Instantly rich!

With clever decorating tips, has transformed a bland white-walled semi into a rich and colourful home…

‘I filled the house with texture & colour’

Britt Spurr, a beauty and nail technician, moved to this three-bed Thirties semi in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, in December 2019, with hubby Joe and French bulldog Opie. The house had been extended and renovated to a very modern spec but it wasn’t quite to Britt’s taste.

‘I’m drawn to periodstyle homes but the idea of open-plan living appealed, and I really liked the folding doors to the garden,’ she explains. ‘I had to work hard to fill the house with texture and colour but the transformation has really helped me fall in love with our new home.’ Here, she explains the transformation…

1

In the zone

‘The ground floor was open plan and already had decent flooring down, so I only had to think about the decor. I decided on black walls for the living area, something I’d wanted to try for a while, and it shows off our colourful prints really well. It took two coats of paint for the walls. I’ve always had a gallery wall, even before they became popular. We love tattoos and my inspiration came from tattoo parlours where every shop has the artist’s work on display.

‘I “zoned” the kitchen and dining areas using rugs. The dining one is from French Connection (£220). I love original mid-century furniture but it’s hard to find anything affordable. We managed to find this dining table, a high-street version, from Argos (similar tables also on wayfair.co.uk for under £200).

2

DIY mural

‘I work from home, so I decided to paint a wall mural, adding a touch of fun to my work space. I gathered together all our leftover paints and tester pots and then just painted, freehand. My clients love it.’

3

Kitchen tricks

‘I’d seen people paint kitchens on social media, so I thought I’d try, as I hated the gloss white doors and glitter splash back. I took the doors off and sanded them. It took four coats of Dusky Blush by Frenchic (£19.95 for 750ml), but it was worth it. We couldn’t afford to re-tile the splash back, so I tried stencilling. I covered the tiles with a base coat, then applied a stencil from Dizzy Duck Designs (Toluca, from £8). I finished off with a heavy duty top coat. The result is amazing.

4

Paint the mood

‘I’m definitely drawn to dark colours. I painted my bedroom red and black when I was young. It’s such a nice, cosy feeling waking up in a dark room, so the white-walled master bedroom was the next room I tackled. Valspar’s Leafy Greens (£32 for 2.5l) has a warm tinge and compliments our yellow bed. We found bedside drawers in charity shops, they don’t match but I like that quirky touch.

5

Clever crittal

‘The bathroom was newly installed, but I did put up a black blind, and we fitted a new shower screen, which I then gave the ‘crittal-effect’, which is simply adding black electrical tape to the glass to make it look like original Crittal steel framed windows. It’s so effective!’