Name just about any colour and you will find it in Jo Glossop’s bright, bold family home in Kelsall, a small village outside Chester. Jo lives here with her husband, James, and their three children, Bella, Annie and Ronnie. The family moved into the 1970s detached property with their first newborn in 2007. “We were looking for a period house with beautiful original features,” Jo recalls, “but we soon realised that we’d get a lot more for our money if we went with this 70s box instead.”
They inherited a disjointed interior that had been heavily influenced by the decorating TV shows of the early 1990s. “There were seahorse stencils everywhere and lots of floral borders – not our taste at all,” says Jo. A few cosmetic updates were made, but the real change came a decade later. “By then, we had three children and were thinking of moving again,” Jo explains. “We put in an offer on a lovely period property in the village, but it fell through. After that, we thought we might as well stay put and extend.”
The couple employed a local architect to reconfigure the ground floor, which had a kitchen at the front and a long, narrow living and dining room at the back of the house. “The kitchen was just too small and pokey,” Jo says. “It wasn’t connected to the rest of the living space, so I was constantly having to shout from the kitchen through to the other room, where the kids would be playing or doing their homework.”
The couple added a full-width, single-storey extension to the back of the house. “It’s essentially a big, white box,” says Jo. The existing living room now steps down into a large, bright kitchen and dining area with sliding glass doors that connect the space to the garden beyond. The colour-blocked kitchen was constructed from a combination of Ikea cabinets and bespoke laminate-faced plywood made by Plykea – a design company that specialises in modifying Ikea carcasses with bespoke work surfaces and door fronts. The colours were chosen “because we love the beach”. The yellow represents the sun, the blue the sea and the grey the rocks. Jo also chose plywood for the flooring and, in order to save money, decided to sand and oil the sheets herself. “I didn’t realise what a massive expanse it was,” she says. “It nearly killed me, but it was a total labour of love.”
The dining table is now within earshot of the kitchen. When it’s not in use, the top can be removed and it transforms into a pool table. Similarly, the outdoor dining table transforms into a ping-pong table. “It’s a brilliant party house,” says Jo. “We’ve created all these zones, so when we have lots of friends over there is something for everyone. The kids love it and never want to leave.”
By the time the extension was complete, the couple had exhausted themselves and their budget. They had planned to turn their former kitchen at the front of the house into a wet room and separate utility room. Instead, the old cabinets and tiles have been given a fresh coat of paint and the room has become a diminutive home gym/laundry/storage space. In the main space, they decided “to whitewash everything and fill the space with colourful accessories”.
Bright soft furnishings (cerise armchairs, a teal corner sofa, sunny yellow cushions) are paired with retro cabinets and coffee tables, most of which have been found at bargain prices on eBay and Facebook Marketplace. “I’m obsessed with hunting for retro furniture now,” Jo laughs.
The family lived happily in the gleaming white space for several years before lockdown struck. “Stuck in the house, I just started painting wherever I could,” recalls Jo. Inspired by interior images found on Instagram and Pinterest, she created three graphic patterns in the living space. The first is a pink arch overlapping an orange rectangle; the second is a blue, pink and yellow composition; the third is a snaking yellow and pink line inspired by 70s supergraphics. “Our kids are always moaning because I will go for anything colourful,” Jo admits. “In fact, my daughter, Annie, is about to turn 11 and she has just asked for a grey carpet for her birthday! She wants it to replace the purple one she currently has in her bedrooam…”
Jo’s expansive palette has reached every corner of the house and garden. Outside, she has designed a shaded pergola that functions as an external room – another zone to retreat to when the house is full of guests. She has even created some exterior canvases from treasured family photos. Opposite the kitchen window, a scene from a memorable Cornish beach holiday hangs on the external garage wall, providing an escapist view for whoever’s on washing up duty.
Upstairs in the main bedroom, the walls have been painted Calpol pink and green. Instead of ripping out the original fitted wardrobes, she has painted the woodwork blue and created a glowing orange niche for her midcentury dressing table and stool. A chunky, fluorescent pink blanket covers the bed. Even the stair risers have been painted in individual shades of pastel.
Now her fearless frenzy of colour has abated, Jo – a former primary school teacher – is focusing on her fibre jewellery business. She has made macramé-knotted gifts for friends and family for some time, but recently decided to expand her collection and sell the designs via Etsy. “It’s going really well, but I’m not sure I’m very good at business,” she admits. “The trouble is, I keep spending all my money on new colours…”
