Stuart and Salma Chatto share this beautiful home with their children, 5-year-old Taliah and 1-year-old Ilyas. Two kitties, Indie and Lexie, round out the family. Salma describes their home's style as "colorful, modern, and boho home style with a vintage twist." Credit: Selma ChattoCredit: Selma Chatto
Their home is FILLED with DIY projects, and their first one is the custom baby gate that fit their bannister. "[M]y husband and my father in law built it from a cot, drilled it into the wall and the bannister, and I eventually painted it the same color as the wall going up the stairs," Salma writes. Credit: Selma ChattoCredit: Selma Chatto
The couple did a lot of cosmetic updates, but they made some structural changes as well. They turned a dining room into a playroom and closed up a door, which transformed this little area under the stairs, taking "full advantage of making this a little reading nook/storage space for shoes and coats," Salma explains. Credit: Selma ChattoCredit: Selma Chatto
They added a plywood top to some Habitat kids storage and then put two cot mattresses together with a single mattress cover to act as a daybed, and then added lots of cushions. Credit: Selma ChattoCredit: Selma Chatto
"I painted a floral wall mural, added shelving at the top with leftover brackets and wood," Salma describes. "Hardly spent any money on this area, as it’s things I already had or listed for free on Facebook." Credit: Selma ChattoCredit: Selma Chatto
After transforming a former dining room into a playroom, they co-opted a separate utility room to create the kitchen of their dreams. They got rid of upper cabinets and installed open shelving, and painted the lower cabinets green. They also added a built-in "IKEA fridge/freezer cabinet (painted green) and a larder next to them (which we built ourselves)." Credit: Selma ChattoCredit: Selma Chatto
"We hired a kitchen fitter to just move our kitchen to the other side of the room; there was already plumbing for a sink and washing machine there because of the utility room," Salma explains. Credit: Selma ChattoCredit: Selma Chatto
"Our island is the same kitchen cabinets we already had, with wood surrounding the back of it and painted pink, then a countertop added to it, which overhangs for the four stools to fit under," she writes. Credit: Selma ChattoCredit: Selma Chatto
"The countertops were fitted and they were budget ones. The tiler then came separately to tile the floor and backsplash. The kitchen cost us, with everything included (knocking down two walls) plus new appliances, etc., under £8,000 [around $10K)," she writes. Credit: Selma ChattoCredit: Selma Chatto
Salma painted a corner of the kitchen with a different color to visually separate it. "The dining table is secondhand (only £50) which I upcycled and hand-painted," she explains. Credit: Selma ChattoCredit: Selma Chatto
Salma explains they made a big toy storage system with three KALLAX units. "[W]e bolted them together and added plywood at the top to make it look like a finished unit." Credit: Selma ChattoCredit: Selma Chatto
"We added all the IKEA drawers and doors in a consistent pattern to make it look seamless. We added a bold paint color to the ceiling to complement the already existing trims and wallpapered a mural that was both elegant and fun," she continues. Credit: Selma ChattoCredit: Selma Chatto
"We have a lovely pink sofa in the corner and family portraits on the walls to make it a playroom/sitting space," Salma writes. Credit: Selma ChattoCredit: Selma Chatto
The living room features Salma's proudest DIY project: The couple hacked IKEA's BILLY bookcases, adding trim to the doors, a scallop trim to the top, and painted them, all for under $750. Credit: Selma ChattoCredit: Selma Chatto
"My living room, the pink color on the bookshelf, the style, the cuddle chair acting as a window seat," Salma describes of her favorite element in the home. "It’s such a calm space and so easy to keep nice; everything has its place." The cuddle chair was found at Furniture 123. Credit: Selma ChattoCredit: Selma Chatto
Salma doesn't worry about those who think feature walls are outdated; there's a feature wall in every room. "I think if it’s done correctly it looks amazing." Credit: Selma ChattoCredit: Selma Chatto
The primary bedroom's paneling is painted in Rustoleum's "Violet Macaroon." Credit: Selma ChattoCredit: Selma Chatto
"Our daughter's room was originally the primary bedroom, as it has the en suite. But we wanted the bigger room at the back to fit our super king bed and it has a bigger wardrobe, which I wanted for me," Salma explains. Credit: Selma ChattoCredit: Selma Chatto
The walls are painted in Rustoleum's "Coral." The wallpaper is Dunelm. The bed was Salma's bed when she was younger.
"In my daughter's room there's a climbing wall we DIY’ed, which she loves," Salma explains. "All our DIYs are on a budget, as we tend to just do them when we have the funds as we go along." Credit: Selma ChattoCredit: Selma Chatto
"The office was another necessity, as my husband works from home most of the time," Salma begins. "[S]o after we got all our flooring laid downstairs, we paneled one of the walls and created a long desk (full length of the wall) with a kitchen countertop resting on three sets of drawers for storage." Credit: Selma ChattoCredit: Selma Chatto
"The countertop is cheap laminate and the drawers were upcycled with paint," she continues. Credit: Selma ChattoCredit: Selma Chatto
"The original bathroom had a tiny corner shower, which barely fit us, and it had carpet!" Salma begins. "We were quoted over $13K for a new bathroom in a package deal, which we couldn’t afford, so we bought all the items ourselves and got a tiler and plumber separately." Credit: Selma ChattoCredit: Selma Chatto
"This cost us $7K for everything, for a large bathroom. Another cost saver was plastering the wall instead of tiling it; we only tiled the shower enclosure and floor." Credit: Selma ChattoCredit: Selma Chatto
To say Stuart and Salma Chatto have made some updates to their four-bedroom house in Billingham, U.K., over the three years they’ve owned the place is an understatement. What hasn’t the creative couple done to their home? But don’t think they’ve spent a ton of money — Salma and Stuart have DIYed things themselves and used IKEA hacks to create their stunning home.
Are there any design rules that you’ve broken in your home and why? Not to paint my stairs a dark colour - I’m so glad I did as it hides grubby little hand prints and it makes my mustard stairs runner pop! Credit: Selma ChattoCredit: Selma Chatto
The first DIY they actually ever did in their home was craft a built-in gate for their stairs when they couldn’t find a baby gate that fit their bannister. “So my husband and my father-in-law built it from a cot, drilled it into the wall and the bannister, and I eventually painted it the same color as the wall going up the stairs,” Salma writes.
One of Salma’s proudest DIY projects can be found in the living room. “I wanted this room to be the adult room that had all my ornaments I had collected and loved and that had been passed down to me,” she begins. “A place my husband and I could retreat to in the evening, but also a big room that our guests can all sit in and enjoy.” She was also looking to figure out the fireplace area, which she wanted built-in bookshelves around but was quoted almost $2000 to get it done professionally (out of their budget).
So the couple hacked IKEA’s BILLY bookcases, adding trim to the doors, a scallop trim to the top, and painted them, all for under $750. “We did it in our spare time, which is normally evenings, so the timeline was about two months with how much we had to paint and build them,” she writes. The living room isn’t the only place with IKEA hacks, though. The playroom has a ton of storage, thanks to the IKEA KALLAXs that line one wall.
Salma explains the bedrooms mostly got cosmetic updates like paint, wallpaper, lighting, and more (she estimates that each bedroom cost under £500), but the bathroom and kitchen/playroom were the biggest renovations. They hired professionals to “move” the kitchen to the other side of the room where a utility room (and plumbing) were.
They got rid of the kitchen’s upper cabinet and installed open shelving, and they kept the existing bottom cabinets but painted them green. They added an IKEA built-in fridge/freezer cabinet (also painted green) and built a larder next to that. Along with an island made from existing kitchen cabinets, budget countertops, floor and wall tiles, and some new appliances, Salma says the new kitchen cost them just under $10K.
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