Style at Home

we really wanted to move in beforeChristmas so we pushed for a moving dateand managed to get in by 19th December.It was all very hectic, but all of our friendswere surprised by how quickly we gotsorted. Our furniture was delivered the daywe moved in, and we managed to get thetree up and even have Christmas dinner.``````Starting from scratchWe chose the kitchen, bathrooms, fittedwardrobes and flooring while the housewas being built, going for hardwearingtiles in the open-plan family room andneutral carpets everywhere else. Normally,developers paint everything magnolia,but I begged for white as I think it givesa cleaner, more contemporary finish.For the rest of the decor, one of the firstthings we did was measure the windowsfor white plantation-style shutters to addsome character. Then we installed an extrarow of six wall units in the kitchen with``````downlighters underneath. We wantedthem to match, so we got them fromSymphony, which is the same companythe developers used. We also fitteda splashback of white metro tiles. Theneutral backdrop means it’s easy tochange accessories whenever we want.``````House to homeAfter Christmas I went to town on thedecor. I was so eager to get going as I’dbeen making moodboards on Pinterestall the time we were waiting for the houseto be finished. Philip’s previous style wasslightly more conservative than mine, buthe was happy for me to take the lead.We sold most of the furniture from ourprevious two homes, with the exception ofour bed and dining table. It was lovely tobe able to start all over again and I foundmost of it online at Made – I’m a big fan oftheir clean lines and contemporary feel. I’veintroduced a few retro touches, too, such``````VontruebaLux#2 print,£35, A Splashof Colour``````746 retrophone, £45,Wild & Wolf3 style buysGeometricHousescushion,£55, Furnish``````SHAPE SHIFTER‘With open shelving,it’s best to stackbooks horizontallyat each end’``````SHOW STOPPER‘As there’s no fireplacea statement wall andcowhide rug make agreat focal point’``````Make itCreate yourown buttonartwork!PAG E 3 830 |SEPTEMBER 2016 housetohome.co.uk/styleathome