My Favourite Art Deco House in Bangor Northern Ireland- Plus Tonic Cinema Illustration From Hand Drawn Creative

I shared with you my favourite house in Portstewart last week, so how about my favourite house in Bangor, where I actually live.

Its this pink beauty which resides in the wonderfully named 'Beverley Hills', in the Ballyholme area. Built in the 1930s it nestles amongst a neighbourhood of otherwise regular family homes, and backs onto a golf course.

I know what you're thinking- ​the cladding. I know. Cladding the exterior of a house in fancy stonework was a trend in the 1970s and you would wonder who in their right mind would have altered such an already high concept design building like this, let alone all over cladding, then painting it pink.

The photo below showing the house in its original form is so much better, the corner windows to the left side are totally lost under the heavy brickwork. 

The current owner was not responsible for the cladding, or the pink, ​and they also say the original interiors have been stripped and changed too. So no retro futuristic interiors to observe, sadly.

David Wilson architects did some remodelling work recently extending the kitchen and living area on the ground floor. They appear to have done a good job, in keeping with the traditional design of the building.

Bangor has some beautiful Art Deco public buildings, one of which Neal McCullough from Hand Drawn Creative has featured in a clean crisp illustration, which you can buy on his Etsy Store.

The Bank of Ireland building is another example, right at the midpoint of Main Street. The building to the right which you can't see in the photograph has quite a few modernist qualities. I have an old Ulster Architrcture book somewhere that features it, I must dig it out to share with you on another blog post.

There's another section of Bangor, what I call the new-build sprawl of the East which is like a maze to me, but which has a pocket of home designs I've always loved.

Along the ring road and into never ending suburbia there are a couple of streets of these happy little chalets. They look like designs of the 60s or 70s, family homes with asymmetrical rooves, cute archways and novelty balconies. 

There are several designs dotted along the Pinehill / Silverbirch area.

Incidentally Neal has a print that looks a little bit like these homes- Hand Drawn Creative Hollywood Bungalow A3 for £20. Apart from his Fisher Price retro toy illustrations, I think this is my favourite of Neal's work.

The last home of my favourites in Bangor list, is one I've been telling my parents I wanted to live in since I was a little girl, when we moved to the same road when I was aged two.

"The Sugar Cube", as its lovingly named by the family who live there, is a flat roofed design house on the same road as my parents' home. I always told my parents I would love there so I wasn't too far away from them when I moved out as an adult. Ironically I actually live almost this close now, although it's round the back of the Springhill Road, rather than down and opposite from my parents' house.

So have I got all th unusual homes in Bangor? Or do you know of any that I might like to nosy at too?  Hit me up on Twitter- @rudedoodle

I may feature Holywood next- it would require a lot of time on Google Streeview going up and down the split-level, modernist heaven that is Marino!

One last bonus architectural oddity- the Ballyholme windmill, which peeks out from in between the streets of homes. 

I would LOVE to live somewhere like that. 

Retro & Vintage Wallpapers, Get the Real Deal at WallpaperFromThe70s.com

On the 1st February, my son and I move into our new, little house. A blank canvas to make into our home. We are very excited and can't wait to add all our own special touches to the various rooms. At the moment the walls have all been given a fresh, clean splash of cream paint. I have so many vintage art prints, and wonderous pieces of mid-century furniture, that picking a fussy wallpaper or bright wall colour isn't really necessary. That was what I thought anyway, until I stumbled upon Wallpaper From the 70s online store this afternoon.

This store is the real deal. Replica prints of genuine 70s' designs, as well as modern takes on retro wallpaper themes. The store is more like a gorgeous pattern museum than a plain vintage wallpaper shop, lovingly curated by designers who really know their stuff.

Did you know you can buy Versace wallpaper? Well you can! As well as other designer brands such as NLXL and Studio Ditte. The papers are divided into sections for ease of choice, floral, baroque, kids, novelty, glamorous, romantic, geometric and my favourite section We Love the 70s. Lots of homely, warm brown and oranges.

With hundreds of amazing prints to choose from, how do you know which is right for your space? Well, the site has a very handy feature for trying out the patterns in situ at home. You can print an exact replica sized sample right from the website, to get a feel for the size of the pattern and colour in your own room. Of course you can also request a section of paper as a real sample, but the print option is excellent if you quickly want to compare several papers before placing an order.

So you've picked your favourite wallpaper, next you'll need to know how many rolls to purchase. You don't want to run out of your chosen paper with one panel to go. Again Wallpaper From the 70s provides the tools to make this easy as pie. Simply measure your feature wall, or find out the area of the walls you are covering and input that to their site. The clever tool will calculate how many rolls you need to buy, most importantly it takes into consideration the particular pattern of your chosen paper, and how it will line up with itself, so you won't fall short of coverage when you take into account how the paper will sit pattern wise.

So, which wallpaper have I chosen for the feature wall with the fireplace in our new home? Well, you'll just have to wait and see. All will be revealed in my blog posts over the coming month. I'll let you all have a good nosy! In the meantime here is a selection of some of the papers I loved from the Wallpapers From the 70s site, which do you love?

We Had a Picnic in the Middle of Ikea, Belfast

Last night Ikea Belfast invited local interiors' press and bloggers for a nosy round their new collections. We viewed their relaunched kitchen department which has been completely overhauled worldwide for the first time in ten years. Don't fret if you already have an Ikea kitchen however, your 25 year guarantee still stands.

You know I love plant walls, and here is one I might be able to keep looking alive- because it's plastic!

The PS collection is now in store and looks great.

I really want one of these satiny fish cushions to complete a nautical bedroom.

The Brakig collection is also still in stock and has proved very popular. It includes my favourite mint green.

Our evening finished with a picnic in the newly launched Spring/Summer garden collection. We had milkshakes and pick n mix.

Thanks to Jeff from Belfast Times for this photograph.

Something Beginning with i

Have you ever imagined an amazing room but had no idea how to even begin making it a reality?                

Then speak to Robin McFarland, founder of Belfast based interior design company, Little i Design.

Having had years of experience designing, making and dressing sets for film and television, Robin started up his own company to offer his skills and flair to anyone who wants their home to be individualised and, more importantly, to offer his services at a price which remains surprisingly affordable.

Take a look at what was created for clients who wanted a bedroom inspired by the distinctive visual style of Tim Burton.                

 

Excitingly creative, Robin made his clients’ dream bedroom a unique reality.

Robin enjoys creating children’s rooms as individual as the children they are for. Whether they want to sleep in a tree house, to go through the looking-glass, or to be right inside a Mario game, Little i delivers.

From straightforward painting or wallpapering, laying floors or tiling , to making a dream room become reality, Robin is happy to help.

See more of what Little I Design has to offer: www.littleidesign.com

Or contact Robin directly on: 07841013554