Flower Power

[whimsical music]

My approach to collecting is I literally

don't care what anyone else thinks about it.

If I love it, I basically have to buy it.

I'm not very good at not buying stuff,

as you can probably tell.

Before I always thought I had too much stuff.

Now I'm like owning I'm a collector.

As soon as you put a label on it, you feel happy.

When I first moved in, it was a great flat.

It had a great energy, and I liked the layout.

Felt very at home, like instantly.

Each room sort of has a different sort of vibe,

but there's a big, strong narrative through each

by what I'm interested in.

Color definitely, and the types of objects

and furniture, you know, things I'm really drawn to.

I've always been a deco fan.

Like sometimes I think when I see a piece of art deco,

I feel like I've definitely lived in that era before.

Like if people, you know, if we believe in past lives.

[upbeat music]

I was really drawn to this particular area

because of this beautiful park.

Actually when I bought the flat 11 years ago,

I sort of sat in the park and I thought,

this has got a really good, chill vibe.

It's basically like my garden.

Mare is a bit of an icon in Ocean Park,

and people call him the king.

[chiming music]

I grew up on a farm in Worcestershire,

and I think from a very early age, my granny and I

were entering the village flower competition,

miniature gardens, things like that.

And she really encouraged my creativity using nature.

I think it was a natural progression for me

to sort of move into the flower world.

But I also wanted to make sure that I sort of used

my art background within the type of floral art,

floral styling that I'm doing as well.

Gran has been so important in my career,

in the whole of my life, and a lot of the things

that you see in the flat have also been inspired.

Gran was just my inspiration. She's like my muse.

She's still around. I still feel her everywhere.

We were big antique shoppers together.

Just loved the same things about antiques,

it's made a history, the stories behind things.

A particular joy of mine is collecting artworks

by female artists, and I absolutely love

one of my paintings, Still-life With Flowers,

by Marie-Louise von Motesiczky.

And I've got a beautiful cubist painting

by a queer feminist artist from early 19th century

called Louis Hutton, which I absolutely adore.

Aesthetically, I really love women.

I love paintings of women, I love sculptures of women.

Being single, living on my own,

it was almost this comfort of like,

surrounding myself with women from the past.

And I always think, what do they actually think of me now?

Like there's a picture up there.

I think she's got a really miserable face.

When I'm sort of, you know, dancing around

or having a bit too much to drink, I think,

Oh, she's looking at me. She's there disapproving.

But then my friend the other day came over for dinner,

and she thought she had a little,

a naughty twinkle in her eye.

I just love thinking who they were.

Also, yeah, just having the support

of like the sisterhood around me.

[chiming music]

My bedroom, I've gone with really soft pink,

which is very reminiscent of my childhood bedroom,

because I really wanted my bedroom

to be a real safe space, sort of calm and tranquil.

[chiming music]

I've got an art deco mirror as my headboard.

But loads of my friends said,

No, you can't have a mirror as a headboard.

It's gonna be bad luck.

But I think it's rather nice 'cause I feel like

it could take me into a magical dream world while I sleep.

I love to put little miniature peoples

dotted around my flat.

I really love the idea of these

having their own little world within my world.

I never know what they get up to when I'm asleep or away.

[mellow music]

Lots of my sort of like collectibles and antiques,

it feels very Georgian, like a gilt mirror,

Edwardian shell chair.

I've got bows and sort of like silver trinkets.

It really taps into my really super soft,

very feminine side, which I really enjoy,

lots of sort of pearls and gold and silk.

[mellow music]

To create an interior or have your own style,

you don't have to have endless money

and get an interior designer in,

and you know, go to really high-end auction houses.

And you literally can just hunt around the charity shops,

go to the little flea markets, and just buy what you love.

But also it depends on what you wanna spend your money on.

I would prefer to buy objects

rather than get my kitchen done, you know?

It's so, so important.

You have to create your own space that reflects you.

I also feel like my space is an extension of my personality.

Everyone who comes in so far,

even if they haven't got my taste, I really pride myself

and I feel really chuffed that people come in,

This is such a happy home.

[bright music]