Our Home

A exclusive tour of our home and how we have created a space that reflects us and offers pure relaxation.

Our New Build garden mood board

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When buying a new home, it’s not just about the interior – much to my disgust! And as we head to those beautiful sunny days, my attention has certainly started to wander outside to our green space. We’ve never had any outdoor space before. And despite thinking I wouldn’t be all that bothered, I seem to be eager than EVER to lift the turf and plant…something.

And that’s just what was on my March’21 goals – get started, somewhere. Having a blank canvas is certainly a luxury, but also a little daunting. Knowing where to really start is the key, and honestly, we have no idea where that is.

What does our current garden look like?

as you can imagine, and often the case with new build homes, we have a Very, very bland space. When we moved in just 12 weeks ago, we were very kindly left with mud and some small areas of patio. I have to give it to Linden, we did get a shed included, but apart from that, we didn’t have much else.

Despite thinking we could make it through the wet weather with Rhodie on the small amount of patio, we couldn’t and we quickly got our garden completely turfed. This was the best decision, as Rhodie has now had a huge expanse of grass to run on, especially during the sunnier days. its also meant that the few sunny days we have already had has been enjoyed in our garden, albeit on some very long lawn as we are yet to buy a lawn mower!

we have been very very lucky with our plot size, expanding 65ft in length and over 26ft at the top, narrowing slightly to a width of 18ft at the rear. having these last few months to look out onto our garden, we have managed to track the movements of the sun to make the most of our sunnier spots.

So, do we have some ideas?

Yes, lots and lots of ideas. I have been watching plenty of gardening programs over the last couple of weeks, scouting instagram of course, and saving some new build garden snaps from instagram too. We’ve quickly established that we are situated on clay soil. This is super common in the UK and just means we have to be aware of what we plant, and how we do it.

Patio expansion

I don’t think anyone is ever happy with the 3×3 patio you are given by new-build developers, so it shouldn’t be any surprise we will be expanding what we have. We are looking to triple the space so we have plenty of entertaining area for summer BBQs and evenings in the garden. We’re not 100% sure on the colour and type of patio just yet, but we want to make sure it matches the look and feel we are heading for with our modern new home.

Raised bedding

I have always wanted some raised beds in whatever garden we had, and it turns out it will be the best choice for ours. The clay soil will make it difficult for some particular plants to thrive, so it’s a good way to add life into a garden with pretty terrible soil.

Raised bedding is also a great way to add immediate height too, which is so vital for us early on. We want some privacy from our neighbours, so additional height quickly is a win win.

It also adds some division, which I am really keen to implement. With such a long garden, I don’t want us to fall in the trap of having a large expansive singular space. I’m really looking for little nooks of magic and interest.

Finally, when our little fluff ball. was Back at my parents he was in and out all of the plant beds. We think with that little bit of height, he won’t be so inclined to run through – we shall see I guess.

Privacy

We are so lucky that we have no overlooking neighbours at the back of our garden, since we back onto a woodland footpath. However, we do have our left and right neighbours that we want to shield as much as possible. We know when every garden is blank it feels much worse than it is, but we are keen for some trees and bushes along the fence line to grow up and offer a little more privacy.

Separation

After watching all those garden shows, I find it pretty important for us to create some separate zones in our long garden. We had originally thought one expansive grass space would be sufficient, but we really didn’t realise the size of our garden until we got out into in just a couple of weeks ago. raised beds, different materials and boarded beds will help separate little areas in our space which will all have their own purpose.

When will we get started?

hopefully, as soon as possible. with any garden, it is a long journey and many of our plans won’t come to fruition straight away. for the here and now, we are super keen to get the patio extended and raised bedding in so we can get planting and hosting. im sure we are not alone in being eager to re-connect with friends and family in our own gardens.

im so excited to get started and share the journey with you all. as always, my instagram is always being updated with snaps of our new build projects, so be sure to follow me on there.

charlonichole

šŸ†Double Award Nominated Interior & Lifestyle blog
šŸ”Adding style to a bland 3 Bed #newbuildhome
šŸ¶Rhodie the cockapoo
šŸ“¬Editor & Founder @letterboxmag

UK Interior & Lifestyleā€¢ CN

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Turning our drab new-build en-suite into our lux haven

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Our first complete room transformation

From the women who said she would paint before any furniture enters the property, we have finally injected some paint into our new build home! Only took nearing 10 weeks. And just as expected, with one stroke of the brush, I caught the bug and painted a further two rooms – but more about that later.

When looking at the show home for our property late last year, we were pleasantly surprised with the look and feel for the en-suite. Whilst we knew ours would be slightly different without a window and different choices of tiles, we didn’t think it would be much difference – surely?

Fast forward living in our own home and we quickly realized it was drab, boring and lifeless – and I couldn’t deal with any of that whilst in lockdown. We had thought about having more tiles, but we weren’t confident with that just yet, so we turned to paint.

We wanted contrast from the grey tiles we had selected, and we wanted drama. Being such a small space, it needed to pack some punch. So we opted for the gorgeous ‘muted graphite’ colour from dulux, and well, here’s the result.

Overall I am soooo happy with the outcome. I take my hat off to anyone who has a white home and made it feel homely and warm. I understand we hadn’t dressed the room previously, but it was just so stark, cold and lifeless. With this fairly deep but warming colour we have achieved everything we wanted. We also injected some green into the space as we will be using Green in our master bedroom. We really wanted the coherent feel from the master bedroom into the en-suite, whilst keeping it it’s own space.

Styling

We kept the styling simple, as we didn’t want too much in such a small space. The mirror was the best choice, as it offers storage and is in keeping with our style. With a simple picture ledge, small faux succulents and the prints, it was complete.

Considering we were not wanting to touch the space until getting more tiling, I think I prefer the look of the paint. Its really made the huge shower a focus in the space, and cost less too!!! It’s amazing what one lick of paint can really do! What do you think? You excited to see more of our transformations? Get commenting in the comment section below.

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Our experience of boarding our New Build Loft

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There’s no denying the gut punch of ‘You can’t use your loft as storage’ speech when meeting the builder for you new build home is killer. Especially when you’re secretly told by them also that you can use it, but not to store too much as the roof cannot support it.

All very confusing when deciding what the hell to do. Who has a 3 bedroom home and doesn’t use their loft? Who buys a house and doesn’t intend to store bits and bobs in the loft space? I found it all abit unbelievable and took to the internet to find some answers.

Thankfully, loft spaces with a loft hatch should be built to sustain some storage weight, as well as live weight for people being in the loft for maintenance purposes, according to NHBC. I was really relieved to read this, as it meant our loft would have been built to these standards. Which moved me onto the real reason builders say not to store anything in a loft space.

Insulation.

So many take to their own loft to board it themselves, subsequently damaging the chunky insulation new builds now offer. Incorrectly installing boards that squish any insulation can cause damp and condensation problems, as well as the efficiency of the insulation itself.

This is mainly the reason builders say NOT to use a loft as storage as many incorrectly board their loft, and cause more damage inside their home. This paired with the homeowners that will often store second-hand furniture in their loft, it’s much easier for builders to say no storage, than the rundown of how to do it correctly.

So how did we do it?

Once I researched heavily as the best way to board our loft, I sought someone who could do it for us. Whilst it is something that can be done yourself, I really wanted someone who knew what they were doing to construct it for us. With our NHBC warranty at risk, I believed the cost of having someone board our loft would be worth the expenditure, rather than a risk of it being done wrong.

Loftzone products

Find someone that will use the loftzone products, or use them yourself. Loftzone products are the only ones accredited by the NHBC and confirmed that used correctly, they will not void any of your warranty. This should be a huge tick box for you and your new build loft boarding project.

Do not remove or squish any of your insulation

Insulation is critical at keeping your home warm, and eco friendly! New build properties come with a lot of insulation, which you may believe is excessive. But removing or condensing this insulation can damage your home and stop it from being effective. Plus, this in itself voids your NHBC warranty. A real no no!

The biggest aspect of doing anything for your home is to do lots of research. No two experiences, or properties are the same, so I would always advise speaking to a professional to be sure. Otherwise, here are my key bits to remember if looking to do the same in your new build home.

Please remember…

  • I’m not a builder or a professional but with the research I had undertaken, and the professionals I have spoken to, it’s well worth getting someone who is clued up on new build loft installs.
  • If you want to take the job on yourself, make sure you follow all steps and advice to ensure you have correctly installed for your loft.
  • Whilst NHBC states that new build properties with a loft hatch should be able to withstand 25kg per m2 for storage, as well as live weight and the weight of the roof, you should always consider what you are storing in your loft space. Too much weight can cause the trusses to sag, and can result in them protruding from the ceiling in your home.
  • Insulation that has been condensed by incorrectly installed loft boarding will result in excess moisture in your loft. This can cause problems in your lower ceilings, and structural strains from excess moisture on your trusses. You will be surprised how much moisture rises into your loft, so ensuring you have air flow over you insulation is critical.
Has this post helped you? Will you be doing something similar in your new build home? Is there anything else you would like me to share on our new build journey? Let me know in the comment section below.

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1 month update : The first month of our New Build Home

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I can’t quiet believe it has been 1 month since we finally got the keys to our New Build Home. It was a long old ride ( you can read more about it here ), but we got the keys just 2 weeks before Christmas. As with any new build, there are certainly some teething problems. But to throw the big C word ( Christmas ) into the mix, we found ourselves tight for time when it came to the necessities.

So what can you really achieve in 1 month of owning a new build, of which Christmas was in the middle of? Well, it seems rather a lot.

Flooring

One of our biggest additions was of course the flooring. And this absolutely couldn’t wait. We decided to source our own flooring and fitters, aside from what the development offered. We just found the site didn’t have muchhhh choice and we really wanted to put our own stamp and style wherever possible.

We opted for Amtico click smart flooring throughout the downstairs and in our family bathroom and en-suite. Carpets were also laid in all 3 bedrooms, landing and stairs. We are so glad we chose our own flooring and fitters, as we were able to choose style and colour that matched our home better. Plus, we made a saving of over Ā£1500.00 compared to the site quote!

Our flooring took 3 days to complete and was done within 2 days of getting the keys. I was sooo happy that we managed to book our flooring guys ahead, so we could defiantly move in before Christmas.

Painting

Very little painting has been done here, and what has been done was done in the very first few days of having the keys. Painting our banister was top priority, since no flooring made it that much easier. We are so glad we jumped head first and did this, as its made a world of difference. Next stop, more painting, once all our bedroom furniture is in of course.

Furniture

Aside from the furniture we had from our apartment, we have made some pretty critical purchases within the first days and weeks of owning our new home!

We found pretty quickly that we didn’t have an awful lot of furniture in the flat and being in a 3 bed house, it looked pretty bare!

One of our early purchases included a gorgeous shelving unit for our lounge. This made a huge difference as it filled a pretty large hole , and meant we could showcase some of our most loved decorative pieces.

We also bagged a new bed and mattress, upgrading from the cramped double to a kingsize. We opted for a ottoman once again, as it offers such huge storage that would otherwise be wasted. We also invested in a better mattress. We were finding we were both suffering on our old mattress, so ensuring we had something that offered comfort and support was so important. To say we both love heading to bed is a understatement – our new mattress is the comfiest thing!

Finally, whilst its not yet here, we have ordered our much needed wardrobes! Our previous, extra tall ones wouldn’t fit in our new abode, so we had to buy new. And with Ikea Pax having a somewhat huge supply issue, we’ve had to wait a bit longer than hoped. But we’ve managed to design something that will hide everything away and make good use of the new space we have!

Lighting

Once again, this was something we managed pretty quickly having purchased many of our lights ahead of moving in. With one slight snag ( we can’t find the beam in the dining room to hang our pendant from ), we have managed to install lighting in the hallway and landing, lounge and downstairs toilet. We just need to find the right lights for our bathroom and bedrooms.

Turf

Who knew having turf laid would make such a huge impact on the inside space too! We very quickly became desperate for some turf, and ahead of when we thought we would. Having Rhodie penned onto our measly patio, it was high on the agenda. Following the advice of our site manager, we had a local company come in just this week and level, top soil and turf our garden.

And what a huge impact its had already!

Rhodie now has somewhere to blow off some steam and ultimately go to the toilet! Just looking out of our patio doors onto green rather than mud, has made a huge difference! Surprisingly, the green has kicked me up the bum and I’m now planning extensively our garden. We have been lucky with the size, and I’m keen to make good use of it!

What’s next?

If you’ve read our 2021 Interior plans for our new home, you will know the list was pretty extensive. But we have already made a small dent in our long list, and well within budget too!

Furniture

Obviously building our wardrobes is high on the agenda, but also finding a accent chair and coffee table for the lounge is a must too. Finishing our master bedroom with soft touches, and key furniture pieces is also high on our list, as having no bedside lights or somewhere to put your midnight drink is getting pretty tedious!

Loft

If you’ve bought new build recently, you will know that you ‘shouldn’t’ put anything in your loft. However, being the rebels me and my husband are, we want to store, just the usual in ours. I mean who has a loft and never puts anything in it! We had thought about getting someone in to do it, but after much research, we are confident we can do this ourselves. Hopefully we will get cracking soon so I can finally put those Christmas decorations away!

Garden

Although the dark evenings are drawing to a close, having some much needed light at the front and back of our house is something we are now turning our attention too. It could well be something we have to get some professional help on, of which we will wait until lock-down has passed.

I am so grateful to finally be in our own home, especially with the latest lock-down. We are in no rush to do everything and more to our home, but we also want to take full advantage of not being able to do an awful lot else. I hope you are enjoying my journey, I would advise checking my instagram too as I tend to share a lot of it on there.

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Our 2021 Interior plans for our New Build Home

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I moved into a new build home 1 week before Christmas…did you know? Of course you know, because it was the only thing I was banging on about the back end of 2020.

Yes, the end of 2020 was as hectic as can be, but there’s no complaining, it was nice to be ending that strange old year in our brand new home. Alas, upon moving in, we began to see the huge task list we were subconsciously building in order to make our blank canvas our home.

Aside from painting and injecting colour, we seem to have adopted some other internal jobs that I hadn’t expected when buying brand new. Of course, everyone has different tastes, but there seems to be a hugeeeee list of jobs despite having that just finished, completely new home.

Tile the main Bathroom

Our quote for more tiles and a shower fitted over our bath in the main bathroom was extortionate, especially considering how much it would cost privately to have the job done. So this is something we knew we would do once we’ve moved in. Having lived in our property for a couple of weeks, we have realised it’s something we are desperate to get done, just to add something more to what feels like a bland bathroom.

Install Towel Radiators

Once again, this is something we didn’t upgrade with the builder, mainly because we wanted a different colour compared to what they offered. It’s another job to add to the list but one we are desperate having previously had towel radiators and already missing their practicality.

New Internal Doors

A rather controversial one when we spoke to family and friends initially, but now the flooring is down and our furniture in, everyone agrees. The internal doors original to the house were not plain white like usual, but a horrible, bland oak design which does not match our decor at all.

It’s something we are fairly frustrated with as its not something the developers would change and all we want is the usual white door that you would typically find in any other new build home. But its a change that will finish off our home, especially once we start painting and implementing our colour palette.

Extend the patio

Turning our eye to the exterior of our property, there is alot to do outside our home. With a mud bath as a garden, we do have a blank canvas to sculpt a garden to suit our lifestyle. Firstly, we want to extend the patio from the measly 4 x 4 patio we were left with.

Like others, we like to host, so having an extended patio for evening drinks and summer BBQs is a must.

Lay Turf

Our cockapoo pup is desperate for some green turf to run, explore and of course poop on. We are hoping this is something that will be done promptly, as having a puppy pooping and weeing on that tiny patio is wearing thin. It would also be lovely to look outside and see a lawn of Green.

Soften with plants

Just like inside, we want to soften the outside too. We have some plants to the front, but of course, we want to soften the stark garden with foliage and seasonal bulbs. We are not usually green fingered, but after some practical garden Christmas presents, we are both excited and eager to get stuck in in the garden.

Window Boxes

Whilst there are some flowers and greenery out the front, being a new build, it isn’t exactly established. A window box for our kitchen window will add some much needed colour and interest where it seems a little bland.

External Lighting

One external light outside our front door is just not enough, especially having a drive which quickly gets dark during the winter months. We hope to install some external lights to illuminate our drive and the brick wall that edges it.

We have a busy busy year ahead, making our new build property our home. This pretty extensive list of jobs and interior wishes of course doesn’t include those cosmetic jobs like painting, furniture and artwork. But we like to keep active and this year is a year we will be more so then ever.

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Planning our New Home – Lounge mood board

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We *should* be about 4 weeks out from having the keys to our brand new home! And since we have been practically homeless for over a month, our main focus has been making our new place as comfortable and ‘us’ as possible.

The great thing about a new build is the blank canvas it is, but it’s also very generic and very samey. With that in mind, we are keen to inject personality and flair into what could be a very boring box. We’ve been brainstorming interior ideas and styles for weeks and I’m at the stage of sharing our new home mood-boards.

Over the last week, me and my husband have been off and quiet literally exploring every single home store, searching for inspiration and new ideas to inject into our new home. And it worked, we found colour palettes, styling ideas and key pieces to nab to transform our home.

So here is the low down on the mood-board and the vision for our Living room.

The Space

We are incredibly lucky to have a space that is rather big for our cosy sofa and ample furniture for storage and style. It’s flooded with light from our window and double doors out onto our patio and expansive garden. We also have lots of wall space and some storage too with the cupboard under the stairs being accessed from our lounge.

The Vision

The idea of our home is improving on the style and decor we had in our apartment, and that is true to every room. As much as we adored our previous green, we are looking to adopt more colour.

The colour palette

Graphite is the key undertone of our home, with our graphite kitchen and black furniture pieces, so will be ever present in our living room. The deep blue / green and rich, dark orange will be key features on the bland walls.

We felt like it was a nod to our previous living space and style, whilst adopting new colour trends that will compliment new and old home pieces.

We did love the idea of a dark and moody space, but the fear of making the entire house a monochrome home was real – no disrespect to the monochrome, but our kitchen is going dark and we just didn’t want to overdo it!

The Styling

Our previous furniture is still very much loved, so we are injecting more pieces from the range, whilst styling the ones we had. We will add cosiness into the expansive room using texture and layers. I love the idea of layering numerous rugs to introduce a variety of colours or patterns.

We will also be carrying over our tribal styling pieces, whilst introducing simplistic, modern pieces too.

This is the first time I have created a full mood-board for our own home and honestly, it’s the best practice to visualize a space.

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We are ripping out our brand new, new build kitchen! – Here’s why…

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I would be lying if I said we didn’t get a lot of raised eyebrows when we say we are replacing the brand new kitchen in our new-build property.

When it comes to buying a brand new home, you would think you have endless options and choices to make when it comes to making your new home personal to you and your style. And whilst some house builders do offer a lot of upgrades, additional extras and general options on the basics, some do not. And unfortunately our house-builder falls into that latter category.

Now call us snobby, but we were so desperate for some upgrades in our kitchen, and yet unfortunately we were told we do not qualify to upgrade anything! We were prepared to spend a little more on different style doors, a higher quality of worktop, a bigger oven. And yet we couldn’t. So, after 3 hours of choosing a kitchen that we didn’t like, weeks of searching for additional units, and trying with all our might to like the options we had, we decided it was best to buy all new.

Read : 6 Things to know before you buy a new build property.

Functionality

Number one reason for installing a new kitchen is functionality. The kitchen in our new property lacked storage and user-friendly space. With a under counter oven, two over counter cupboards and just one draw, it really lacked usable storage we desired for a family home.

Compared to the kitchen we had in a two-bedroom apartment, we were losing 50% of our cupboard space and storage. Despite having more wall and floor space available. We had been given a downsized oven and sink too!

Our new improved kitchen will give us 7 usable cupboards with smart storage solutions, one large pull out larder, 3 plinth draws, 2 narrow spice racks and space for our built in fridge/freezer, washing machine and dishwasher! We have kept all counter space and moved our oven into a tower unit and given ourselves a larger sink. Win Win all round!

Design

As with any part of a home, it can often be to personal taste. So whilst many would love what we choose from the developers, unfortunately it isn’t exactly what we had in mind. We had dreamt for a dark, matt, handle-less kitchen, which was far from the only dark colour ( bluey – purple) high gloss, silver handled, light butcher block design we opted for with the developers.

The newly designed kitchen instead has the look and feel we were looking for. Our new home style is modern retro and we wanted our kitchen to reflect that. With a darker colour palette, including the units and counter top, we’ve achieved the look and feel we were after for our modern new build home.

Long Lasting

When we were choosing our first house ( second property ) we knew we would be in it for a long time. Any property purchase is an investment, but for us, this was especially. We are up sizing, hoping one day to fill the spare rooms with little feet. So, a kitchen that can’t support a family Christmas with a over sized Turkey, and offering plenty of storage and cooking space is vital for many happy years in our new home.

We have come across lots of raised eyebrows when it comes to our kitchen plans – even from the developers themselves. But we are so excited to upgrade and get the kitchen we have always wanted.

Throughout our entire house purchase process we have been making sure we choose what we want for both practicality and style. And that was the same for our kitchen. We knew the functionality would grate very quickly, along with the downgrades on what we had previously. So instead of us waiting to get incredibly frustrated with the kitchen, why not fix it straight away.

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Revealed : Our New Home Colour Palette – PLUS how you can create yours!

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One of the biggest things I am determined to nail in our new home is that all important colour palette. It took 4 years to inject some colour into our previous property and I am fixated on the idea of getting ours right, first time around! I just couldn’t cope with living in a white box again.

I believe establishing an entire home colour palette helps focus the search for new pieces and styling – key when furnishing and decorating a new home. Since we had lots of furniture pieces to keep and incorporate into our new home, we already had something to work around.

After lots of searching, in home stores and on pinterest, we have managed to create a home colour palette for paint and furniture, to work with and drive focus for styling and purchasing. So without further ado, here’s our home colour palette, and how we managed to pick and create it, so you can do the same!

Read : Lessons I learnt from decorating our first home

A New Home Colour Palette

I am so in love with our colour palette it is unreal. After lots of ‘soul searching’ I really did wonder whether we would be able to find a new colour palette that felt like us, complimented our personal style and was ultimately new.

When thinking of an entire home colour palette, its important to define your rooms as different spaces, but also bear in mind the palette as a whole also. Having a complete palette that compliments throughout will help make your entire home flow and feel as one.

Essentially, if we were to bundle every colour from our palette, into one room, it would work together well. This is a sign that we have created a unified colour palette.

How to do it digitally

I used canva to create our colour palette. Search paint websites for different shades and upload these into a template. Overlapping them and playing around with different colours digitally can give you a real representation of your palette and how well the colours work together on the screen, but eventually in a space.

Our ‘Red Thread’

Despite the rule really being you should have one ‘red thread’ colour, we have two. Yep, two. And ours is Graphite and Off-white ( Hollyhock ).

With every space in the new home, I was leaning towards black furniture and white styling pieces. And whilst at first I thought that should just be the palette of the home, I really loved having colour in our last property, and I didn’t want to feel like I was living in a black and white film!

Our home ultimately has both Graphite and Off-white ( Hollyhock ) present in every space, unifying the entire home and making it feel flowing throughout. These star colours bind the palette together and offer a base colour for every space in our home. These colours will be used in the furniture and woodwork.

For example, in the Kitchen the Graphite is our kitchen units and surfaces. The Hollyhock will be paint work and walls. Slaked Lime Dark will be our feature wall backing onto the dining space.

My advice to create yours

There is no one size fits all when it comes to creating a home colour palette. But there are some key points to remember when starting afresh and defining yours.

Here are my top tips for you to kick-start and create the perfect home colour palette for you.

1 : Don’t Rush – start early

Rushing a colour palette will always end in disaster. Take your time, order lots of samples and search pinterest for inspiration. Start early too. If you want to be painting and decorating in the new year, start thinking colours now. This will give you plenty of time to swap and change, without fret of taking too long.

2 : Consider your furniture

Whether you will be buying new, or keeping your current pieces, considering the furniture you will be using throughout your home is vital for choosing a palette that compliments them, rather than clash!

3 : Focus on the key areas of your home

Kitchen, Living Room and Bedroom are your vital areas of your home. Trying to inject different colours or shades into every room is a hard task, so focusing on those key rooms and working out from there, will help focus your palette.

Remember, you don’t need to have lots of different colours and shades for every room. Much rather, use the colours from other rooms differently to keep consistency and flow.

I will be using a combination of the colours I have already picked for my other spaces in my home ( WC / Spare Bedroom / Office / Bathroom ).

4 : Don’t dwell on the trends

It’s so easy to be swept up in the new trends when it comes to painting. But, who wants to re-paint their entire home every year as the trends change? Keep your soft furnishings and styling pieces for the trends and use paint colours and shades that will compliment these changes.

5 : Use feature walls

If you’re not afraid to change the paint colour often, use feature walls and different painting techniques to inject some of the bolder colours of your palette. Top and Tailing spaces with feature walls can bind in those colours, without overwhelming a space.

Read : Unique ways to paint your walls

I have thoroughly enjoyed creating our home palette and would strongly urge everyone to do the same. It’s proved instrumental in making key decisions for our new home including flooring colours, tile choices and key furniture pieces. It’s helped us truly define our style for our entire home, whilst embracing different moods and trends in different spaces.

If you want to create a unified, flowing home that oozes style, nestle down and create a home colour palette. It’s not just for paint colours, its for soft furnishings and styling too!

Will you be creating a home colour palette? Is there more you want to know about how we are creating a unified home? Get chatting in the comment section below!
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Lessons I learnt from decorating our first home

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There is so much excitement that comes with owning your first ever home, that we all make mistakes in the decorating department. Even the best of us. I will happily declare that my husband and I were like kids in a candy shop. Our own space, a chance to choose our own furnishings and style and decorate how we like. We were eager to get stuck in.

And it’s here that you can make some pretty costly mistakes. Since we have been in our home, I have often urged other home buyers to avoid some of the mistakes we made.

So let’s get cracking on some of the lessons we learnt decorating our first home.

Read : 5 Things I want from my next home

Live in your home before splurging on furniture

You might not even have any furniture of your own, like us. But one thing we really should have done is buy what we needed first, and look at the other bits later on. But being new homeowners we of course hit Ikea, and with a vision of white on white ( which did not work ) we bought bookcases and those alike that just didn’t work in the space. Within a couple of weeks we knew we had made a mistake and just tried to make it work.

I would highly advise living in the space you have before making any rash decisions on furniture and key pieces. It’s best to get a feel for the space you do have and how you would like to utalise and style it. Then you can make the correct choice on key furniture pieces.

Buy furniture that will age well

When purchasing your furniture, its also best to consider how long it will last you. Is it on trend now? Is it a fashion piece rather than a necessity? Will you be moving in the near future? If so, will this piece work in a different space? Whilst you might think this is a little too much consideration, it’s worth noting, especially if spending big bucks on furniture pieces.

As mentioned, we bought a fair few pieces that haven’t worked out long term. It’s been essentially wasted money and has meant we have had to spend more to replace and update. Pieces that we have since bought, we have carefully considered how it can fit into a new home when we do move.

Don’t buy cheap paint

Very specific this one and well we learnt the real hard way with this one. Some swear by own brands of paint, but in all honesty, we really mucked up in our master bedroom, choosing cheap paint. We spent 3 days decorating and ended in tears with me weeping after being so tired. We ended up giving up and three years later, I still find new patches on our grey and charcoal walls.

Spend more on the branded paint and avoid those cheaper own brands. It will save you in hassle in the long run and most of the time, cheaper paints require more coats.

Prep your surface

Our first painting session in our home really was a disaster. We didn’t prep the walls whatsoever. Huge mistake and meant the cheap paint just didn’t do well at all. Sanding down your surface will make it much easier for the paint to take and will give you a great finish.

Carefully consider your colour palette

We didn’t get started right away with the decorating in our home, partly due to it being a new build and everything was a wash of white. We carefully considered our colour palette and I’m so glad we did. We chose neutral furnishings which made choosing our entire palette easy to match with what we had.

I hugely recommend looking at how all your colours work with each other. Create mood boards to work with a coherent scheme that compliments.

Cheap isn’t always best

I’ve alluded to this quiet a few times throughout this post, but essentially cheaper alternatives isn’t always best. I love a bargain, but when it comes to furniture and paint, spending a little more can save you time, hassle and expenditure later down the line.

When we first moved in, we purchased cheap Argos pieces and whilst they lasted, we didn’t keep them too long. They were pretty flimsy, and unfortunately looked cheap. I do wish we had held back and chosen pieces at the beginning that may have cost a little more, but lasted and suited our space better.

Okay, so we didn’t make any catastrophic, house fell down kind of mistakes when decorating our home. But we certainly made some mistakes we could have avoided if we had been patient. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and whether you’re buying your first home, second home or forever home, it will not be perfect straight away. Take your time, consider carefully and enjoy the process.

Did you make mistakes when decorating your home? Do you have any advice? As always, leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

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Our Open Plan Living Space progression

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If you’ve seen some of my recent home updates post, then you will know we are overhauling our rather large, open plan living space. We have been in our property for a little over 3 years and have been fairly reluctant to put our own stamp on the place. Mainly because we have sodding high ceilings. But after consideration and realizing we will be staying put for a couple more years yet, we decided to put our stamp on!

We are now roughly 5 weeks into the progress, of which we started with our seating booth. We also had a window of opportunity, being the school half term, so leapt into the painting. We knew it would be a big job, and considering we had a line to create around the room for our border, it was going to be a fiddly one too.

I had just started the edging here. Hubby can’t do it so it’s my responsibilty.
This was after the 1st coat. As you can see it really did need another coat!

Having said that, we seemed to tackle the whole job easier and quicker than anticipated. We cracked on Monday evening and within 24 hours we had all walls painted, TWICE over!

To say we are thrilled with the outcome would be understating it. To over haul a blank and pretty bland room with colour, and a on trend but complementing one at that has made such a huge difference to our space. Since getting such great results from our own painting, we have now painted other parts of our home, and plan to crack on with the rest.

We had such a bad experience painting our bedroom, since our ceilings are soo high and we didn’t choose high-quality paint. We were alway dubous to carry on with the apartment and fooled ourselves into believeing the white was better for the space. But since we lowered the hight ( by adding a picture rail ) we tackled and conquered the walls and injected the much needed colour our apartment was craving!

Dulux – English Mist 2

My decorating top tips:

– Always prep first!
– Use old sheets and cover every aspect of your home.
– Sand your surface. This makes a huge difference on the wall texture and helps your new colour bond with the wall.
– Always do a second coat – it can bring out the colour!
– Buy HIGH QUALITY paint! Cheapy alternatives never give you the right finish and always end up taking more coats and hard work!

PSA: Please IGNORE the state of the room in these photos. NOT insta worthy and not how the room will be staying. Just look at the paint lol. A full reveal will be coming on my instagram and blog in due course!