6 minute read
Through the Letterbox : @thenorthernhome
by Charlotte - Nichole
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Dark Hues, soft tones, beautiful styling, classic but new features - this month we explore the beautiful home of Sarah, or commonly known on Instagram as @thenorthernhome.
Sarah's stunning 4 bed, 2 bath, detached new build in Manchester, is the first home her and partner bought together in September 2018. Over the last 17 months, they have both created a home that reflects personality and style. Join us as we discover their space and how they refined their home. Sarah and her partner had previously been living together in a home he owned, before deciding to buy one together.
'We were looking for a home together when we found where we are now. We looked at both older houses and new builds, and in the end the new build won!
We just totally fell in love with the layout, and in particular the gorgeous bi-fold doors that lead from the kitchen into the garden.'
New build properties can feel bland and certainly lack character. But reserving their property early meant they could make changes and decisions that made theirs unique.
'As our home was a new build we were able to make changes to the plans before we moved in which was amazing! We mainly moved light fittings around including our bedside pendants, which were built in with our home!
We also had the breakfast bar including the pendants built into the plans. We knew that having a breakfast bar was really important to us and the space.'
Although their new home had a fresh modern kitchen, bathroom and fittings, Sarah and her partner got stuck in and made some headway early.
'Decorating, decorating, decorating! We have done all of the decorating ourselves, it’s amazing what a lick of paint on the walls can do to transform a space. The first room I decorated was our bedroom, I love the dark grey wall as it instantly makes the room cosy.
I also really love the half painted wall trend, so I’ve emulated it in our main guest bedroom and in our downstairs WC to transform it from being a white box into a stylish space in our home!'
Every homeowner has a kind of style they stick to, what is when it comes to Sarah and @thenorthernhome?
'I feel that the style of my home is quite modern with a mix of scandi and classic pieces throughout the house! A real mix to be honest! I love gold accessories; I like mixing up textures and I love opulent fabrics like velvet and suede. '
Let's talk home stores - where does sarah find her scan, modern pieces for her home?
'I adore so many high street stores for picking up accessories for styling, and i rarely spend a lot of money to get the luxurious look that I’m trying to achieve.
Some of my favourties are places like H&M Home, Matalan Home, Zara Home, Ikea and Homesense. I adore Homesense and the beautiful treasures that you can find there!
Funnily enough, I absolutely love an Aldi Specialbuy too. I have a few throws from there, a couple of plant pots and I bought the shelf in the kitchen that has my plants on from there too! They have some brilliant pieces every now and again and their prices are amazing! Well worth popping in often to see what you can nab.'
Come on, tell us Sarah, whats your favorite spot in your home?
'This is quite a tough one! I actually think it’s either the lounge or the bedroom. Most probably my lounge. I dreamed of having a deep navy velvet sofa before we moved into the house, as I love the rich colour and the statement that it makes in the room. I just loved spending my nights cosied up on it'
Learning curves - what's been your biggest in the last 17months?
'I think one thing I’ve learnt is that it’s actually quite easy to do DIY and decorate using a YouTube tutorial or following a fellow Instagrammers instructions! I have done so many things in this house that I just wouldn’t have attempted in our old house, so for people that are about to move into their own house and aren’t sure whether to try a new colour on a wall or give up cycling a go, I’d say go for it! Paint can always be repainted over and holes can always be filled in a wall! I would say to always use a Stud Wall Finder when drilling into your walls though... we tripped our electrics when we were putting the shelf up in the dining room – oops!'
Share your wisdom - what's your advice to new buyers in2020?
'I think one thing I’ve learnt is that it’s actually quite easy to lounge it was the sofa, in our main bedroom it was the bed and from there I built all of the other pieces of furniture around the big items.
I think that’s a really good way to build up an idea of howyou want your room to look. When shopping I always do this, soif I like something, and my gut says to buy it then I sleep on it,imagine it somewhere in my home and then when I wake up if Ican still put it in the place I've been imagining then I’ll go backand buy it!
For new build buyers in particularly, definitely ask if you can move light fittings, electrical sockets etc. during the build process. We probably paid slightly more to get this done through our developers but it saved us the hassle of having to get an electrician in once we were in the house. The thought of someone having to pull up floorboards above the kitchen and cut holes into my perfectly plastered ceiling to fit two pendant lights fills me with dread! I honestly don’t know how all these renovators cope in the midst of it all!'
Finally, what are your home plans for 2020?
'I’ve been planning to have the kitchen tiled for probably the last year, as getting the white walls covered in food every time I cook or wash up is such a pain! I also love the look of kitchens with beautiful tiles as their backsplashes!
I’m also planning to do more to the garden this year too! Last spring we had some turf laid and had our patio extended so this year, I’m determined to get some colour in the garden and hopefully add some lovely greenery too to give us a little more privacy. Our patio is a little drab too, so I’ve got my eye on a stencil from Dizzy Duck Designs, which I would like to use to paint over the patio slabs and give it more of a meditteranean feel!'
