Bright Apartment in London's Hackney

This vibrant apartment is located in London's Hackney, a former industrial area that is changing before your eyes. Twenty years ago, it was mainly populated by immigrants from African and Asian countries, and the area was considered dark and unsafe.

Everything changed with the London Olympics 2012: the Olympic Park and Stadium were opened in Hackney, making the area more well-organized but not losing its character. Former factories and workshops painted with bright graffiti now host art exhibitions, while the dark brick houses have turned into galleries and studios.

Mrs. Pink, as the owner of this bright apartment is known, has lived in Hackney for thirty years since she moved from a small village in Scotland to London. Where else could a young punk live but in the most unusual area of the British capital?

Her affinity for bright colors, which she felt since childhood, was solidified in London. None of her three sons (the eldest is already at university and about to leave home) knows what color her hair is. For the last ten years, she has been dyeing it pink, occasionally changing the shade.

She also regularly repaints her apartment, choosing the moment when her sons go on vacation. Locking her three cats somewhere upstairs, she takes up a brush... and completely transforms the room’s appearance beyond recognition.

The most recent update affected the living room floor: it now looks like a white and gray striped carpet. The cats Gaspar, Tommy, and Coco had to wait for the floor to dry completely for four full days.

The three-story apartment is filled with risky color combinations (who else can afford to throw a leopard print pillow on a pink sofa?), but every color and pattern appears for a reason.

For example, the fireplace became purple because there was no item of that color in the room. "I added it for balance. At that moment, purple was declared the Color of the Year, and I felt trendy for the first time in my life," Mrs. Pink laughs.

If you see something white in her apartment, don’t doubt it’s temporary: it’s just primer, which will soon be covered with a neon-colored pattern that Mrs. Pink is obsessed with in recent years.

For the owner, it’s not just a home but also a creative laboratory and showroom. Seven years ago, Mrs. Pink and her partner Mr. Black opened the design studio Quirk & Rescue, which produces wallpapers, textiles, and furniture in bold colors and patterns.

One of the studio’s signature prints is called "Alice in Wonderland" — exactly how a person feels when first entering Mrs. Pink’s apartment. Unlike the one created by Lewis Carroll, this magical land can be examined in detail and even attempted to recreate at home.