COLOUR MY HOME....
WITH Milly Kenny Ryder

Home is...

London but more specifically Tooting. I grew up in West London and still very much feel a base there but migrated south six years ago with my husband. We bought our current home (an Edwardian terraced house) in Tooting almost a year ago and spent nine months doing intensive building and renovation work. It was a challenge during Covid but has made it even more satisfying now we're finally in! 

Where does your love of colour come from and are there any palettes you are more drawn towards?

I come from a family of eccentric artists, and my family home is an eclectic mix of colour, art and antiques. I see the beauty in minimalist, subtle colours –
especially when I travel to hotels for work - but need colour and patterns around me in my own environment. 

With your house refurbishment how did you go about choosing the different colour schemes?

It was difficult and I was very indecisive. There are so many wonderful colours to choose from at Mylands - I kept changing my mind. In our previous flat I felt we went a bit too bold, naively not realising quite how bright the colours would look once covering an entire room. So I knew I wanted memorable colours but something not too wacky. We have a lot of wallpapers in the house so aimed to pick colours to match the hues in the different papers. I wanted to try to be sensitive to the era the house was built, adding to the original features that we were lucky to inherit.

In our bathroom we chose two lovely shades of Mylands blues - Morning Blue and Walpole (instead of pairing the blue with white woodwork), and it is one of my favourite choices. The slight clash make the room look more stylish. Pink is my absolute favourite colour and that’s why I chose Palmerston Pink for our kitchen. Paired with a classic Devol kitchen and charming hexagonal reclaimed terracotta tiles (from Maitland & Poate) it evokes memories of my grandmothers Provençal farmhouse. The hallway is our most conservative colour choice - a warm grey, Honest John, which will forever remind me of my beloved late grandfather, John. 

How did you first discover Mylands?

I’d heard whisperings of Mylands from several people, including my mother who works as a painting restorer, and is an expert in all things paint. I like that Mylands is understated in its reputation but unrivalled in its quality. And it also meant a lot that the paint is all made locally in South London.

Your interior design projects are bold and original. Where do you get your inspiration from?

Inspiration comes in many forms. The simplest answer is my parents and childhood home. But I’m noticing as I travel more and more for work that an experience abroad at a hotel, market, restaurant or shop can inspire a wallpaper, colour choice or material.

Now that your house refurbishment is finished, do you have any exciting upcoming projects in the pipeline? What's next for Milly KR?

Despite the main work being finished there are still lots of decisions to be made on the house, more specifically on furniture and the very messy garden. So we are continuing to work on those things. I am working with a few brands in the coming months about using my home as a backdrop for shoots and product content creation and will also hopefully be starting on a new guidebook soon, COVID-19 dependant

And finally, any top tips you’ve learnt along the way for decorating / home refurbishments?

Be flexible and realistic. There are always surprises along the way in a renovating / decorating project... be prepared for this and you will avoid disappointment. I am trying to be more careful about what furniture and decor I buy to avoid having too much of a confused look... I’ve found that mid-century furniture doesn’t work with Edwardian wallpaper.
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