A Norfolk homeowner has transformed her home for Christmas - complete with glamorous Narnia-themed rooms and a crystal-draped tree.
When it comes to Christmas, nothing is off-limits for interior designer Sophia Rudd.
“You’re going to laugh but I start preparing in the January sales,” she says. “I’ll go into the sale, see what it’s about and then get an idea for the theme.
“Sometimes I carry on a bit of the theme from last year. I reuse everything. All throughout the year, whatever I see is Christmas.”
This year’s festivities will be extra special as her husband, who she met as a teenager, has two weeks off. “It’s our first Christmas at home together,” she says, smiling. “We’re at home in our home and there’s no lockdown. It’s exciting!”
The family moved into their new home – a converted barn, near Attleborough – during lockdown, in a move that was also a return to their roots. “I was born in London,” she explains, “and then my family moved to Italy when I was 12. My mum’s Italian, so I went to school in Italy for six years.
“Then my dad’s best friend had retired to Norfolk from London and we went to visit. My parents loved it, so they sold up and we moved to Norfolk – to Attleborough, actually.”
A few months later, aged 18, Sophia met Declan and they’ve been together ever since. Sophie says they’ve moved around a lot because of Declan’s job, but now they’re here with their two children and have resettled.
She set up her own business, SMR Interiors, around a year ago. Before that, she’d revamped friend’s spaces and relied on word of mouth. But she says one of the biggest obstacles she's encountered is that people often don't seem to know what an interior designer does – and often think hiring one will be really expensive. “Whether you want to spend £200 or £2,000 or £20,000, my price is the same,” she says, matter-of-factly.
Sophia admits that she has quite a “particular style” for her own home, which sometimes doubles as a show room. She loves auctions and reclamation yards and looking at her space, I’m reminded of Escape to the Chateau.
“I like what I like, I suppose,” she says. “Eclectic. A bit French. It really is whatever goes.
“I like anything old, anything that’s got a chip on it,” she laughs. “I just like doing that, and it’s so cost effective and sustainable. I always think when you go to a hotel and you love it, or a restaurant, why can’t your house look like that? I don’t want to live in a house and be bored.”
At Christmastime, she’s anything but.
When we meet in early November, Sophia says she’s just about to start decorating – although for her, the run-up to Christmas happens all year-round. In fact, it even informed the family’s property search.
“Every house we looked at, I was like ‘where can I have the tree?’ because I really wanted a double-height tree. In our dining room, the ceilings are a lot higher than the rest of the house, so I have the bigger tree in there, hence why everything is centred around the dining room.
“Because we’re in a barn it’s great because there’s wood everywhere and it just looks Christmassy all the time.”
Her choice of everyday décor has also been inspired by the festivities, she says, as she loves the red, green and gold tones of a traditional Christmas. “Everywhere is gold,” she says. “Our dining room has green and gold in it, and then the living room is an orange-red, so everything goes really well.
“I actually designed our dining room on Christmas – I’m not joking. We have a 12-seater table and a bar. Everything was styled on Christmas.”
Hosting is also a big consideration. “We host everything,” Sophia says. “I do a kid’s party, I do Christmas Eve, Boxing Day...” The family are going to a local pub for Christmas lunch this year, “so the dining room will look really good and no one will touch it!” she laughs.
Every room also has its own Christmas tree – nine in total – and most rooms have their own theme. “Last year I had Narnia,” she says. “I’d gone into the garden because we have a big garden and I foraged and foraged.” She used bird-themed decorations and leftover foliage from a wreath-making workshop to complete the look.
This year, Sophia says she’s extended the theme to create a more “glamorous” Narnia and has used 32 metres of crystals to make her own decorations.
There’s also a new addition for the playroom – a large, light-filled giraffe – and she’s working on her own doorscape using a rose arch that she will fill with baubles secured by chicken wire. “That will be a massive thing this year because I’ve never done that before.”
Decorating usually takes Sophia around a week, although she staggers it so that she can properly time it for getting a real tree, and her children help too. They each have their own tree in their bedrooms, which they decorate with trinkets of their choice.
“My daughter loves blue so her tree is one of those really small blue ones with lights and then she’s got a burger, sweets, muffins, a pan of eggs. Just really random food stuff – and then a few angels!
“And then my son – I don’t even think he cares. He had a football last year, [and] some dinosaurs. I think he does it because me and my daughter love it, so he thinks he should.”
Growing up, Sophia says her family celebrated Christmas – just not to the same extent. “My mum always said she thought it was a bit strange that I was so addicted [to Christmas]. We celebrated and decorated and went out and did what I do, but just not as much.”
So where, then, does she get her inspiration? “I love Pinterest and I love Instagram,” she says, “but I just develop things in my head.
“I just always want it to be different. I don’t want to do the same as everyone else – that’s why I like to theme it so I can plan to have something different. I think of one thing and then I jump to another and then, I don’t even know – I’m painting the outside of my house red or something.”
Maybe next year?
To find out more, find Sophia on Instagram at @smr.interiors or visit smrinteriors.uk
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