Jessie Bush’s Victorian Terrace in London Makes a Case for Coloured Walls

It may be over 18,000 kilometres from where she grew up, but London is where fashion influencer Jessie Bush is most at home. Once labelled “the woman who can sell hundreds of dresses from her sofa” by British newspaper The Telegraph, the Kiwi-expat’s casual-yet-considered style has clearly struck a chord in her adopted city. But before settling in her corner of East London, she started out in the small town of Blenheim in the South Island of New Zealand, where fashion magazines provided a glimpse into a life outside of this green, expansive wine region.

With a keen visual eye, Jessie and her photographer husband Sam Flaherty have curated a clearly identifiable aesthetic. It’s no coincidence that the couple has such a knack for capturing outfits, first starting out as street style photographers, then moving to London in their 20s to work for Condé Nast. Now you’re unlikely to find a London Fashion Week recap without at least one image of Jessie, adding to the repository of looks she shares at her own fashion and lifestyle blog WeThePeopleStyle.com.

A quick scroll of Jessie’s Instagram feed shows her family likes to live out of a suitcase – they have been to St Lucia, New Zealand, Greece, Mauritius and Amalfi already this year. However after 10 years of relocating and renting, they have bought their first home, a traditional Victorian terrace house in East London, where they live with their two-year-old daughter Mila and their border collie Olive. “The style of our house definitely influenced how we decorated and painted it,” Jessie says from her blue living room, which is coated in Farrow and Ball’s Kittiwake. “It lends itself to having colours on the walls and a mix of vintage and new – it doesn’t have to be so perfect.”

Just like Jessie’s approach to getting dressed, her interior tastes are eclectic and colourful, but not too formal or serious. “I have no qualms about experimenting with different styles, and feel like there are no rules, both with personal style and interiors,” she says. “I have a very relaxed and free-flowing approach to style, with lots of colour and texture.”

This is mirrored in her home, which effortlessly blends yellows, reds, greens and blues. “For more than a decade we were renting, with various shades of off-white, so I knew I wanted to experiment with colour and I did go quite all in, much to my husband’s horror,” Jessie says of her decision to make full use of the Farrow and Ball colour charts. “But because it’s not an open plan layout, it doesn’t feel too intense – you are in the space you are in and so it doesn’t feel too messy or overwhelming.”

Many Londoners are now embracing the colourful, chintzy style you’ll find in the English countryside, however Jessie says she has always used colour as a way to bring personality to rented homes. “I’ve always had an affinity with colour,” she explains of how she’s never subscribed to the beige brigade. “We lived in Barcelona for three years about seven years ago, and at that time there was a real minimal movement going on, and I enjoyed avoiding that and living in a city that embraced colour. Our ceilings had the original hand painting and colourful tiles, so it was nice to be able to adopt that coming back to London.”

There is one exception however: “Our bedroom is the only room that has neutral walls, because you want a calming space for sleep,” Jessie explains. “We have a red velvet headboard, but generally I keep the bedding quite neutral and the rest is lightly decorated. Dressing the bed is so important – having beautiful, harmonious bedding really does elevate the space and it is the focal point of our bedroom.”

Given Instagram is her job, Jessie is all too aware of how social media can homogenise taste. Her way of navigating this is to focus on sourcing second hand pieces that have plenty of character. “Buying vintage and antique art is a great way to ensure you have truly original things in your home and it can be an affordable way of finding great art,” she says. “We went antiquing in Essex and ended up finding this British painter’s work who does nude illustrations. We found a whole bunch and bought them all, and we have seven or so of them hung up in our bathroom. They look cohesive and intentional, without matching.”

Investing in vintage pieces has been an important part of them laying down roots in London, more than a decade after leaving New Zealand. “Both my husband and I are hoarders – sometimes you do need to learn to let go, but now it is enjoyable to keep things. I am now onto my second storage unit because we’ve collected so many pieces that don’t work or aren’t childsafe. Because we moved countries so often, we got rid of everything we owned several times in our lives, so it’s a different experience and a treat to not feel like we have to give away all our books and things.”

Speaking of hoarding, most parents would be keen to know how they keep the house toddler-proof and hide away colourful plastic toys. Colour hides a multitude of sins, while the uneven surfaces and lumpy floorboards of a Victorian terrace make it less shiny and formal. “For toys we use vintage furniture to store things in and then I use vintage magazine racks to store her books all around the house. It is tidy enough, but is still a nice piece of furniture.”

If we had to use one word to describe this family home it would be welcoming. “I definitely have an aesthetic, but I don’t want anything to be too fussy or perfect,” Jessie says of her approach to entertaining. “A lot of my friends have toddlers and so dinner parties have gone out the window and we are often hosting late lunches. You want people to feel at ease. We are casual Kiwis at heart.”

When it comes to hosting, Jessie explains they keep things very “low key,” with a tablecloth and fresh flowers, shared family-style dishes and a lot of barbecues. They bring a slice of New Zealand hospitality to their London terrace house, serving wooden chopping boards packed with cheese, meats and crackers in typical Marlborough style and the doors left open to their garden, which has three beautiful fruit trees. “Coming from New Zealand, it is so instilled in you that you want a patch of grass and some trees.”

Given the amount they travel, theirs is a home that offers a refuge to return to. It’s a sense of “this is where we are meant to be, our place and our sanctuary for our family.”

As for what’s next for Jessie and Sam, they are currently embarking on a new project — renovating a 1750s cottage 200 metres from the sea in the charming Kent town, Deal. Britain’s coasts became neglected with the rise of cheap package holidays to Europe, however after a surge of investment and creativity into these areas, Brits are rediscovering the joy of a weekend at the seaside. They named the home Olive Cottage, after their “first born”, because “no one loves a beach like she does.” We hope to be invited round for a picnic when it’s finished.

For more from Jessie, follow her @jessie_bush