Style at Home

When I met my husbandPhilip, I was living inLondon and he owneda house in Ashford,Kent,’ says Michelle.‘He would stay at mine during the weekand we’d go back to his at the weekend,but it wasn’t ideal. As I have a 12-year-olddaughter called Evie, and Philip’s twogrown-up children, Lauren and Cameron,still live at home, we needed a spacioushouse that would cater for everyone’sneeds. Ideally we wanted a five-bed sothere would be a guest room, too.I’ve always favoured Victorian buildings,while Philip preferred modern properties.We looked at a few older houses in thecountryside, but in the end, he convincedme that a new-build was the best way toget the space we needed. I also knew itwould be a great opportunity to decoratefrom scratch. When we heard that RedrowHomes were building a new developmentin Kent, I was eager to take a look. I’dvisited the village before and it seemed likethe perfect location with good schools forEvie and nice restaurants and shops.As nothing had been built yet, we visitedsome of the company’s showhomes inBrighton. We decided on the three-storeydesign, which had five bedrooms spreadout over the top two floors. And becausewe were buying off-plan we were ableto pick a plot with a good position thatwould get plenty of sun in the garden.``````Good timingRather than trying to sell Philip’s housethrough an estate agent, we decided totake the builder’s part-exchange deal. Itmeant we didn’t get the full market value,but it wasn’t stressful or time consuming asthere was no need to worry about chainscollapsing or last-minute gazumping.After that, everything seemed to fall intoplace. In July 2014, on the same day thefirst phase of properties was released, weput down our deposit, giving us the pickof the plots. We were then told our housewould be ready by February 2015, butA BLANK CANVAS’After Michelle,36, moved intoher new-build, shecouldn’t wait toput her own stampon the neutral decorWHITE WASH‘In here, we decidedon a calm backdropwith fresh walls andgrey sofas from Made’GREAT IDEA‘‘Decide where toplace your artworkby holding uptemplates beforemaking any holes’housetohome.co.uk/styleathome SEPTEMBER 2016| 29NEW-BUILD Love it