You be You: Bake Off’s Kim-Joy on how she made her home unapologetically hers
Our homes are our sanctuary… it’s where we laugh, relax, cook and spend time with loved ones. Some of us work from home, while others play games with their kids or spend their Saturdays baking sweet treats. Your home is yours, so why not make it unapologetically you?
Full of spark, excitement and character, Bake Off finalist and creative Kim-Joy has turned her home into a fearless representation of her unique and eclectic personality. She’s chosen pieces that not only look good, but make her feel good too, from a miniature sweet shop that sits on her shelf to the cloud of iridescent bubbles floating in her hallway.
“Kim-Joy is an amazing example of someone who has really embraced who she is, whether that’s through her baking, her fashion choices or her interior décor, and that’s truly inspirational for everyone.”
Ally Dowsing-Reynolds
“What I love the most is comfort,” says Kim-Joy. “When you’re comfortable, you feel the most you. Everything I do, whether that’s baking, fashion or interiors, I always think about comfort first – comfort is happiness to me.”
Here, we take a look at Kim-Joy’s beautiful home, explore how she made design choices that felt right for her, and how to express your personality through your home décor.
Embracing what you love
It’s easy to say ‘your home should be a reflection of you’, but what if you don’t know what that looks like? A great starting point is to think about how you want to feel in each area of your home. You might want to feel creative and energised in your kitchen for example, while you may want your bedroom to feel more cosy and relaxing.
“When I was planning the home, a big part of it was not just how it looks, but how it felt for me.”
Kim-Joy
Kim-Joy explains, “I’ve made a lot of intentional design choices with the layout of the house – the sitting area is darker because I don’t like the light, but the table is light and airy because I don’t often sit there, however when we have people around, that’s a really nice, energising space.”
When it comes to choosing specific items for your home, Kim-Joy suggests thinking about what brings you happiness – which colours are you drawn to? What did you love as a child? And you can go from there.
“Over time, I’ve been able to celebrate the things that I actually, properly love… the things you love when you’re a child. For me it was colour, pink and green and all those things. I bought my friend’s kid this little miniature sweet shop thing, and then I was like, actually I want that for myself! So I got one and it’s on my shelf.”
“Start by thinking about what brings you joy. If you’re not sure, try to consider what other people say brings you joy or explore what brought you joy when you were younger. With colour, take a look around you and see what colours you’re instantly drawn to. Then you’ll start to build a bit more of a picture around what makes you genuinely happy.”
5 ways to express your personality
Keep reading for more tips and tricks on how to bring your personality into your home from Kim-Joy and Dowsing & Reynolds Co-founder, Ally Dowsing-Reynolds, plus have a watch of their exclusive interview where they chat all things interiors, baking and being yourself.
1. Choosing pieces that make you happy
Kim-Joy explains, “The Bubble Light in the hallway looks like a cloud and it just makes me happy. It floats in the air and it’s just magical with the iridescent bubbles that, to me, always reminds me of the little bubbles that you used to blow when you were a kid. It’s super grand and in the double height space, you need something of that size.
“I love my mural in the kitchen space with the jaguar on it and all my plants and my cosy space on the sofa where I sit and drink a cup of tea. Again, it all comes back to comfort, whether that’s evoking a comforting childhood memory through a light fitting or just feeling super cosy with a cup of tea in the evening.”
2. Making brave decisions
Ally suggests, “When it comes to lighting, don’t be afraid to go bigger. Of course, it still needs to fit in your space, but people often tend to go on the safer side and pick something smaller. If you go with something that’s slightly bigger and play with that sense of scale, that’s what will really make an impact, especially if you’ve chosen a design that brings you joy.”
Kim-Joy says, “One of the bravest decisions we made with the house was taking out the ceiling in the hallway and just going ‘yeah, actually, let’s just do it double height.’
I think it was a braver choice because I was leaning away from it first. I thought ‘oh, but that’s another bedroom, that’s another bed and actual living space.’ But then I thought, ‘actually, are we going to sell this home soon? Hopefully not.’ We didn’t need another bedroom, we’d never go in there, and I’m so glad we went for the double height now.”
“Once you let go of the idea of a ‘perfect’ interior, you’ll find you start to have more fun and create something that really feels like you.”
Ally Dowsing-Reynolds
3. Letting go of perfection
Kim-Joy says, “There’s a little tile in the kitchen that wasn’t glazed and when I first looked at it, I felt a bit deflated, but now it just makes me happy. It’s a perfect little imperfection!
I find people often see baking as something that needs to be perfect. But actually the funnest thing is when something slightly goes wrong! Maybe you put the drizzle on a cake and too much falls off. Turn that into a waterfall or something and put some miniature penguins sliding off!”
Ally mentions, “It all about your perspective. Once you let go of the idea of a ‘perfect’ interior, you’ll find you start to have more fun and create something that really feels like ‘you’ – whether that’s celebrating an unglazed tile or a mismatched set of crockery!”
4. Looking at what you wear
Ally says, “If you’re struggling with the idea of finding your interior personality, take a look inside your wardrobe. Is it full of patterns? Do you actually prefer all black with hints of gold jewellery? What shapes do you see? Do you wear a lot of frills or are your silhouettes more streamlined? What you choose to wear can give you some really great ideas for your home.”
Kim-Joy says, “The next project is to get this pink window film on all the windows in the hallway, because it’s going to bring in a really lovely warm light. It’ll be like my heart shaped glasses that are rose tinted! The view out front is so nice, but it’ll be even better with a pink tint. Right? Everything’s better with a pink tint! Literal rose tinted glasses!”
She goes on to say, “I also looked at what I wear when it came to choosing metal handles and hardware. I’ve never really worn silver jewellery, so it made sense to choose gold metals for the house rather than silver. I’ve just always been drawn more to the warmer, gold tones.”
“I painted stripes in the main bedroom that run from the wall and up onto the ceiling. I wanted my bedroom to feel like a sweet shop!”
Kim Joy
5. Finding inspiration everywhere (not just on Pinterest)!
Ally says, “Interiors are so personal and I think a lot of people go onto Instagram or Pinterest and go, ‘I’d like that one.’ And that can be a great source of inspiration, it’s important to remember that actually, it’s going to look different in your home and it’s going to look different with your things, your photos, your memorabilia that makes your home feel like you.”
Kim-Joy agrees, “You can find inspiration for interiors everywhere! You might see certain colours paired together in things like a book for example, or some flowers, and you see if that will work anywhere in your home.”
I’m always drawn to oranges and pinks and colours like that. On the packaging of the paints I was using, there was a striped pattern that gave me sweet shop vibes. So I painted stripes in the main bedroom that run from the wall and up onto the ceiling. I wanted my bedroom to feel like a sweet shop!”
Ready to start making your home feel like you? Whether you love eclectic colour palettes or you feel more at home in a neutral space, the key is always to make it yours.
Follow @kimjoy and @dowsingandreynolds on Instagram for more inspiration, from baking to home décor and more!
