Into neutral: I fell in love with our new-build
We weren’t really in the market for a new-build property, but we were promised a visit to the show home would make us fall in love.
I wasn’t holding my breath. Then we walked into the spacious hallway and I started to get excited. After we took a walk around and saw the large living room, master bedroom and three more good-sized rooms (and no small box room, which are common to newbuilds), we were sold.
And, of course, one of the big perks of buying a new property is that you don’t need to rip out the decor from the previous owner. We opted for some extras, including flooring in the downstairs hall, kitchen and WC, but otherwise it was a blank canvas.
The first thing we tackled was the basic white pendant ceiling lights as they had been annoying Craig since we move in.
However, getting pendant lights that are compatible with new-build ceiling heights isn’t so easy. We had some trial and error – including Craig accidently head-butting and smashing one of the glass lights in the living room while carrying on with the kids – so, with hindsight, we would have opted to have spotlights put in every room by the builder before moving in. Lockdown gave us a great opportunity to start turning quite a bare house into a home, starting with the living room.
flooring with dark grey sofas, but in different fabric to add some variation in texture, and included a focal wall using abstract Anthology wallpaper, complimented with a mango wood sideboard from Swoon Editions.
It’s eclectic, but we love it.
The hallway was the space I was most excited to put my stamp on.
Again, we used a neutral abstract wallpaper, then added a black console table from West Elm and a large round black frame mirror above. It’s still one of my favourite parts of the house.
Another lockdown project was the stairs. I decided to take a risk and pull up the carpet to see if we could paint the wood underneath, an idea driven by the fact one of the cats had clawed a hole in the bottom stair, as well as the fact the beige carpet and white bannister looked a bit boring.
Initially I painted all the stairs white, then decided to add a black top step and handrail, before eventually painted the whole thing black. It was an epic task but I love how it looks now, and it’s a huge plus that we can easily clean the stairs. It’s a high traffic area that gets mucky easily, with two boys and three cats!
The big lesson I’ve learned while decorating is not to get caught up in recreating “Instagram trends”.
Yes it’s amazing to get inspiration from so many lovely accounts, but I’ve often wanted to emulate certain looks in my home before realising there’s a difference between appreciating a style and actually wanting to see it in your home every day.
I learned this the hard way when I put dark wallpaper in my kitchendiner, only to later replace it with panelling painted in Farrow & Ball ammonite paint – it’s much more “me” as I’m definitely a neutral gal.
I didn’t have an overall vision for the house, but through living here and developing a real passion for interiors, I’m achieving a warm and inviting family space that we can all enjoy.