s about what other elements are in that room and how can I bring it all together. Any room is a sum of many parts. I almost use a similar philosophy to gardening. I will sometimes put perennials in where it may not be the ideal scenario. Sometimes they prosper and sometimes they don’t. It’s much more about the love of a colour.’
In this instance, he added Stone Blue to his woodwork to complement a favourite fabric.
‘I had a particular fabric in here, which I wasn’t willing to replace. So it’s kind of pulling that blue from the fabric and there are shots of red in here too. I just wanted it to balance. So, I wasn’t thinking the ideal scenario because this is actually north west facing. But what’s lovely about Stone Blue is there’s enough warmth. It’s not a cold blue.’
The Bedroom
The decorated doorway is the star of the bedroom: a surprising, sophisticated statement against the backdrop of warm, yellow Cane.
‘My bedroom, which is east facing, is in an Archive colour called Cane. Again, it’s probably not the right scenario for a yellow-based colour but it works a treat. It was dictated by some curtains that I rescued from a skip.
‘I really liked how brown works with the Cane, so I thought to do a dark brown door. And then I thought, how can I make that even more fun? So, I extended the colour beyond the architrave and then thought, ok I’ll do a broken pediment on it. I love it. It just makes me smile every time I see it. I know it’s kind of absurd to have that in a 1930s suburban home but I kind of love the oddness of it.’
The Pantry
For his Etruscan Red pantry, Patrick followed his own advice on the best way to introduce more colour to your home:
‘Start small. Whether you have a downstairs loo or a tiny utility space, it’s a really nice way to introduce a little bit of colour because then the commitment isn’t so big. It is about confidence. I think a lot of people are concerned about what their friends might say and the minute you shake that off, it’s incredibly liberating.’
Extra Embellishments
Like many of us, Patrick often has leftover paint at the end of a project. So, rather than leave it gathering dust, he puts it to work all over his house.
‘We end up with loads of sample pots, loads of half tins of wood finish and there are so many ways you can utilise that. Enliven old picture frames and paint them in a fun colour. Or I did a project with a couple of round trays I had. I sanded them down and painted them in Dead Flat®. There are lots of things you can do rather than let paint fester in a tin at home in a cold shed.’
Explore The Archive
Everyone who watches Patrick on our Instagram knows how much he loves sharing shades from our Archive. With Sutcliffe Green on his staircase and Cane in his bedroom, he’s delved into this treasure trove for his own home too. Take a look for yourself and discover a plethora of past favourites.