Background Information:
- Location: Beckenham, Kent
- Style of property: Self Build
- Designer: Avalana
Client Overview
First-time self-builders Carly and her carpenter husband were left feeling perplexed when their property search resulted in dead ends. Everything on the market was either already modernised, lacked any character or was over budget. They eventually looked into purchasing half of Carly’s mum’s land.
The location in Beckenham is in a historic site and Carly had such a personal connection so it seemed like they had the location, just not the house. They had never built a house before but luckily Carly’s husband had worked on building sites and together they quickly learnt the planning and building regulation basics. In May 2020 they began work on building their dream home right next door to Carly’s mum.
Why Avalana Design?
Where did you hear about Avalana: Carly first spotted Avalana Design on Instagram. She came across her page and saw her drawing the most beautiful bird’s on her golden Orient design. She instantly fell in love and knew how unique her murals were, and after looking at just about every wallpaper and mural on the planet Carly always knew she would dedicate at least one room to Avalana’s fabulous designs.
Brand Aesthetic: Carly is a neutral no go, and is a confident colour addict. Seeing Avalana Design and all the maximalist use of colour and print it was a great match for her own interior vision.
Bespoke Design Service: Working with Avalana Design on a project means it’s a completely bespoke service and a unique approach to wallpaper design. You provide a photo of the space and the overall dimensions you need making sure you point out any obstructions like headboards and Avalana will design it tailor made to your walls. Avalana will also tweak the colour way to suit your style, and this was important for Carly.
Ceiling Murals: Carly’s first mural was actually for the ceiling in her master bedroom. Once installed and Carly and her husband see the impact it made on the space, they then asked for additional ceiling murals which they added to a secondary bedroom, her en-suite, and utility room! In Carly’s words: “I am totally obsessed so I even used it on the fifth wall – my ceilings. The result draws the eye around the whole room and up, it’s so unique.”
Challenges Faced
Adding character to a new build: As Carly and Mark had build a very unique home from scratch, the interior was still new and a totally blank canvas. It was my challenge to add in those extra details to make the rooms feel totally unique & bursting with character.
Small Spaces: People often find smaller rooms tricker and don’t realise that going for deeper colours or louder attends can really work here. The small utility room off the kitchen was a small area but we went all out and installed a ceiling mural, cornice details and full on pink banana leaf wallpaper.
Wallpaper Design: Carly had been looking for a particular Wallpaper design inspired by The Beverly hills Hotel for months and she couldn’t find what she was looking for. She knew I could create something completely from scratch for her, in the exact colours she wanted under my bespoke design service and I did just that.
Summary by Avalana
Working with a client like Carly is a dream as she is so open to bold ideas and letting my creating ideas flow. My favourite part of the project was the spare room, now loving called ‘The Black Swan Bedroom’. This was another completely blank canvas. It now has depth, ambience and a load of character. Adding a customised mural to two walls in an L shape that faces you as you walk in which wraps behind the bespoke velvet headboard give an all encompassing feel. The addition of a cornice to add a sense of grandeur and is used to separate the wall mural from the bespoke ceiling mural. This truly embodies the unique and bold vision I was ecstatic to create for this creative couple!
