Instagram’s most loved-up couple have been together for four years and engaged for nearly two. The couple bought their three-bed townhouse in West London nearly 18 months ago. Since then, the pair have been knocking down walls, meeting with interior designers and out shopping for antiques, all in the quest to create their dream home.
You won’t find Oliver Proudlock sipping Taittinger on The Kings Road anymore, instead you can find him and his fiance, Emma Louise Connolly, cosied-up in their brand-new snuggle room.
They documented every step of their home renovation from initial structural work to choosing the finishing touches in a Youtube series: From Crib to Casa. The series has been hugely successful reaching well over a million views.
Subsequently, they’ve been approached by production companies like Netflix, who are interested in giving the millennial power-couple their own interiors show, see ya later Kirsty and Phil.
Their beautiful new four storey home has three bedrooms, one bathroom and a downstairs lavatory. They’ve kitted the place out with azuric colours of deep ocean blues and greens, gold finishing and a variety of trendy textures including cow-print and velvet. Rich and soothing oceanic hues really make a statement in 2020, as you can see if you pop your head inside the door of H&M Home. The pair have personalised artwork, a Carrie Fisher-inspired walk-in wardrobe, an armchair dedicated to tea and cake and a gold Diptyque candle the size of my head. They also upcycled the bathroom suite, inherited furniture from family and found some crackin’ bargains on eBay.
We spoke to the millennial power-couple all about their new home, their inspirations, the journey and where they’re at now. As a lot of us enter isolation amidst the Coronavirus outbreak, now is the perfect time to renovate your home so we are taking some serious inspo from the power couple. Here’s what they shared with GLAMOUR…
Q How did you start planning the renovation of your home?
A Ollie: This was and still is to date the biggest project we have undertaken, so when it came to renovating we were a little indecisive at the start for sure. It was daunting as we were going into the unknown, but the renovation process was made a lot easier thanks to our incredible team. We both have a very specific style and had so many ideas but in order to make these visions a reality we needed our amazing interior designer Georgina. From the start she immediately got our style and vision for the house, ‘Ralph Lauren meets Buster and Punch’ was the underlying message. In terms of structural work we didn’t want to disrupt too much of the build, but transforming one bedroom into a walk in wardrobe, as well as creating the cinema room downstairs were two things we had both dreamed of. Through many weeks of moodboarding, picking fabrics, pantones, furniture, accessories, we came up with a clear vibe for each room with the same underlying feeling of warmth and comfort.
Q What did you take inspiration from?
A Ollie: We had two main inspirations when designing the house with Georgina from G&G Designs, one being Buster and Punch and the other Ralph Lauren. Ems is a huge fan of Buster and Punch, they somehow manage to make plugs, door handles and light switches sexy (? ! ), and I have loved Ralph Lauren interiors for a very long time. We really wanted a mix of an edgy, dark, rock and roll vibe incorporated with a cosy homely feel.
Q Where were your favourite places to shop for new home decor?
A Ollie: There are so many amazing shops both high street and independent to find some really cool bits. We got a lot of our kitchenware from H&M Home, which we always get compliments on. Then we also turned to Made. com, Wayfair and French Connection home for a lot of our furniture, garden furniture and soft furnishings. Rockett St George is also a great website for finding pieces you won’t haven’t seen anywhere else. We are also pretty big fans of eBay and antique shopping. Ems is obsessed with finding bargains and upcycling them. She found a really cool old Singer sewing machine on eBay for £40 and turned it into our WC vanity sink.
Q Did you consider mindfulness when designing your home?
A Ollie: Not really. We just focused on creating a space that made us both feel instantly relaxed and at home. So I guess we maybe subliminally considered mindfulness! We wanted to create the same feeling you get when you check into a beautiful hotel. Relaxed, cosy and comfy. We both love coming home so much and rarely ever leave in the evenings. We are very comfortable sloths 90% of our time at home.
Q Do you think interior design and home renovations can affect your mental health?
A Emma: I think the planning and project management of it is a really stressful process. You give your heart, soul and a big financial whack to it so you just want everything to go smoothly. We documented our entire house renovation through our show Crib to Casa on our YouTube channel, which really helped us take a step back and reevaluate certain designs which helped stress levels. Nevertheless it’s tough when things don’t work out in the order that you had hoped, but it’s also part of the journey. It’s such a huge learning experience and we loved every minute. At the time, I project managed the whole thing, something I swore I’d never do to myself again but in truth I’m already looking for our next project. https://nailspot.info/rihannas-lingerie-line-launches-this-week-heres-everything-we-know-about-savage-x-fenty.html
Q Did you find it made your relationship stronger?
A Ollie: It definitely was a challenge at times, but it ultimately made us stronger as a couple. We don’t really ever disagree, we try to view from the others perspective when it feels a bit conflicting. Thankfully we both have pretty similar taste, so the only thing we really struggled with was agreeing on our budget. It’s very easy to get carried away, the choice, options and styles are endless. We got to a pretty good place at the beginning and just used that as a benchmark.
Q What is your favourite room in the house?
A Emma: My favourite room has to be the kitchen. It’s where I feel most happy, cooking and feeding our friends and families. It’s truly the heart of the home for me and i’d be very happy just staying in there forever. Ollie’s has to be the cinema room in the basement. He has spoken about his dream of having a home cinema since we first met (almost 10 years ago! ) so it’s cool that we were able to make this a reality.
Q Do you have the interior bug now, is there anything you already want to change?
A Emma: Yes, absolutely. To be honest we have both been pretty obsessed with interiors for a while. Ollie’s mum Lena was an interior designer, so it’s practically in Ollie’s blood. There’s a couple of things we would change, but only because they aren’t as practical as we’d like. A black sink is quite hard to keep toothpaste free, but we love it all the same! I’m sure Ollie would also like to install a few more lights, as when he isn’t wearing his glasses, he can’t really see much. I am so into the dark and cosy vibe, it’s almost pitch black most evenings in the winter months but I absolutely love it. We are so happy with our beautiful new home, and can’t wait to make lots of happy memories here together.
