A SINGLE mum-of-two has revealed how she transformed her beige rental into her own multicoloured paradise in just six months, and almost all her furniture was free or second hand bargains.
Anna Jacobs, 50, moved into the pad in Crystal Palace, South London, in September 2018 – but didn’t start adding her own colourful touch until January this year.
The artist, homeware designer and business owner – who’s mum to son Zachary, 13, and daughter Coco Rose, 10 – has painted the entire three-bed flat for just £150.
And all her furniture was second-hand or freebies – with only her bed, office chair and rugs being bought new.
Speaking exclusively to Fabulous, Anna tells her story…
When I became a single mum, I landed in an emergency rental with the kids.
It was all beige, cream and white which I hated, but money was so tight and I was busy raising two young kids.
It was only meant to be short-term thing so I never redecorated, but we ended up being there for eight years.
All that neutrality made me feel really depressed so when we moved here two years ago, in September 2018, I wanted to inject as much colour as possible into it.
I know how much colour affects my mood, and the children too, so I just wanted to create a really nice family home.
We had a rough time in our last flat, we were burgled five times, the first eight years of being a single parent were tough. So this is a new start for us
Anna Jacobs
We had a rough time in our last flat, we were burgled five times, the first eight years of being a single parent were tough.
So this is a new, joyful start for us and it’s been amazing.
In my homeware business, I use really vivid colours, which I love, but I found a lot of my customers were nervous about adding colour.
Some people might think my home’s over the top, but I wanted to show how you can create a beautiful colourful flat.
I only really started painting in January, so I’ve done it all in six months. I wanted to start straight away but I was too busy with work and the kids.
Most days, I’ll start work at 5am. Then if I’m decorating the flat, I’ll stay up late to do that.
When I did the zigzag mural in our bathroom in February, I was working until 2am and then starting again at 4.30am, just to get it finished.
I had about nine hours sleep in five days – because I was measuring, taping up and then painting the mural, as well as looking after the kids and working.
But I don’t like to let these projects drag on, so I was painting for four or five hours every day – and did a couple of eight-hour days too.
Before I moved in, everything was beige and I was very upfront about wanting to put lots of colour in. The landlord liked my style and said I could do anything I wanted.
But he follows me on Instagram and when he saw the bright green wall in his kitchen, he freaked out.
He contacted the agent and said ‘this is just one step too far, can you go round and check it?’
When my landlord saw the bright green wall in his kitchen, he freaked out. But I’ve agreed to paint it all back to neutral when I leave
Anna Jacobs
After that, he asked me to sign an addendum to my contract, which said if there’s anything he doesn’t like I have to paint it all back to neutral when I move out.
I use six main paint colours – deep water green, pale pink, turquoise blue, royal blue, oka and bright green.
I haven’t painted anything I can’t repair, apart from the loo seat and floor.
But they were so old and broken anyway, it would be as cheap and easy just to replace them, rather than paint them back.
If I did it all on my own, I think it would take me three days of solidly painting to whitewash this place. I have three murals, which I’d have to lightly sand back first.
I would be sad to paint over them, but I might not have to. Lots of people on Instagram have said ‘I’d love to move in after you’. I hope my landlord would try renting it how it is first.
I love this flat but I’ve accepted it might look very different after I leave. I’ve had so many changes in my life and it’s a bit sad, but you just paint over and move on with something else.
I paint our furniture too. It’s nearly all second-hand, found on the streets for free, given by friends or bought cheap from vintage shops – to be painted and upcycled by me.
Our big sofa is amazing and the children found that on the pavement outside our old flat, with note saying ‘have me for free, otherwise I’m going to the dump’
Anna Jacobs
Our big sofa is amazing and the children found that on the pavement outside our old flat in Dulwich about four years ago.
It had a note on it saying ‘have me if you like for free, if nobody takes me then I’m going to the dump’.
My kids found it when they were out playing with our neighbours, they ran in and said ‘Mum come and look at this. We have to have this sofa’.
But it was so huge and we had a tiny flat, so I said ‘absolutely no way’.
Twenty minutes later, the two of them were banging on the door. Aged nine and six, they’d dragged this big sofa all the way up the hill on their own.
They were sitting on it, so determined and said ‘we’re not getting off it until you agree to have it’ – so I did.
It was unfashionable and grey but I’ve covered it with a couple of cheap cotton velvet Ikea curtains and handmade cushions. Now it’s a brilliant sofa.
Our armchair and the pink settee in my bedroom were cheap from Brixton market, I reupholstered them myself.
I’d say 95 per cent of my furniture is freebies or second hand. My place looks really expensive now, but I haven’t had any money to spend
Anna Jacobs
The coffee tables in my living room were old, battered ones the landlord left and said I could do whatever I wanted with them – so I gave them a lick of paint.
I have a beautiful wardrobe in my bedroom which I got when the wedding shop round the corner were refurbishing.
They gave it to a local furniture maker but then he had to suddenly leave London, so offered it to me for free.
I used to have this beautiful four poster bed but I had to sell it to feed the kids, so I slept on a mattress on the floor for about a year.
Luckily, some friends heard and let me have a wooden double bed which was sitting in their attic. Over the years, it’s been slowly falling apart.
It was an old fashioned bed with broken slats, so when I turned 50, I thought ‘I really need my own proper bed’.
I bought a new, velvet bed a couple of weeks ago – with a generous made.com discount through my Instagram page – and I’m thrilled, I feel like I’ve finally become an adult.
My dining room table was also left by the landlord, I’m marbleising it at the moment.
Colour is a really cheap and easy way to update your home and make it look wonderful, without having to buy new stuff
Anna Jacobs
My little sister gave me her old dining room chairs, because she was throwing them out, so I painted them ombre.
Before that I had £10 ones from Habitat, which I bought because they were the cheapest ones I could find.
I’d say 95 per cent of my furniture is freebies or second hand. My place looks really expensive now, but I haven’t had any money to spend.
By decorating, you can update your home on the cheap. I used free sample pots as much as possible – so I only spent £150.
Even our table cloth is a cheap old Ikea curtain I had.
I make all the cushions, lamps, bed linen and wall art myself, that’s part of my brand.
The only other thing I’ve invested in is my office chair and rugs – because they make an enormous difference.
They’re outdoor rugs so they’re synthetic, stain proof and water resistant, they can take quite a battering when you’re constantly decorating and live with kids.
I see them as an investment – in the carpeted rooms, those rugs save my deposit, and on the gappy floorboards it’s important for insulation.
Including those new bits, I’ve spent £800 in total – luckily my mum bought the biggest one as a flat warming gift.
The rugs are from Argos, The Rug Seller and iRugs – I got ones where you spread the payment over 12 months, interest free.
Sofa: found on the side of the road by her kids
Coffee tables and dining room table: left by her landlord
Wardrobe: going free from a local furniture maker who had to leave London
Dining room chairs: her sister’s old ones, which she was throwing away
My favourite things in the flat are my murals. First I did a blue one by my stairs, which was the most dull, neglected, nothing space of the flat – so I had this desire to do something amazing with it.
I did it all over a weekend, working solidly from Friday night until Monday lunchtime.
Instead of painting the actual staircase, I used a roll of textured self adhesive removable wallpaper, which I painted bright blue, cut to size and then stuck onto the stairs. When I move out, I can just peel it off again.
I turned my shower gold using removable washi tape for the same reason.
Once I’d done that mural, I thought it looked fantastic so it encouraged me to do more.
I’d wanted to do zigzags in my bathroom for years and the loo was my lockdown project.
It’s super over the top creative, with a hand painted mural, stencilled floor and loo seat.
My daughter’s only 10 but she’s already made it very clear that when she’s old enough to move out, her place is going to be completely white.
She hankers after clean white lines. But my kids do love it here, they’re much happier than they were in our old flat, which was really dull.
They love people’s reactions to it and say ‘this feels so much more like a lovely home now Mummy’.
My sister said this was the most beautiful flat she’s ever seen.
I’ve had the odd person say ‘it looks like a unicorn has farted all over her flat’ but I just let that wash over me, I don’t really care what people think.
Although I focus on the most colourful areas in my pictures, it’s nowhere near as intense actually living here.
And I’m lucky because most people are so lovely. I get a lot of private messages on Instagram saying ‘you’ve inspired me to add more colour to my home’.
I’d really like to encourage people to be creative. Historically, when the economy is depressed people often bring more colour into their lives.
I think that’s because it makes people feel happy, but also it’s a really cheap and easy way to update your home and make it look wonderful, without having to buy new stuff.
You can follow Anna on Instagram here and buy her furnishings here.
