A Victorian house inspired by Charleston, chintz and creativity

A riot of floral nostalgia, painted wood and original recycling, Maude Smith’s home takes cues from the Bloomsbury artists

Artist Maude Smith’s Victorian terraced home is a far cry from the modernity of its surroundings in Stockwell, southeast London. More reminiscent of an established country pile, it is brimming with nature’s influence, timeworn furniture, chintz, curious collections and a naïve creativity that places it more accurately in a fairy tale than a sprawling city. Heavily influenced by Charleston – the home of Vanessa Bell and the Bloomsbury Group – which exudes freedom of expression, Maude’s house, with its beautifully realised features, is testament to artistic passion.

‘I love the homemade-ness of Charleston – it’s been a huge influence on the way I’ve created my home,’ Maude reveals. ‘I like to put my own stamp on the world and my home is a mixture of my creativity and that of other artists.’

No corner of Maude’s house is untouched by a creative hand, and everything from handmade curtains and intriguing three-dimensional paper houses to story-telling painted doors, potato-print stairs and self-designed wallpaper has a homemade charm.

Maude describes her home as ‘eclectic, old-fashioned, homely and chintzy’, an accurate assessment of busy florals working comfortably alongside timeworn furniture and inherited pieces. Her use of floral fabrics is inventive, with odd curtains acting as armchair throws, old dress material made into cushion covers, and vintage sheets covering up those unsightly things we all store under the bed.

‘My grandmother loved chintz and her home reflected this – it had a lovely lived-in, country feel to it. For this reason, I find florals very nostalgic,’ she explains.

Inspired by her grandmother, a frugal woman who made, mended and reused everything, and her father who was a conservationist, Maude is naturally drawn to restoration and recycling.

‘My vision was to put the house back to how it would’ve originally been,’ she says. ‘To this end I’ve reinstated cornices, fireplaces and doors. I’ve sourced fittings like the lichen-green kitchen range – it’s what would have been here in the 1800s, albeit black. It came from a Yorkshire salvage yard and looks like it’s always been here. My bath and basin were also salvaged from Yorkshire, this time from a house which was being demolished.’

Maude’s four-storey home is filled from top to bottom with natural reference, from the bunches of dried hydrangeas hanging above the kitchen fireplace to the painted tiles adorning the bathroom walls. Despite the inner-city location, she has created a home which is close to nature, both literally and artistically.

‘I find beauty in every leaf, piece of bark, flower or feathery bird; nature is beautiful beyond comprehension and we can only hope to imitate,’ she says. ‘I love to forage and preserve, and I take great pleasure in collecting nature’s offerings.’

Her most notable upcycling project has to be the kitchen cupboard doors and splashback, a makeover involving corks, shells and broken china. ‘I already had quite a collection of materials but didn’t have enough for the whole kitchen, so I asked everyone I could think of to save me corks. As you can imagine, this project didn’t happen overnight, but within a year I had a new kitchen!’ reveals Maude. With recycling and repurposing playing a key role in preserving our precious resources, Maude’s approach to a ‘considered home’ is like no other.