At Home With: Mamabutme

For the first in our new journal series – At Home With – we sit down with Tala customer and keen Instagrammer Karen Wyn Griffith, who has decorated her family home with Tala lights and fixtures.

Where do you live and who do you live with?

I live in Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire and I live with my husband, Rich and our 2 children, Freddie (6) and Elspeth (4).

How would you describe the style of your home?

I always struggle to define the style of our home. I have always been drawn to Scandinavian design and ideas, but I also love raw materials and colour. So if you mix all of those elements together – I think that represents our style. It’s contemporary, but also homely and inviting – we hope!

Downstairs is definitely more colourful and fun, whereas I wanted the upstairs to feel more calming and relaxing. We do the living downstairs and the relaxing and recharging upstairs. The colour choices and interiors represent this pretty well I think.

What influenced your design choices?

We thought a lot about our design choices, but ultimately our choices were influenced by how we wanted the home to feel and how we wanted to use it as a family. We wanted it to look contemporary and cool, but also to feel like a fun family home, that could be enjoyed and lived in. I think we’ve been able to put our stamp on it and haven’t made it feel too modern, minimalistic or sterile. Ultimately, our home is to be shared and enjoyed.

Would you say the space was designed more by practicality or Pinterest?

I would say a mix of both really. We spent time considering the layout, so we could fully utilise the space and create a nice flow between each room. I didn’t want to live in a house with rooms we didn’t use. That’s such a waste. Once we had finalised the layout, then I went a little crazy on Pinterest. Practicality and Pinterest can be friends it seems!

Which rooms have you featured Tala, and what lamps and fixtures did you choose?

We have gone a little Tala crazy in our home. We were hooked from the moment we discovered Tala.

In our kitchen and above our island and dining table we have used Voronoi II and paired them with the Graphite pendant. The Graphite pendants work so well with our Caesarstone Raw Concrete Island and our zinc top dining table.

In our Cloakroom, we have a single Brass pendant with a Voronoi I, which I love. So simple, but a real feature in such a small space.

On our landing, we have used two Voronoi II Brass Ceiling Lights. I have to say – I think this is my favourite Tala spot in our home. It’s beautiful, especially at night as the glow from the lights is so soft, ambient and a little mesmerising. It is a real feature and I love it so much. It makes me happy.

Tala even made it into our Study – just on a little concrete base table lamp. We opted for Porcelain II, as it gives off the loveliest soft, warm glow.

Lastly, we have used Porcelain II in two of the bedrooms. Brass pendants hanging either side of the beds and above the bedside tables. We opted for the Porcelain II bulbs, as we felt it was a softer, more ambient glow for a bedroom.

How did you come across Tala and what made you want our lights in your home?

I spent a lot of time searching for light fixtures and fittings for our home. I ordered several different types and sent them back. I knew what I was after, but was finding it hard to source it. Then I found Tala! I came across Tala online and I just loved how the filament looked on the Voronoi II. It was so unique and beautiful and then when I read more about Tala, the brand, your values and that you’re British – I was in LOVE and feel proud to have so many Tala lights and fixtures in our home.

Buying Tala made us feel like we were contributing a little to sustainable living, conservation and the environment. I know we could always do more as a family on that front, everyone could – but I once read the following and it resonated with me a lot:

“We don’t need a handful of people doing sustainable living perfectly, we need millions of people doing it imperfectly”

We now have lights that we absolutely love, but the difference is we are contributing in a positive way to our environment by having them, which is an added bonus for us.

Two of your main passions are fitness and mindfulness. How do you think lighting can help with this?

My passions are associated with physical and mental wellbeing. An element that can be very beneficial to your wellbeing is nature. It certainly helps boosts my mood and makes me feel energised when I spend time outside and in nature. I love how Tala’s Voronoi collection is inspired by nature and how each bulb is shaped differently and is unique.

Lighting can have a big effect on the way we feel and our mood. Insufficient lighting has been known to contribute to depression, whilst good lighting is known to improve our mood and energy levels.

Lighting is also important for our circadian rhythms (sleep/wake cycle) and can contribute to our alertness and awakeness but can also be used to entice us to feel tired and relaxed and help us wind down.

Luckily, our home gets lots of natural light and always feels bright, especially downstairs, where we spend most of our time. We added to this by painting most of our walls white – to enhance this feeling of light and space. It is one of our favourite things about our home.

When the natural light of the day goes, I do love the glow and ambience from the Voronoi II lights in our kitchen, they create such a lovely vibe. When we have just those lights on in the kitchen, it definitely contributes to the wind down and relax after dinner in the evening.

Lighting can have such a big influence on our wellbeing.

What made you start your Instagram page?

My instagram page is somewhere I post about things that mean a lot to me. Everything I enjoy and I’m passionate about, the things that make me proud, happy and sad, and the things that inspire me. I’m a mum and I absolutely love being a mum, but there is also lots of other things I love in life too, hence the name MamaButMe.

I think Instagram is great and I enjoy using it as an app, but I am also wary of how much time we can spend on social media. It is something I have become more aware of recently and I think getting that balance right is so important for our emotional and mental wellbeing. In today’s always-on world we should remember to look up to the sky and around us and at our lives and the people in our lives – not just down at our phones, at other people and their lives.

I would love to eventually do a little more on Instagram from a business perspective and in the wellbeing space, but I’m in no rush. I’m excited about the summer with the kids in our lovely home and garden and will focus on it more, when I have completed my Mindfulness Teacher Training and I feel the time is right.

What has been the reaction of your friends and family to your home?

We have been blown away by the reaction from our friends and family. Everyone has been so kind and complimentary. The biggest compliment is when people say that our house is so Us and that we have put our personality and stamp on it. That’s exactly what we wanted to achieve. We wanted it to be a reflection of us as a family, and built it to share it with the people that mean the most to us. It’s nothing if you can’t share it with the people you love.

We moved in a year ago and we have already created so many wonderful memories and know we will continue making more. We love living in our home and feel very lucky.

Thank you Karen for sharing your Tala story. To see more or to follow Karen on Instagram, search @mamabutme.

Look out for more At Home With stories in future.