Inside Sheffield's 'Rainbow House of Dreams' - the brilliant and bold that will brighten any day
Lizzy and Nathan live their life in colour - and wanted their home and Christmas decorations to match
Helen Whitehouse
Lizzy's colourful front door (Image: Lizzy Browne)
This ordinary looking house is home to a bright and beautiful interior - including one of Yorkshire's most colourful Christmas decoration displays.
And the people behind it are just as bright and beautiful.
Lizzy Browne, 31, and Nathan Sellars, 28, bought their home in Sheffield, during the pandemic.
The pair have already transformed the neutral-coloured interior to include an eclectic mix of animal prints, bright colours and of course, Christmas decorations.
Lizzy, an assistant buyer and makeup artist, has spoken to Yorkshire Live about how she lives her live in as much colour as possible.
Lizzy has always had a love for fashion, hair and make-up and used it to express herself.
She said: "The 'Rainbow House of Dreams' has been a dream of mine for a long time now!
"At the grand age of 31, myself and my partner Nathan, bought our first home during the pandemic - which is actually the average age for first time buyers these days so I don't feel too old.
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"I have always been a colourful soul, expressing myself with my hair / makeup and fashion. I've always loved bold, clashing , bright, mismatch everything.
"I will always remember when I was growing up my mum telling me she never wants to be caught wearing beige when she's older.
"Now she's 70 she still vows the same - bless her."
Lizzy's decor matches her personality - bright and beautiful (Image: Lizzy Browne)
She started working at Topshop in Meadowhall when she was 23 and took inspiration from the people who worked there, wearing what she wanted and dying her hair bright colours.
She said: "I got a lot of abuse for my fashion and hair back then, from customers and people in the street.
"I used to get really upset but then after the tears it made me think I do this for me, no-one else. The more abuse I would get the more it made me stronger."
Lizzy applied the same logic when it came to decorating her house.
Lizzy has taken inspiration for her house from various sources (Image: Lizzy Browne)
She began building up a collection of colourful furniture and gathered inspiration for her bright decor from other home accounts.
She added: "I get a lot of inspo from amazing home Instagram accounts I follow, no matter what the colour or theme may be I can appreciate any beautiful home done well.
Lizzy and Nathan have taken inspiration from many places for their house (Image: Lizzy Browne)
"From gothic deep tones, to minimal clean vibes, but my heart lies with colour. Always has and always will.
"I knew we needed a Rainbow Christmas tree this year, it just had to happen.
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"I wanted this corner to be a happy corner, I'm currently still working from home, so whenever I'm having a bad day I look up and smile.
"It has been a pretty rubbish year for everyone, so why not go all out?
Lizzy and Nathan decided on a rainbow tree (Image: Lizzy Browne)
"The porch we have recently finished, with this being the first room you see when you walk through the door. I just had to have rainbows and lots of colour.
"The Idea was to make people smile and for it to just uplift your mood, even if it's for one minute of the day.
"I found lots of amazing Christmas decorations that just fit perfectly with the vision too.
"We have only been in our home just over two months now, so we have lots more colourful treats in store yet."
Lizzy wanted the porch to be colourful (Image: Lizzy Browne)
Lizzy said she often gets asked whether Nathan, her partner, is happy with her decor choices - but Nathan appreciates a leopard print and colour clash just as much as she does.
She said: "A lot of people ask 'is Nathan OK with this?' and 'how can he let you have pink walls?!' And I totally get the questions.
"But the day we met, I had recently had my hair dyed neon green and blue, which also glowed in the dark, so if he can handle that I'm pretty sure he can deal with a pink wall.
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"He is also an artistic soul and can appreciate a pattern and a clash.
"He gets me and my vision. I think the thing is with some people, they will always categorise something that isn't the norm, or is so 'obscene' to them that they cannot understand it.
"And if I'm honest I'm glad we're not normal. I totally get our house isn't for everyone, and I actually love that it isn't.
"It's all about being different, be brave, if it makes you happy and doesn't harm anyone, go for it.
"I've had people tell me they wish they could do the same, but their partners wouldn't allow it, I just tell them to crack on with it while they are out!"
Lizzy has also been on the receiving end online of negative comments, after a snap of her home was shared to a Facebook page and trolled.
She said: "I posted a photo of our front room on a Facebook page, showing a haul of items from a certain shop.
"Don't get me wrong it got a lot of love, but also a few people found the energy to screen shot it and post into other Facebook groups to 'troll'.
"I just don't understand how people - full grown adults may I add - can be so awful to one another.
"At the end of the day it's our home.
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"So many people commented 'wow this is giving me a migraine'.
"I just thought well scroll past it then!
"I forget how bad social media can be for trolling. I wasn't bothered by the opinions, just more upset that people shared a photo of our home to basically troll.
"What ever happened to being kind to one another?"
You can follow Lizzy and Nathan's house account on Instagram at @rainbowhouseofdreams to look at their renovation journey.
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