COME ON IN…

WE ARE Lauren Drake, 31, a community fundraiser, my husband, Matt, 36, an IT professional, our two sons, Harry, 11, and Rupert, six, and our dog, Willis.

OUR HOME IS A three-bedroomed, newbuild terraced house built in 2016 in Exeter.

MY BEST BARGAIN IS My tall fake cactus, as it was in the sale.

OUR BIGGEST MISTAKE Was painting a wall pink with rainbows on it. It wasn’t for me, so I painted over it with blackboard paint shortly after.

this house based on the architect’s plans and it was the unusual layout that sold it to us.’ Their new home was spread over three floors with a large, lower-ground, openplan kitchen-diner that opened out onto the garden (a big selling point for Lauren), a living space on the ground floor and all the bedrooms on the top floor. ‘Our home is built into a hill, so from the front it looks like a two-storey house, but from the back you can see all the three floors,’ explains Lauren. ‘Visitors say it reminds them of a Tardis as it’s so deceptively roomy inside.’

START TO FINISH

One of the main benefits of buying off-plan was that Lauren could choose all the finishing touches herself. She picked everything from the kitchen units and tiling to the flooring and wall colours. ‘After years of studying interiors magazines, I knew exactly how I wanted my home to look,’ she says. ‘When I went to the kitchen showroom, I headed straight to the off-white, Shaker-style units.’

Over the next seven months, Lauren kept a close eye on the build. ‘The project overran and there were many unexpected delays,’ she says. ‘We were supposed to move in for Christmas 2015, but we didn’t get the keys until the end of January. We just hung in there waiting for our new home!’ Lauren would pop in every day after picking her boys up from school to check on the progress.

‘After years of studying interiors magazines, I knew exactly how I wanted my home to look.’

Once they finally had the keys to the house, the family settled in straight away, enjoying buying furniture to fit their new space.

ACCESSIBLE BY DESIGN

In 2016, Lauren’s husband, Matt, had a lifealtering accident at work, after which their home had to be adapted for his wheelchair. Two stairlifts were installed, as well as a lift that runs up the exterior of the property.

‘We had to reconfigure the house, making the bathroom bigger. We needed a turning point in the hallway and we lost a window in the living room,’ she says. ‘It gave me an opportunity to make some décor changes to adapt our home.’ Lauren replaced the carpets with practical, wood-effect flooring, and decorated the downstairs bathroom.

Then, in early 2020, Lauren gave her staircase a makeover in a rainbow of colours and it sparked a more light-hearted approach to decorating her home. ‘We’re a bunch

‘White walls now bug me, so I tend to take on a new decorating project at least every month.’

of nerds,’ says Lauren. ‘We geek out over gaming, cartoons, Disney and fun prints and our home didn’t reflect that. So I decided to make some bold colour choices and get crafty.’ Lauren added dots to her home office area, hand-painted stripes onto the living room walls and painted furniture in her favourite colour, yellow. ‘We felt settled here, so I had the confidence to make colourful changes. We had loads of leftover paint from the boy’s bedrooms, so I used it to brighten up our home. It really cheered me up, too.’

Once she’d started, Lauren couldn’t stop – she painted white walls in greens, pinks and yellows and filled them with art, and she tucked a plant in every corner. She’s made a few mistakes along the way but, as she explains, it’s only paint. ‘White walls now bug me, so I tend to take on a new decorating project at least every month. If I change my mind, I’ll just paint over it,’ says Lauren. ‘Splashes of colour make me so happy and our home reflects the bubbly side of our family.’

Lauren has given her dining area a playful feel by zoning the space with a bright rug, gallery wall and familyfriendly table. ‘I wanted a tall dining table that Matt’s wheelchair would fit under. This IKEA table was highest one I could find,’ she explains Lauren looks for budget-friendly buys when it comes to accessories for her home. All her tableware came from Tesco. ‘I also like ASDA, B&M and The Range. I love a bargain,’ she says

DINING ROOM The open-plan kitchen-diner is the hub of their home, so Lauren has filled the wall with the family’s favourite snaps. ‘I love looking at our gallery wall filled with family photos when I’m cooking,’ says Lauren OUR MUST HAVES Bespoke painted wooden Nerds sign, £135, Modo Creative. Yellow polka dot rug, from £25, George Home. Retro dining chairs, £69.99 each, Amazon Lauren’s home office, in the corner of her living room, is small in size but big on colour and pattern, with handpainted dots, slogan prints, a handmade flag for her Disney pin collection, and a luxe pink velvet chair A soft, pastel palette has given the family a living room that’s cosy and relaxed while still being bright. ‘Half of this room is Matt’s office space, and the other side is our family living area where we chill out in the evenings,’ Lauren explains

LIVING ROOM There are lots of Lauren’s crafty touches in the living room – she painted a white locker in her favourite colour, and made the bunting herself to finish off her gallery wall of cute, personalised prints OUR MUST HAVES For a similar cushion try large Mongolian faux fur cushion, £16, Matalan. Macramé plant hanger, £25, KnotandBloomMacrame on Etsy

Lauren painted the wall going downstairs to the kitchen with chalkboard paint and added hooks for the boys’ school bags. This is where the family keep track of their diary, too, making it a multi-functional space Lauren has filled Rupert’s room with quirky prints and accessories. Look for purse-friendly finds that can be swapped easily as kids get older OUR MUST HAVES Grey arrow rug in Cream, from £40, George. Dried flowers, from £24.95, ParchedPetalCo on Etsy The staircase and painted spindles were Lauren’s first painting project and the starting point for her colourful home makeover. ‘I painted it dark blue, but it made the space look too dark, then white, but it felt too washed out, so I chose my happy colour – yellow!’ she says Lauren’s youngest son, Rupert, had a big say in his bedroom décor, asking for rain clouds and lighting bolts to complement the mountain mural

MAIN BEDROOM Lauren loves to experiment with different wall shades – and that includes repainting if the colour doesn’t feel quite right. ‘I did paint our bedroom yellow to start with, but then changed it to deep green to create a cosy feel as yellow didn’t suit the space,’ she says OUR MUST HAVES Stinamaj throw, £13; Druvfläder hanging planter, £5, both IKEA. For a similar cushion try Scion Mr Fox cushion in Yellow/ Steel, £40, John Lewis

BATHROOM The previous bathroom was adapted into a wet room, and tiles were replaced with vinyl flooring that prevents leaks. Choosing a geometric pattern makes it as stylish as it is practical OUR MUST HAVES Elephant Mustard towels, from £5 each, Dunelm. Mardi Gras 91 Magali vinyl, £19.99 per sq m, Carpetright. Havern bath rack, £9, IKEA Lauren has made a feature of the plain wall behind the bath with a black V-shape design that was super simple to achieve; she simply dipped the edge of a piece of cardboard into paint, and used it to mark out the V shapes