BRIGHT YOUNG THING

CONFIDENT COLOUR RULES IN THIS FIRST HOME IN GLASGOW

- Gillian Welsh

Sweetness isn’t just detected by the nose and the tongue. It can also be experienced via the eyes, in the form of delectable colour. That’s what happens at Abi Crowther’s home, a place that appeals to all the senses and where beautiful, rich flavours can be relished. It’s not a sugary scheme, more a considered selection of hues, layered and presented like an exquisite box of chocolates.

“I do have a love of colour and pattern,” agrees Crowther, interior designer at Chelsea McLaine, who shares the flat with partner David Kinnaird. “Each room pivots around a piece I’ve fallen in love with. In the lounge, it was the rug by artist Becky Blair for Habitat. Her work is inspired by the joy of being alive, being able to move, dance, laugh and touch.”

Pulling together a spectrum of luscious shades, the rug plays a big part in the overall design despite being one of the last pieces she purchased. “I coveted it for almost a year until I was able to buy it.”

There’s nothing impulsive about Crowther. This classic Glasgow tenement flat is her first property and she bought it with a view to upgrading it and unleashing her ideas and creativity on it. It fact, it was actually in great condition: sold as a two-bed apartment, it had been rewired, freshly decorated from top to bottom in a range of tasteful greys and buoyed by a glossy fitted kitchen and a sharp new bathroom. Nevertheless, Crowther was prepared to sacrifice some of these benefits, as, straight away, she began to envisage how much better it could look. “I was lucky that nothing needed immediate attention,” she says, “but anyone who knows me will appreciate that grey is not my colour!”