The Fabulously Dark and Moody Style of Nadia.

This is a blog post that gives me great joy to write. You see I've known Nadia Singleton, you can find her as @artynads on Instagram, for nearly 18 months now.  I was thrilled to be invited to this fantastic home for tea last November and I can confirm that its every bit as gorgeous as it looks on these little squares.

Nadia, took pity on me while stuck in a hotel room in Leicester and very kindly invited me around for a chat, wine and dinner. Ignoring my Husband’s words of "you've never met her, text me every hour, text me when you get to the hotel" kind of worry (did he think I was meeting an axe murderer?), I gleefully jumped in a taxi and popped over. We had a lovely evening, only marred slightly by my need to work the next day and therefore copious amounts of wine and late nights were out, and Nadia was a funny and warm host and a great cook to boost.

So, this was my first Instagram visit, there have been many more since, but what a great first choice for my very first home tour. You are in for a treat, dark and glamorous, moody and fun and most importantly designed by her, you will see why Nadia has such an Instagram famous home.

Background

Although well- known on Instagram, many of you may not know that Nadia runs a 3D printing business that produces prototypes for product designers, jewellery designers, artists, and sculptors. Before that, Nadia worked as a scenic artist and prop maker, painting backdrops for theatres around the country. Nadia is married to Mark who is a financial adviser and encourages her passion for expressing herself in the home. Together they have two teenage sons. Their youngest son loves math and science, while their oldest son is artistic, creative, and is also autistic.

Like many of us, Nadia's house is an ongoing project, which started life as a small two bed house and has over the years grown into a four-bed house, with additions and changes of their own, from making the space work for her family, to literally using it as a canvas for her extensive art collection, Nadia’s house is a great example of how with a little bit of imagination, you can create a unique and cosy family home.

Nadia's Home

You can see from the picture above, that like me, Nadia has a penchant for wallpaper mixed with a great gallery wall, in this light filled picture is at the top of their stairs. I've said it before an will probably sat it again, but if you can live with a dark interior it is fabulous for showcasing art.

A particular favourite of mine is Nadia's front room, when I visited in November, this fire was on and this whole room was cosy an inviting. I particularly like the dark walls (naturally given my own taste) but love the use of the lighter and warm colours against it. You will see the use of gold is a theme throughout the house. "The antlers are from a local deer park," Nadia shares. "They were so big I could barely carry them."

A window seat with a fabulously soft Cowboykate Sheepskin overlooking the front of the house

Another example of a beautiful gallery wall. "This wall had been bare for ages apart from the odd piece of art hung every now and then," Nadia explains. "I found old pictures in many different places, bought new pictures, and collected bits and pieces... I have a thing about gallery walls not having gaps, I don't know why, I've always done it that way. I like them to fit like a mosaic, but that's just me."

In Nadia's bedroom, the dark and gold theme continues. "The master bedroom has a balcony and views of the garden," Nadia explains.

The family likes sitting and relaxing in their living room every day. "For the fireplace, I found a local stone mason to make the surround and chose limestone because of its cool but warm quality," Nadia shares.

Nadia loves hosting and spending time around the dinner table, which is something I know from first hand experience. She decided early on that she didn’t want chairs around the table. Laying in bed, an idea came to her. "I turned and shook my husband to wake him up and shouted, 'We can make a built-in seating area using our old garage door!' He was most pleased I woke him up to tell him this news. The next day we got about at planning our seating area," Nadia share

Above the seating area Mark and Nadia built, there was a space they wanted to fill with pictures and photos. They wanted something they could change around and opted for a shallow photo ledge.

Nadia replaced old black tiles with white ones and spent many weekends painting the cabinets. "Not a job I enjoyed," Nadia admits. "It took a lot longer than anticipated, yet I am pleased with the result." Nadia loves to display her favorite kitchen bits and pieces in her wire shelves.

So I hope you agree that Nadia's house was a great first tour for my blog and it is my thank you to her for her generosity of spirit in rescuing me from another night in a bland beige hotel room, instead filling my night with seafood risotto (delicious) and a small amount of wine and lots of fun conversation.

thanks for sharing your home

The Girl with The Green Sofa