Vintage & eclectic touches, with Victoria Emes
Have you got a freshly plastered kitchen and a big personality, but don't know how to combine the two? Victoria Emes, aka. the iconic personality behind @victoriaemes & @victoriaemes_home, is here to help.
After rising to stardom from creating unfiltered content on her Instagram, @victoriaemes, Victoria found herself knee-deep in renos and began sharing her home reno' journey over at @victoriaemes_home. We got to sit down with the legend herself, to talk about her home renovation journey and how she got her kitchen looking oh-so-eclectic, all whilst managing two chaotic kids.
A family-friendly home
"We moved here just over a year ago and bought it with the aim of renovating and extending straight away to create a family-friendly home with lots of space for the kids and entertaining friends. It was pretty run down when we moved in so we got to work immediately and sorted the upstairs rooms ourselves before starting a side return and major renovation downstairs with the help of a building company.
We love Victorian properties so have tried to remain sympathetic to the era and put back in a lot of original features like coving, ceiling roses, cast iron radiators, fireplaces etc. and it's come together beautifully."
Vintage made bold 🌟
"I never know how to explain my interior style because I’m not sure it fits into one category – it’s an eclectic mix with lots of influences. I absolutely love vintage things, whether that’s furniture, prints or knick-knacks, so there’s a lot of vintage in my home, coupled with bold colours and patterns. My Dad is an artist so I think that’s probably had a big impact on my decor."
Escaping the chaos 🏃♀️
"Renovating with kids around is absolute chaos. It’s been so stressful with the kids in tow, especially when you’re essentially living on a building site and there’s debris and heavy machinery lying around, but somehow we managed it without anyone getting seriously injured.
My advice is to rent somewhere and move out if you can afford to. We did that for two weeks whilst the floor was laid but it would have made the whole experience much more enjoyable had it been longer."
Vintage-inspired touches
"I love a gold accent, especially against bold colours so I knew BECKER & LENNON in Brass would pop against the green and yellow I chose for the kitchen cabinets. Those particular handles stood out to me because design-wise they had a vintage feel, so I felt they’d complement the style of the kitchen and the rest of my decor. I wasn’t sure how mixing two types of kitchen cabinet handles would look but they complement each other perfectly."
Scandalous snack BREAK 🍫
"Got to be a good old fashioned Tunnocks caramel bar with a cup of tea. I can deep throat a packet in seconds."
Pinterest inspo’
"I’m a Pinterest ho. It’s the best place for interior inspo I find and like any DIY addict, I’ve got about 200 boards set up for every room in the house. Instagram is also a good place to find inspiration, but I find it harder to find accounts I like now reels have taken over popularity over still images.
My top interior accounts would be:
Alice at @strikeme_pink has my actual dream bathroom and it’s also a vintage fan.
Amanda at @houselust has such a beautiful home and I’ve taken a lot of inspiration from her house.
Katie at @comedowntothewoods is so bold with colour and pattern, I love how daring she is with design."
Comical podcasts
"I generally listen to comedy podcasts to keep me going. My faves are: Off Menu, Parenting Hell, Adam Buxton, Shagged Married Annoyed, All Killa no Filla, No Holes Barred (joke, that’s my podcast but you should listen to it)."
A huge thank you to Victoria for joining us for a TEA BREAK. Why not follow her renovation journey over at @victoriaemes_home?