This house is a lesson on how to design an elegant home that authentically tells the story of the people who live there

'My design schemes are orchestrated to fit the families they belong to, so my own home was designed to be full of things that my wife and children connect to, that tell a story to us,’ explains interior designer Andrew Howard on what it was like when he became his own client.

‘The best look for us is a collected family-friendly look – and that’s what I was going for here.’ Their four-bedroom Florida home, built in 2020, is the second new build Andrew has completed for his wife Katie and their sons Jack, 15, and Henry, 12.

Despite it being a new build, the facade exudes New England period charm, which links to the family’s story. 'We vacation a lot in Martha’s Vineyard, and I have always loved the houses up there. I wanted to make it feel like a Florida home that should be in Martha’s Vineyard,’ explains Andrew.

The impetus was to inject personality into the house so it didn’t feel like a new build. The family has a penchant for decorating with blue (‘it’s like my neutral’, says Andrew), so this color naturally ended up forming a thread through the house, but a cohesive design narrative was not intentional.

‘I like the experience of each room being some sort of a new adventure,’ Andrew continues.‘ I’ve never felt that rooms have to connect or relate to each other. I think it’s great to walk into a room and have this awesome experience, then have another awesome experience that’s completely different from the last one. I love color, so I wanted it to be very colorful.’

It’s no surprise that blue is used to bring vigor to the open-plan kitchen, living area, and breakfast room, ‘but it doesn’t have that color explosion that some of the other rooms have,’ comments Andrew. Instead, it's the playful pattern that truly invigorates the space.

‘I like it when things feel alive and energetic,’ says Andrew. The starting point was the striped wallpaper in the living area, with a gingham design taking centre stage in the breakfast nook. As the kitchen has no windows, apart from a door with a window, maximizing light was key. ‘I did a shiny ceiling to reflect light into the room and added a shimmering splashback,’ explains Andrew.

As a nod to practicality, the banquette is coated in vinyl in the breakfast room, and this maxim was continued through the house. ‘Everything in this house, other than the sitting room, for the most part, has either vinyl wallpaper or custom-made wallpaper that is scuff-resistant, and most of the fabric that you sit down on is outdoor fabric. It’s a pretty bulletproof house.’

Andrew aimed to ensure the house told the family’s story. ‘I had two decorator parents, and we lived in nice houses, but we had no idea what was going on. I didn’t feel any connection to anything, and I wanted my family to feel connected to every room here,’ he explains.

‘The media room is inspired by a TV special the family watched that showed Elvis Presley’s jungle room where he watched football, while a photograph of the Brooklyn Bridge in New York, their favourite city, takes pride of place.

Andrew also indulged with his own bespoke grown-up space – a guest house that comprises the adults-only party hangout room, complete with a bespoke home bar. ‘As a kid, I was in a band that played in a room called the green room at the local bar – it was a cool place to hang out, and I wanted to replicate that space,’ he explains.

The formal dining room, meanwhile, features a nostalgic statement mural. ‘It is based on a special trip we took to Martha’s Vineyard when the kids were little,’ says Andrew. ‘I was inspired by old American murals, and so I drew up a scene from Nantucket based on my photos and had it made up. The mural features a boat we saw, a lighthouse we hiked to, and a dune walk we did. There are fun family memories, and the kids are in the mural, so they can show their friends.’

Perhaps the pièce de résistance of the house, however, is the sitting room, a child-free space reserved for Andrew and his wife to have a leisurely catch-up after work. ‘It’s the first room you see when you come into the house, and I wanted it to be crazy,’ he says. ‘I saw the crewelwork fabric and I knew this was the one. I’ve never done a room with every color in the rainbow, so I thought, let’s go for it.’ Surely, Andrew’s mantra throughout the house.

5 rules of using decorative wallpaper

Designer Andrew Howard offers his tips on creating eye-catching effects with beautifully patterned wallpaper designs

1. Use a wallpaper as the starting point for your decorating scheme. It defines a space, sets the tone for the room, and everything builds off it. Tease out the colours of the wallpaper on woodwork, furniture, and soft furnishings.

2. The sitting room, dining room, and powder room are great spaces to introduce flamboyant, large-scale wallpapers as they will encourage conversation with guests when entertaining. Think about using a paper with a metallic finish to bring a sophisticated touch.

3. Be creative with wallpaper by papering the ceiling, or create a feature in a room with it.

4. If you want to achieve a truly personalised experience and something no one else has, design your wallpaper or mural.

5. Consider adding wallpaper to the insides of glazed cupboards for extra interest.