When diversity consultant Natasha Landers first saw her home 22 years ago, she looked past its dilapidated state and instead envisioned a bright future. She was confident that in good hands, the Victorian house – with its broken windows, leaking roof and cold interiors – could be transformed into a home with its own playful character and eclectic possibilities. Over the past two decades, Landers has been embellishing her home in all the shades and quirks of her personality, designing and installing multiple parts of the home itself when she couldn’t find what she wanted on the market.

Today, the brightly hued home she shares with her cockapoo Reggie is a bricolage of mid-century pieces, upcycled furniture, and sunshine yellows and verdant greens. One thing’s for certain: Natasha has an eye for interiors and, as well as bringing her own designs to life, she also has a sensitively curated collection of works by Black artists that stand out on every wall they adorn. For further evidence, scroll through her interiors-focused Instagram account. Here, she talks to us about her two-decade renovation, how she’s married different inspirations and why the kitchen is her happy place.

“This house didn’t use to look anything like it does now. There wasn’t even any central heating in the house! Can you imagine that? There were a couple of gas fires that were leaking; in the living room, there were only two single sockets at opposite ends of the room. If you think about how we live now, it was not functional at all. Everything in the house was a mucky brown – the walls, the carpets – and not in a fun retro way.

“I’ve done a lot of work on the home over a long period of time as I didn’t always have the money to do it. When I first moved in, I got to work installing central heating and rewiring the home to make it more functional. A few months after I moved in, having had a full survey, I heard rain leaking through the ceiling, so the entire roof had to be replaced. The previous owners stripped away a lot of the original Victorian features, which was such a shame. However, they covered the original Victorian doors with plywood, so when I took it off, the original doors were in amazing condition.

“The bathroom upstairs was tiny, so I had it extended. Then, I bought a roll-top bath for £50 at a junkshop. It was rusty and looked a bit pitiful, but I knew it could be done up. For the first two years, when I couldn’t afford to finish the bathroom, the bath sat in my living room. My parents were baffled, but I had a vision.

“I spent a long time planning my dream kitchen in my head. I knew that I wanted it to look industrial, with floating cupboards and concrete floors. But, when I found out how expensive concrete would be in such a big space, I reconsidered my materials and came up with the idea of a rubber floor. It’s still quite industrial – and the yellow caught my eye immediately.

“I always thought green was my favourite colour until I realised how the whole home is embellished with hints of yellow. I love how it never fails to brighten up a miserable day. The kitchen is my everyday sunshine.

“The lights were inspired are inspired by the London Underground map. If I can’t find something that I want, I design it myself. I knew that my plumber was working with pipes so I asked him if he would be able to build the lights. Although he had never done anything like it before, he gave it a go and the result is spectacular. Copper is such a lovely material, as you see the unique colours change and develop with age.

“I think the kitchen is my favourite space. I love to entertain and have people round for dinner and I do a lot of dancing in there with the record player on. It’s very atmospheric in the evening. It really reflects my personality: it’s bright, bold, quirky and it doesn’t follow the trends.

“I am not afraid of loud colours. Instead, I find a way for them to meld together in a way that works. The living room is my experimentation with colour blocking. I chose three hues that complement each other – olive, yellow and bronze – and a soft white backdrop, which maintains a sense of spaciousness. You feel relaxed in here, whether you’re reading a book or chilling out after work.

“The word eclectic is used so often, but that’s how I would describe my aesthetic. I have mid-century pieces that sit alongside high-end furniture and second-hand picks. They work well together, despite their differences. I also love to upcycle. The sofa in the living room is an old Ikea design I’ve had for 15 years. I didn’t want to put it into landfill, so I contacted an upholsterer and we used a green velvet material and added tufting to the cushions, which completely transformed it.

“Art is a crucial element of my home. I collect Black art and I’m fortunate to know some of the artists as well. One of my favourites is ‘The Black Queen’, a fine art print by Tamara Natalie Madden that’s in my hallway. Madden’s always painted Black people with a bird in the background. I was struck by the piece – the royal Black woman really resonated with me.

“One of my prints has a particularly incredible story behind it. It’s a picture of my friend Cav in Brooklyn, when he was painting the names of the people who had been killed on to the Black Lives Matter mural. It’s such a striking image. He’s wearing a mask and gloves with his fist raised high – it’s historic. You will always know that this photo marked such a crucial time in our lives. The photo was captured on a phone by my cousin Marcia Wilson. When I first saw the photo on Cav’s Facebook page, I asked if I could print it and blow it up. After I posted it online and mentioned it in one of my previous interviews, it went viral. Now he sells them all over the world.

“My newest piece is by an artist called Benji Reid, based in Manchester. He stages and is the subject matter of all his photographs. I’ve wanted one of his pieces for ages. At a recent exhibition, he spoke about the essence of time in his work. He has a picture of him setting a rag on fire in a glass bottle and you know he must have had to do it really quickly before it exploded. It’s fun and dynamic with pops of yellow that I love.”

Natasha, what does it mean to live in a modern way?

“Living in a modern way is about having a space that is multi-functional.”

Like what you see? For more of Natatsha’s home, discover her House Style here.