'I was inspired by a trip to the Caribbean': Lydia shares a corner of her converted mill apartment

The mill was built in the early 1800s.

EACH WEEK, WE ask someone based in Ireland with a passion for interiors to share one photo of their favourite spot in their home.

Lydia Mudge lives in a converted mill apartment in Northern Ireland with her boyfriend.

“The mill was built in the early 1800s,” says Lydia. “I love all things interiors and, in pre-lockdown times, I loved an afternoon browsing in charity or antique shops.”

This week, Lydia (@inthemill) chatted us through her favourite spot, which she calls ‘the nook’.

dav Lydia Mudge Lydia Mudge

What do you love about this part of your home?

It’s such a unique space due to the dimensions (it’s very long and narrow), the exposed brick and the tall windows. It’s a bit of a surprise too because you wouldn’t know the space is there until you go into the kitchen. The sun is in this part of the apartment all afternoon and evening so it’s a great place to relax after work with a book and a glass of wine. I love window seats and fell in love with the deep window sills when I saw them. I got cushions upholstered to fit the space, which I’m really pleased with.

What’s your favourite object in here and why?

It’s probably the blue trunk. It was a bargain in a charity shop and I love giving old items a second lease of life. It was one of the first items I bought before I moved in and I remember the excitement so clearly.

What was your inspiration when you were putting this room together?

I had more of an idea of how I wanted this space to function rather than how it would look and it has slowly come together. In general, I get a lot of inspiration from Pinterest and Instagram.

My boyfriend and I travelled round the Caribbean a few years ago and I was really inspired by all the bright colours of the buildings in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The trunk influenced the colour of the upholstery as I loved the contrast of the bright blue against the brick.

Be honest: how much tidying did you do before taking this photo?

Not too much, although the cushions are constantly being rearranged. There is storage space in the box seating so if I never need to tidy in a hurry it doesn’t take long to throw things out of sight.

Is there anything in here you’d like to change?

Ideally all the walls would be white rather than magnolia but, as they are 14ft high painting is a bit of a challenge. I’d also like to change up the cushions a bit- they’ve been thrown together from what I already had.