28 homestylemag.co.uk
My story...
We moved in to our home in 2014. It was a new area
for us as we were relocating due to Paul’s job and
this was the first home we were buying together. We
did some research and found that Witham was close
to his work and the houses were within our budget- thankfully we liked the area too. The thing that
really sold the house to us was the layout of the
kitchen-diner or ‘family area’ as we now call it. The
space is great for entertaining as we look out onto
our huge 140ft garden – which is still a work in
progress. When we moved in the house was very
dated and plain, and it’s taken time to get it to how
it is now, it’s a constant project. We’ve been here
nearly five years and in the first year we painted
most of the rooms but then things slowed down as
we got our funds together. Our tiny downstairs toilet
was the first room we tackled, I painted it with black
chalkboard paint within our first week of living here,
as I’d had the idea and knew it would only take a
couple of hours to do. It worked so well and
everyone that comes to visit leaves us a message
using the chalk pen we keep there, even our
chimney sweep left a secret message which we
discovered months later! Three years ago we had
our whirlwind that is our son, Conrad, so it really
slowed down and the house became less of a
priority. However, this last year has seen most of our
rooms finally pull together. I’ve loved interiors from a
really young age, I was always waiting for the Ikea
catalogue to come out each year. I love Scandi and
farmhouse styles and I really wanted to incorporate
these into our home. I’m so proud of what we’ve
achieved but I’d never say we’ve finished as there’s
always something new to explore and update!
Chloe’s statement rug works really well in
linking the two areas together‘I tend to keep
my walls light
or white to
give my art
and objects
centre stage’
The slanted ceiling and skylight really throws light into the
dining area and the patio doors open out on to the couple’s
garden. ‘I kept this space very light with furniture. My drinks
cabinet is the Ikea Liatorp unit and the sideboard was an old
pine one from my mum which I painted white and added
some new handles I found on eBay’