MAKE ME HAPPY’
Having moved home on a whim, Gemma and Andrew applied creativity and turned their white new build into a bold and bright party house
It was Christmas 2019 when my husband Andrew got restless and suggested moving home, and by the end of January we’d moved into a brand-new four-bedroom detached house,’ says Gemma. ‘Having lived in our first home (a three-bedroom semi in Gateshead) for seven years, we wanted to buy something bigger as we both work from home.
I’d grown up in new-build homes and used to work for a developer, so I pulled together a spreadsheet of 35 show home sites across the North East. Over three days we visited them all, but ended up back at the first one – a Bellway estate in Killingworth, Newcastle.
Sociable style
We’re party people so loved the Acacia house type with its open-plan kitchendiner and living area leading onto a south-facing rear garden. Having a second bedroom that was big enough for two desks was another important factor – since I’m an animator and Andrew’s a videographer, we have a lot of kit between us!
The house was already built so we put down a deposit, part-exchanged and moved in within 20 days through Bellway’s Express Mover scheme. I think the developer had targets to meet by the end of the month so we got a good deal.
Adding our stamp
A new build can be quite overwhelming as it’s all fresh and clean with white walls. It’s like writing on the first page of a new notepad… you don’t want to make a mistake! I started by putting up scaffold board shelves in the utility room using Rawlplugs for the first time and painting it in Denim Drift by Dulux. That gave me the confidence to tackle the front
living room, which was inspired by a visit to the Sofology showroom. We loved their combo of a green and orange sofa against a bright orange wall, so we recreated the same vibe with a slightly more subdued shade of paint.
Our party room
Next we decorated the open-plan kitchen-diner and living room. I’d discovered Snug sofas on Instagram and really liked their navy blue velvet sofa. That led to a similar blue paint on the walls, which zones the snug area, while the long back wall was painted in a complementary greige to match the kitchen units. We might change the kitchen one day, as the gloss doors get covered in fingerprints and are a nightmare to keep clean, but it’ll do for now. I love being a hostess so the space is perfect for our regular themed parties.
Having decorated the front living room in orange, yellow and green, the kitchendiner in greige and navy, and the
‘I’VE LEARNED NOT TO BE AFRAID OF GOING BRIGHT AND BOLD WITH BIG PURCHASES LIKE SOFAS’