A Victorian property with vibrant, vintage decor

Mairead Turner and her husband Robin Hodgson are drawn like magpies to beautiful objects of design, particularly pieces that have already been well-loved. While most people buy to fulfil a need in their home, Mairead and Robin buy what they love, and then find a use for it later. And so, seven years ago, when they got the keys to their Victorian cottage on the Isle of Anglesey, they arrived with lorry loads of furniture and accessories they had accumulated but never used.

All they were missing was the kitchen sink, because they did, in fact, bring the kitchen. ‘I came across the units years ago on eBay,’ laughs Mairead. ‘It was boxes of pieces from a massive freestanding solid oak Habitat kitchen. I saw it and fell in love with it and I bought it. It’s been dragged around with us from truck to truck ever since, until we finally found a home for it here.’

Mairead found the house in much the same way as she discovers all of her favourite things. ‘We moved to Anglesey from Leeds, when our eldest daughter Marnie, now eight, was a baby. Robin is in the restaurant business and he was in the process of setting up a chain of restaurants in north Wales.

‘Initially, we rented while we decided whether we were going to settle here.’ On maternity leave at the time, Mairead would take long walks along the coast with Marnie and, while out one morning, she spotted their future home. ‘It’s not the prettiest building, but it has the most incredible views. I thought, I have to live here, just to be able to look out over the deer park and the sea beyond every day.’

As soon as they moved in, Mairead and Robin began working on making the inside of the cottage as beautiful as the scenery that surrounded it. ‘It was very old-fashioned,’ explains Mairead. ‘It hadn’t been touched since the 1970s, which was when it was extended. We first set about knocking down walls in the extension to create one big living space and a final resting place for our eBay kitchen!’

Some of the kitchen units were left freestanding and some were adapted by a local builder to create a more fitted look with a breakfast bar. ‘We’re a very sociable family, and because Robin runs restaurants, we also recognise how nice it is to have lots of places to sit, eat and hangout,’ says Mairead.

‘We have a kooky, practical 1950s Formica table on one side of the kitchen for painting and messy play and then a more formal dining table on the other side.’ Seating that Mairead and Robin have picked up on their travels is dotted all over the house. ‘Most of our furniture and accessories and even the lighting is picked up from antiques markets, eBay, junk shops and charity shops,’ says Mairead.

‘Robin is a regular at the Arthur Swallow Fairs and we find quite a bit at car boot sales too.’ Fortunately, the couple are dab hands at restoring and painting furniture. Followers of Mairead’s Instagram account (@maireadturner) will see that she regularly rearranges her finds, reupholsters furniture and redecorates everything from walls to window frames in colourful new patterns and shades.

It’s obvious to anyone who visits the house that Mairead loves bold pattern, texture and colour. ‘I spend a lot of time working out how to balance the different colours and patterns, so that every space is joyous, but also restful. I tend to start with an amazing patterned wallpaper that works well with the proportions of a room and work everything else around that.’

Mairead’s striking designs quickly won praise from visitors and soon people were asking for help with their own schemes. ‘I’ve never had any formal design training,’ she says. ‘I used to work for the Arts Council and before that as a producer of contemporary dance, but I couldn’t continue with that while living out here and being a mum. I’ve always loved renovating houses and when friends started asking me to help with their projects I jumped at it.’

Mairead & Co Interiors now has about 10 clients on the go at any one time, and Mairead’s unique mix
of pattern and colour can be seen in hotels, holiday cottages and homes across Wales and beyond. But none are quite as daring as her own home.

‘My home is like a playground for me,’ she explains. ‘It’s where I take risks and experiment with colour and pattern in ways that I wouldn’t with clients’ properties. For example, I’ve tried out colour-blocking with the deep plum wall and cabinet in my office, and I’ve based a scheme around the curtain fabric in our bedroom. Lockdown gave me time to rethink things, which was when I redid the entrance hall. It’s a place we pass through, rather than relax and spend time in, so I made it really fun with a bold wallpaper and blocks of contrasting colours.’

Mairead, Robin, Marnie and Orla love their home now but, with so many new ideas to try out, wallpapers, fabrics and paints still to be discovered, there will always be something different for visitors to spot and wonder at.