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Student landlady Tash Frootko turns neglected streets into lively and colourful neighbourhoods with more than just a splash of colour, proving not all landlords are only in it for the money.
Student landlady turns neglected streets into a rainbow of colours.
Tash Frootko is a property owner who rents accommodation to students. While you may have heard horror stories about student landlords in the past, Frootko is definitely a very different person to the stereotype. She explains, “My name is Tash Frootko. I’m from a wonderful city called Gloucester in the United Kingdom. And I like to take rundown and shabby parts of cities and turn them into wonderful kaleidoscopes of colour for everyone to enjoy.”
Tash has been painting houses in Gloucester since 2018, she has transformed 70 houses on 5 streets so far. Source: Instagram/TashFrootko
“I was buying properties to convert into student properties. And the streets looked like they desperately needed a makeover…and I had a vision. I like to see potential in everything.” Source: Instagram/TashFrootkoHer city garnered negative opinions over the years and Tash’s mission is to inject colour and creativity into her city. Source: Instagram/TashFrootko“I’m a student landlady but any free time I have I devote voluntarily to the city of Gloucester, says Tash. Source: Instagram/TashFrootkoPainting the houses is really just the cherry on top. I spend months uniting the community working on anti-social behaviour problems such as litter and fly tipping. All of these things need to be in place before I even pick up a paintbrush.” Source: Instagram/TashFrootko“Everyone deserves to live in a wonderful environment and to love where they live.” Source: Instagram/TashFrootkoThe colourful rows of houses became Tash’s trademark making this part of the city known as the ‘Rainbow Street’ and the most colourful square in the whole country! Source: Instagram/TashFrootko“From a very young age, I’ve had a huge love of colour. Colour is key in my life. Colour has such an impact on you psychologically. I live my life in colour and it’s nice to now put that kind of perspective over the transformations that I’m doing.” Source: Instagram/TashFrootkoTash’s artwork is evolving as these three adjoining colourful streets are linked by two murals by local artists Zoe Power and Eloise Henderson-Figueroa. Source: Instagram/TashFrootko“As a female, I feel super proud of what I’m doing. It was really important for me to select artists that could follow a colourful brief, but also I wanted female artists. I was very lucky to get these incredible artists.” Source: Instagram/TashFrootkoAll generations and cultures are enjoying Tash’s work, asking her to continue on transforming soulless and rundown parts of the city into bold and fun buildings. Source: Instagram/TashFrootko“I’ve been doing some projects there over the winter that will now grow into something much bigger. But you have to wait and see what that’s going to be. Source: Instagram/TashFrootkoI lost my Mum about eight years ago and she was the person that inspired me for all of the colour and I know that she’d be really proud of what I’m doing now.” Source: Instagram/TashFrootkoTash’s art puts a smile on your face. Frootko is a strong believer in the “psychology of colour” and encourages more landlords to paint their houses to improve their run down neighbourhoods from “drab to fab”. Source: Instagram/TashFrootkoWe (BrightVibes) were going to publish before/after pictures, but then we figured you probably already know what grey, soulless streets look like, so we only showed the bright and cheerful “after” photos. Source: Instagram/TashFrootkoThis article was originally published on Jun 30, 2022.
