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THE DIGEST
Inside Olive Wakefield’s Playful, Pattern-Filled North London Home
Self-confessed magpie Olive Wakefield fills her North London home with meaningful objects, vintage finds, and joyful colour. The result? A characterful, ever-evolving space that feels both lived-in and deeply personal.
Olive Wakefield, a magazine editor, lives here in Islington with her husband and their two children. Over the past eight years, they’ve built a home that feels layered and expressive, a place where bold colour leads, vintage pieces anchor the scheme, and every object carries a story.
Her approach to decorating isn’t overly planned. In fact, some of the home’s defining moments are the result of pure spontaneity. Take the hallway - painted on a whim one Tuesday afternoon in what she affectionately calls "Waitrose green". It’s bold, slightly nostalgic and, unexpectedly, the starting point for a palette that now flows into the kitchen too. That same zingy green (Farrow & Ball’s Sap Green) brings an energising quality to the space and is a reminder that colour, for Olive, is about feeling as much as aesthetics.
Throughout the home, there’s a confidence in mixing tones and textures. The dining room, painted in a soft, cocooning pink, offers a contrast to the vivid greens elsewhere. It’s a space designed for gathering - a 10-seater vintage table and a set of last-minute Vinterior chairs that became permanent fixtures. It’s here that Olive’s love of hosting really comes to life.
Vintage plays a central role, but not in a precious way. Olive describes herself as a magpie, collecting pieces wherever she finds them, from estate sales to flea markets to late-night online scrolls. A 60s Italian coffee table, a pre-loved doll’s house, stacks of anonymous vintage photographs picked up in LA, each one chosen for its character rather than its provenance. Objects aren’t just decorative; they’re conversational. A slightly risqué teapot, a framed first edition of a favourite novel, ceramics by designers she admires, all layered together without overthinking.
“I love looking at hotel interiors for inspiration”
Olive Wakefield
Her inspiration comes from everywhere: fashion (a natural extension of her career), hotel interiors, vintage marketplaces and the endless scroll of online sourcing. There’s a particular love for retro influences, think 70s Miami, art deco touches, bold prints and a hint of theatricality. As she puts it, she’s firmly in her "70s Miami housewife era".
And yet, despite the references, nothing feels contrived. The home isn’t chasing a trend or a perfect finish. Instead, it embraces imperfection, personality and the joy of collecting.
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