Home tour | Shades of grey in Bristol

One of my favourite discoveries over recent months has been Between Dog and Wolf, which sells a beautiful selection of design-led homeware and accessories from all over the world. I’ll be chatting to founder Kathryn about the range and where she finds her inspiration in a future post, but first I wanted to share a glimpse of her stunning Bristol home…

Thanks for letting us peek inside your home Kathryn. What kind of property is it?

“I live in the Clifton area of Bristol, in the ground-floor flat of a Grade II listed property, with my partner Rob and our young daughter. We’re the ugly duckling on a Georgian terrace though – the last and latest-built of 11 houses, and the exterior sadly doesn’t quite live up to its neighbours! We’ve lived here for three years now, but I’ve been in Clifton since my mid-20s.”

What made you fall in love with the flat?

“Initially, the garden. The estate agent had advertised the flat in a local property paper with just a photo from the top of the garden, showing a stunning view out over south Bristol. We weren’t looking to move – we hadn’t even finished the last place – and I only picked up the paper on a whim whilst leaving the supermarket. But when I saw that photo I knew we needed to take a look, and you know how it usually ends up from there! When we visited in person, its potential sold it to us. A hidden courtyard, an unused cellar, walls to knock through – what’s not to like?!”

It sounds like a bit of a project…

“It is! So far we’ve knocked through between the kitchen and living room, which has created a much more social space and given us room for a large dining table. We’ve also re-floored the entire flat (it was carpeted before), and I love the herringbone parquet in the kitchen, living room and corridor.  The flat really wasn’t in great shape when we moved in, so we’ve also had to re-plaster a couple of rooms, re-do a ceiling and re-paint throughout, but I really wouldn’t want to buy a property with nothing to do – that would be no fun!

“We now have planning permission for the courtyard space at the rear of the flat so we’re about to add another bedroom and bathroom. The build begins next month and I can’t wait to get stuck into a new project. I’ve already got a drawer full of navy-blue tester pots for the bedroom! The garden’s also looking a bit neglected after the winter, so we’ll get working on that once the sun comes out for a little longer.”

You have a very distinctive style – how would you describe it?

“Industrial and moody, with a little Scandinavian thrown in for good measure. I have a thing for grey, so the flat is full of various shades – Farrow & Ball’s Downpipe in the lounge, Little Greene’s French Grey Pale in the corridor. We’ve even used grey in our daughter’s nursery until she’s old enough to choose her own colour. I like to liven it up, though, so there are pops of yellow, too; I particularly love our bright Smeg fridge!”

What’s your favourite room?

“Fairly typically, the kitchen. If I’m at home rather than in the office then I spend much of my day working there. It’s so light, with views east into our garden and south over the river… and everything I need (mainly coffee!) is within easy reach.

“I also love the big table. We have plenty of design classics about, but I appreciate the originality of the table. It’s made from an old church door (it still has the letterbox hole), which we found in a local reclamation yard. I designed and added the steel legs using a local Bristol tradesman, who completed the brief perfectly.”

You’ve used lots of interesting textures…

“We’ve used a lot of Plywood and Formica – together, they’re one of my favourite furniture pairings. We clad our plywood IKEA kitchen cabinets in black Formica to create the look we wanted, and we used Formica-laminated plywood to create a wipe-clean table for the little one to play and draw on. I also love concrete, which we chose for our kitchen worktops, and the patina of the old metal door which covers one of the walls.”

Finally, for you, what makes a house a home?

“Comfort, warmth (no kidding: old houses can be chilly to say the least!), pets (I have two cats, despite my business name!), and being surrounded by things you’ve coveted, bought, used, loved and spilt wine on over the years. I really believe in using the things you like, and not being scared to get them down off the shelf.” 

Thanks Kathryn!

There’ll be more from Kathryn soon, but in the meantime do take a look at Between Dog and Wolf’s website. It’s full of temptations!

Photography by Kathryn Bristow