25 Beautiful Homes – July 2019

P

atiRobinsandher

husbandColinmoved

intotheirCardiffhomein

2006 withonlya suitcase

ofclothes.‘WemetwhileI wason

holidayintheUK,thenfellin

love,afterwhichI decidedtostay

here,’saysPati,whois Polish.‘We

movedintothishouseandhadto

startfromscratchona tinybudget.’

Theirnewhomewasina bad

statewithtexturedwalls,damaged

vinylflooringanda tiredkitchen.

Upstairswasn’tmuchbetter,with

chipboardflooringanda Seventies

avocadobathroomsuite.

Forthefirstsixmonthsthe

couple slept downstairs in sleeping

bags.‘Wehadtowaitforourhome

tobeadaptedtomeetColin’s

disabilityneeds,’saysPati.‘This

meantwedidn’thaveproperaccess

totheupstairs.Buttheroomswere

soawfulupthere,wepreferred

sleepinginthesittingroom

anyway,’shesays.‘Wewerevery

enviousofthedog’sbed,attimes,

asit lookedmorecomfythanours!’

Topofthelistofthingsto

tacklewastoputdownflooring,

installa stairliftandpurchase

much-neededfurniture.‘I hadto

buythingsasandwhenwecould

affordthem– I foundourbed

fromIkea,ex-displayforjust£20,’

shesays.‘It’sundergonemany

transformationssincewefirst

boughtit.Mostrecently,I cutoff

theoldmetalheadboardtomake

roomforanupholsteredone.’

Thecouple,whoareboth

passionateaboutinteriors,have

slowly transformed their home

3 KITCHEN

Metrowalltilesand

distressedflooringlend

a vintageedgetothe

Shaker-styleunits.

Ruraldistressedwood-effect

floortiles,£12.99sqm,

TileMountain.Metrowhite

walltiles,£19.50sqm,Topps

Tiles.TabureteSadestool,

€99,Hannun

4 Hallway

alargemirrorgivesthe

illusionofmorespace.

Thewindowpanemirror,

£299,MirrorDeco,is similar.

EverythingHappens...and

Sunshineona CloudyDayoil

paintings,bothpriceon

request, Art By H

1

(^23)
4
1 KITCHEN
Retrostoolswereaddedto
createa chicseatingarea.
TrythebrushedLixbarstool
withbackrest,£195.86,
Sklum.ThePutneywall
clock,£100,Newgate
2 lIvINGaREa
Pati’sunusualfindsmake
aneye-catchingdisplay.
Audenza’sgold‘RockOn!’
hand, £16.95, is identical
LESSONSLEARNT
‘Allmyideasare
inmyhead,though
sometimesitwould
havebeenbetter
tohavehada plan
inmindbefore
I started decorating’
84 | 25bhjuLy 2019