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Embrace Your Space | Caffeine and Cacti

Gemma’s Southampton new build is the epitome of bohemian chic. Her bubbly and charming personality is perfectly materialised in her home. From hanging macramé that she has knotted herself to posters of locations around the world that are important to her, there are elements of Gemma and her husband, Kyle in every area of the house. Every room has a its own scent and a lit candle that makes you not want to leave – until you get to the next room and you don’t want to leave there. Gemma, a veterinary nurse, describes her home as a mix of boho and scandi style. She likes the clean lines and minimalism of scandi design but like the textures and character that come with boho style.

 

 Bedroom

What do you like most about the pink bedroom? “THAT IT’S PINK. The thing I like most about the pink bedroom is the bed, I think it’s quite an iconic bed. You can style it up or down to depending on the look that you’re going for.”

 Lighting

Lighting is super important to creating to atmosphere that you’re after. I like the room to feel cosy, I like to dim the lights down. Kyle and I often argue about keeping the top lights on and I like to have all the low lights on and all the neon’s. I’m always opting for a cosy vibe.”

Gemma moved into her new build home over 3 years ago and has renovated everything including the garden since moving in. Putting your stamp on a home that is already technically perfect can be hard to do but Gemma has ‘nailed it’. Gemma has renovated her entire house, including the garden which was an empty shell before she moved in.

 Renovation Disasters

Every renovation story has at least one secret disaster. For Gemma, it was her husband trying to put up a clock in the kitchen and drilled straight through a wire. It meant they had to saw into the plasterboard and make a massive hole to fix it.

Next project?

"There’s a billion. I’m going to repaint my bedroom. The main project we want to work on is our kitchen, we want to change the work surfaces to a white surface and tile in there and change the hardware to gold. The kitchen is the only room that we haven’t touched.”

 Living room

Gemma’s living room is the perfect mix of scandi and boho. Your eyes are constantly drawn to something else around the room be it the ‘Drunk in Love’ neon or the gallery wall – the last thing Gemma’s living room feels like is a new build. Gemma started with the painting geometric shapes on the walls, she sourced and upcycled a few things second hand like her drink’s cabinet. Gemma has been smart with storage which is notoriously limited in new build properties. She thrifted and upcycled a second-hand Ikea cabinet.

 Advice

Gemma advises that the most important thing to think about when renovating a house is the budget and trying to keep within that budget. “It’s easy to go crazy, so make sure that you keep to your style and don’t be influenced by trends that you think you should go with.” In terms of designing a room, Gemma recommends buying the big pieces of furniture first, for Gemma, that was her sofa. Gemma loves a mood board, she used Pinterest and Instagram to create mood board for her houses and advises anyone starting a renovation to do the same.

Why Pink?

I don't know why I chose pink? I was just drawn to it! Pink is said to promote love, playfulness and kindness and calm the nerves, which is important for me as I suffer from anxiety. I wanted to create a home that encourages all the good feels and has an overall calming effect. Kyle’s always been ok with pink. If someone wants to convince their partner then show them my page!!

 

Find Gemma on Instagram here

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