see how Victoria has brought new life to her period property

Dedicated Diy-ers Victoria and Rob turned to upcycling, bargain hunting and good old-fashioned graft to give their period home plenty of vintage flair

When we found this house, my husband rob and i were living in a rented, onebedroom ground floor flat in a Warner house in east london,’ says victoria. ‘i spent hours searching for the right property on listings websites, keen to jump on the property ladder and secure a home for our future family. then i saw this house – it ticked all the right boxes and was the perfect doer-upper in our price range.

The property belonged to a family who had lived there for 60 years – the daughter of the family showed us around. She insisted on no agent viewings, as it was important to her to sell the house to the right people. Although the interior had been pretty well looked after, the kitchen was dark, carpeted and had zero storage and the bathroom was dated and not family friendly. We loved the original features of the house and have tried to restore them back to their former glory.

Making our mark

We moved into the house in November 2015 and began working on it right away. With no major structural changes to make, it seemed as if the work would be quite straightforward. However, four months in, I found out I was pregnant, which suddenly gave us a deadline to get the house finished by my due date.

We spent just over a year Diy-ing every single weekend, bank holiday and spare moment and lived in the house for the entire time it took to renovate it. We stripped every wall back to the bare plaster and started afresh, lining and painting them, and we pulled up the

carpets and sanded the original floorboards underneath. We revealed three original fireplaces upstairs that had been boarded up, along with original panelled doors and banisters. We also did the tiling in the kitchen and bathroom.

As we did a huge amount of work ourselves, we kept the costs down, but hit several low points. Halfway through the project, the house was a complete dust trap, nothing was finished and we couldn’t afford to hire builders or decorators – it was up to us to just suck it up and plough on with the job.

Getting crafty

With a background in photography, I’ve developed quite a good eye for most things visual and I was keen to share our DIY projects on Instagram. Since joining a year ago (@thecraftyfox.uk), it’s proved a massive inspiration and has certainly shaped my design tastes. There are so many accounts depicting the

‘Try To make colour choices according To The size, light and function of a room and keep The flow of colours harmonious Throughout’

‘if you can’t afford to replaster walls and ceilings,try covering them with lining paper before giving them a coat of paint’

homes of everyday people achieving extraordinary interiors. Being part of the Instagram interiors community has made me braver in terms of my interior design decisions and I’ve made some genuine friendships through the site.

I love vintage pieces and colourful interiors with lots of pattern and texture that give a nod to the past. The majority of our furniture is second hand that we’ve inherited, found on the street or bought on ebay. Our two best finds are the living room fireplace we picked up for £65 and an ex-display roll-top bath for £250, both from ebay. It’s amazing what you can find out there for a fraction of the price of the high-street retailers.

The previous owner left us a mirror above the main bedroom fireplace and