A play with pastels: inside Lindsey Isla’s colourful Margate home

We took a trip down to Margate to visit content creator Lindsey Isla’s colourful seaside home, where she lives with her boyfriend George and their dog, Sunday. Her home is bright and joyful, thanks to her playful yet considered use of colour, set against a paired-back, minimal aesthetic. Take a tour of her newly painted home and read about those ultra retro tiles, carpeted walls, and Lindsey and George’s shared love of pink. 

Of the decorating process, Lindsey explains; “I think if you can dress yourself, then you can dress your home. I was a bit nervous when I moved in here because I’d never decorated a house before, but I feel like it’s worked! I don’t intentionally dress like my house but today I’ve got pink and green on so there you go—I match the kitchen.”

In the kitchen, Lindsey’s paired Pink 03 walls with modular white Ikea units. Like the rest of us, she gets most of her inspiration from Instagram and Pinterest and, unable to find any countertops she liked, Lindsey decided to tile her kitchen surfaces using white tiles and pink grouting. “I even tiled the kitchen table. I’ve gone a bit tile mad”. 

“I’m obsessed with Scandinavian design. I love how they pair colours together”, says Lindsey. “When I was a hairdresser we were made to wear black every day. So when I stopped I felt free to start experimenting a lot more with colour”. From the kitchen and stairs to the living room, you’ll see a lot of pink and green colour contrast. “I absolutely love pink. It’s basically a neutral colour. When you walk into the kitchen, yes it’s bright but it still feels really gentle and warm. It just pulls in all the other colours so nicely”.

In the living room, we continue with the pink and green theme, but this time with pastel green walls, (lots of) pink velvet, and a playful checkerboard theme in the soft furnishings. The inspiration was Sketch’s pre-yellow makeover. “I wanted it to be really minimal, kind of as if it had been dipped in green paint. But I also wanted it to feel a bit odd, a bit dreamlike”, Lindsey explains. “I purposefully haven’t put any art on the walls because I wanted the colour to do the talking”.

The pinks and greens continue (quite literally) up the stairs onto the landing, where Lindsey has paired Yellow 01 woodwork with warm white walls and violet accents. 

Despite her boyfriend George “not wanting too much pink” (who’s going to tell him about the pink carpet walls in his music studio?) in Lindsey’s office she said, “to hell with it. I’m going to paint the walls, woodwork, and the floorboards pink”.

Whilst Lindsey and George seem to have very similar decor tastes, this is a great tip if you and your partner have different decor styles: create a space that is yours and yours alone. For Lindsey, that’s her office. Whereas in the bedroom, a space they share, they’ve kept things really minimal, with a soothing sky blue half-painted wall.

We love Lindsey’s white tiles with green grouting bathroom. There’s something really retro about it and we’re seeing a lot of coloured grouting right now. “I feel like in the bathroom you can go a bit crazier with the colour and design, so there are quite a few colours in here”. She’s gone for Pink 02 on the walls contrasted with a pillar box red mirror—a lovely tonal colour combination.

Want to see more of Lindsey’s colourful Margate home? Watch the full house tour below, or read our tips on how to use pastel colours in your home.