Real Homes Tour

The ’70’s Vibe Plant Loving Home of Audrey Plew

October 23, 2019
The '70's Vibe Plant Loving Home of Audrey Plew

Today’s house tour is September’s @greathomestaketime winner Audrey Plew aka @queen_of_plewtopia over on Instagram. What I love about these home tours is that we get to have a peek around other people’s homes from the comfort of our sofas. No matter what your style, or taste in decor, there is always something we can take away from others. Audrey’s home is one such home. So whether you like to max out your decor or prefer to keep things simple, you may want to read on purely because her home is a fine example of how to embrace your own style in your own way.

The ’70’s Vibe Plant Loving Home of Audrey Plew

The '70's Vibe Plant Loving Home of Audrey Plew

One thing I’m sure you’ll agree with is that if you’ve been a homeowner for a while, your tastes and styles develop over time. Personally, I can relate to Audrey and her saying… “The decor of our house is perpetually evolving.” In fact, I don’t think we ever truly stop. It’s a natural process like anything personal. Being confident in your decor choices will bring you the freedom to choose what you love rather than what we are often told is on-trend.

I also think it’s true that the more you experiment, the braver your individual look becomes. And as a result, you’ll end up with a home that holds more meaning and one that you’ll love. Just as Audrey has done.

Audrey’s Home…

The '70's Vibe Plant Loving Home of Audrey Plew

Audrey and her husband bought their 1980’s suburban bungalow in 1995. It also happened to be the year they got married. Initially, this relatively new-build home was to be a starter home. But as time has gone by and they had their children, they have stayed put and have truly made it their own.

Open Plan Living…

The '70's Vibe Plant Loving Home of Audrey Plew

Structurally, the biggest change that Audrey and her husband made to their bungalow was about five years ago. Walls were removed to create an open plan living space that provided them with more flexibility when it came to furniture placement. And more importantly, allowed more natural light into the property.

Changing Styles…

The '70's Vibe Plant Loving Home of Audrey Plew

When you look around Audrey’s home, it’s hard to imagine she started out decorating and styling it with a cute romantic cottage vibe. This included a gingham sofa and pine furniture and blue pottery. Now it’s evolved into a home that has embraced a warm colour palette and is furnished with predominately thrifted and inherited pieces. Each find offers her home a unique and individual look.

Audrey’s Style…

The '70's Vibe Plant Loving Home of Audrey Plew
Audrey’s home embraces the 70’s vibe with her vintage finds.

The 70s is my birth decade and I’m embracing its vibe in my home with vintage furniture, earthy hues and thrift shop finds. I buried myself in boho style for a while but found that it wasn’t really me.

Audrey Plew

The '70's Vibe Plant Loving Home of Audrey Plew

I prefer that my home not fit into one specific style box. It’s more of a decor-fluid space. I like to keep my options open.
Audrey Plew

Audrey’s home may not fit a specific style box, but if we were to categorise it, maximalism with a 70’s feel to it would come to mind. Normally we associate maximalism with lots of bold colour choices but with Audrey’s family home, we find a muted earthy colour palette that evokes comfort, cosiness and warmth. It’s anything but overwhelming and easy on the eye.

Maximalism, if you’re not sure, means more of everything, which in turn means more of what you love. It’s a bit of a rule breaker. Although to prevent it from looking too off piste, try to repeat colours and/or patterns throughout a room. That said, maximalism is about self-expression and letting yourself go with what you love. It’s also great for introducing eclectic vintage finds.

It’s all so easy to categorise other people’s tastes and styles in decor but if you develop your own personal style such as Audrey has, your home will naturally unfold and become true representation of what you love and be a reflection of who you are as a person. The result, a home that you’ll be super happy to live in and proud to call yours.

Maria – The Interior Editor

Making The Most of Texture…

The '70's Vibe Plant Loving Home of Audrey Plew

Layers of contrasting textures are used in abundance in Audrey’s home. The textures applied here not only create visual interest but also a tactile environment. It’s a home that’s meant to be used and touched. There is nothing sterile or cold about this home and I personally love Audrey’s use of natural wood and of course, her collection of plants that add life.

Plant Loving…

The '70's Vibe Plant Loving Home of Audrey Plew

With just under 80 plants, Audrey has a collection that literally makes me green with envy. Although, I’m sure I could never keep that many alive at any one time.

The '70's Vibe Plant Loving Home of Audrey Plew

Apart from the benefits to our health and our natural connection with mother nature, plants add a sense of life and purpose in our homes. After all, you have to care and nurture them. I personally love the different textures and forms that plants provide.

Pattern Repeat…

The '70's Vibe Plant Loving Home of Audrey Plew

Audrey’s use of pattern throughout her home helps draw the eye around her spaces. From the thrifted geometric screen that Audrey utilised as a way to add interest to her wall to the oriental rug beneath the coffee tagle.

Tip: If you’re worried about mixing up patterns within a room. Make sure you use some solid colours in between and don’t layer them too closely. Also try to repeat a pattern style/colour such as geometric, floral etc., and find different scales (sizes). By doing so you’ll provide a sense of cohesiveness (even if you’ve maxed out your decor with what you love. It’ll be less visually overwhelming and feel more balanced.

More Than Just Furniture…

The '70's Vibe Plant Loving Home of Audrey Plew
The brass and black velvet chairs were a lucky find by Audrey and she loves them with the old oak table from her grandparents.

Furniture can be more than just a surface area of necessity in a home. For those of you that are fortunate to inherit family pieces, they can hold fond memories.

Audrey inherited her grandparents’ beautiful 1920s oak dining set. Bought by her dad in a thrift shop for them when they moved to Canada in the late 50’s. This table holds fond memories for Audrey. From the little dotted impressions of her Opa’s pattern wheel, who was a tailor by trade, to the one or two cigar burns on its surface. It may be just a table but it enlivens fond memories and is cherished.

The '70's Vibe Plant Loving Home of Audrey Plew

I’ve been obsessively thrifting for over 10 years and most of my accents and art have been found in local thrift shops. The eclectic mix of furniture (other than the heirlooms) has all been found on local buy and sell sites like Facebook Marketplace.

Audrey Plew

The '70's Vibe Plant Loving Home of Audrey Plew

Even if you haven’t been fortunate enough to inherit a piece of furniture, thrifted/secondhand furniture has, for me, the allure of an unknown story. You may find yourself guessing who and where it may once have lived and who used them. And then there is the craftsmanship of older furniture that is hard to find these days unless, of course, you have a huge pot of cash. Embracing something old, allows its story to continue and I love that about Audrey’s collection of furniture and as well as her decor finds.

Mix & Match…

The '70's Vibe Plant Loving Home of Audrey Plew

For a long time, I felt it was necessary to decorate with things that matched the era of the table and sideboard. Clearly I got over that notion and decided that I could mix all manner of styles and eras with my nostalgic pieces. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea but I love it.

Audrey Plew

I think a lot of us can relate to Audrey’s concern over matching furniture, myself included. It’s not uncommon to think that everything has to match within your home. And it’s easy to understand why when you think mainstream retailers tend to showcase one particular style/collection of furniture/decor. They are appealing to the masses and it has become the norm. In a sense, we’ve become a bit brainwashed by it all. I’m still having trouble convincing the Hubs that we don’t have to have chairs to match the sofa. In fact, mixing your furniture choices up can be invigorating as well as feeling more like your home rather than a showroom.

Meet Mateo…

The '70's Vibe Plant Loving Home of Audrey Plew

It would be rude of me not to introduce you to Audrey’s 1970’s velvet sofa and it even has a name, Mateo. Named after Mateo a handsome moustachioed character on the Spanish drama Velvet and its spin-off series Velvet Colección, Audrey thought it was the kind of sofa that he would have in his magazine editor office or villa.

Final Note…

The '70's Vibe Plant Loving Home of Audrey Plew

If you’re going to take away anything from today’s tour it’s to go away and try out new looks. You don’t have to do it all at once. Think about introducing one or two elements. This could be trying out a new pattern with a cushion. Or why not introduce a different texture to your living room. Accessories are a great place to start. It’s all about taking those first steps.

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s ’70’s Vibe Plant Loving Home of Audrey Plew and you can follow her over on Instagram here for more inspiration.

Thanks as always for stopping by!

Maria xx

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