’We’ve taken our time to get this

Bright terrace reno ‘We’ve taken our time to get this house just right’

Sam Lambert and Matt Bibby spent years revamping their fixer-upper to create a relaxed home full of unique touches, vintage finds and splashes of colour

Sam and Matt met at university and, a few years after they graduated and started working, decided to buy a home together. ‘We moved in with my parents to save for a deposit,’ explains Sam, ‘but we soon realised our budget didn’t stretch very far. Matt suggested looking at this place even though it was out of our price range, but because it was a total wreck no one else wanted to take it on. So, the owner reduced the price, and we snapped it up.’

When the couple got the keys, though, they realised just how big of a project they’d taken on. ‘The floorboards were painted with fence stain rather than floor paint, the doors of the cheap kitchen units were falling off and the bathroom had seven different types of tiles on the walls,’ says Sam. ‘Because so much needed doing, we decided that we wouldn’t rush to move in but instead do one room at a time, so we stayed on at my parents while we got stuck into the renovation. We worked 9-5 jobs during the week, played badminton on a Tuesday evening, had Friday nights off, and then spent every other spare minute doing up the house,’ she says.

Sam didn’t realise how much work this house needed when she and Matt bought it, but has enjoyed making it her own

The wall between the living and dining rooms had been removed by a previous owner, so the first task on their list was reinstating it, as Sam hankered after a traditional layout with a cosy living room, open fire and separate dining area. ‘We then unblocked an old doorway in the living room, which opened

‘I wanted a bespoke in-frame kitchen, but couldn’t afford a handmade one and budget options aren’t easy to find. So when I was hunting for new cabinets, B&Q won with this design,’ explains Sam

‘The guest room hasn’t changed much since we first decorated so still has a shabby-chic feel to it, which was our home’s first look. We replaced the original bed with a day bed to allow more space for us to use it as a dressing room, too,’ explains Sam

SHELF CARE

Make use of a blank wall above the bath with a long pegboard shelf. Keep toiletries and accessories on the shelf, and hang towels and robes on the pegs

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‘The bathroom shelf with peg hooks was a lockdown project,’ says Sam. ‘They’re expensive to buy ready-made so we got some wood and made our own over a weekend. The shelf allows me unlimited faffing!’

BATHROOM

‘We invested in the edging and skirting tiles and then got cheap metro tiles for the walls, and it’s made the room look far more expensive than it is – it’s all in the details,’ says Sam

OUR MUST HAVES Dado and skirting tiles, from a selection, Casa Ceramica. Modern emulsion in Cromarty, £59 per 2.5L, Farrow & Ball. For similar peg shelf, try Wall Shelf with hooks, from £34.99, Haus Projekt on Etsy

STEAL MY STYLE

‘I like to mix and match styles, and always inject some colour for a relaxed look’ Sam

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1. Yellow Monica stoneware vase, £19, Cult Furniture 2. Let’s Play neon wall light, £49.99, Lights4fun 3. Bees embroidered linen blend cushion, £64, Sophie Allport 4. Solomon iron double bed, from £259 for a double, The Original Bed Co. 5. Windsor multi patterned tiles, £24.95 per sq m, Tile Mountain 6. Denim Drift paint, £43.18 per 2.5L, Dulux