This U.K. New Build Looks Anything but Boring, Thanks to Colorful DIYs
Adrienne Breaux
·6 min read
Emily, who is an NHS medical physicist, says she loves science, but has "always needed a creative outlet." This new build home in UK she shares with her husband, Jake, serves as that outlet, and has propelled her into being a DIY and interiors influencer under the handle coloursofnumberone on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Credit: Viv YappCredit: Viv Yapp
"I love color, and am fascinated by the ways it can impact mood and wellbeing," Emily begins. "My style is playful and vibrant — I like my space to feel fun and reflect my optimistic, slightly silly personality! Although I love all the bright colors, I’d say my style is still quite minimal; I hate clutter!" Credit: Viv YappCredit: Viv Yapp
"With my interior design, I try to walk the thin line of ‘colorful but classy'. I like to think I push as far as I can in terms of whimsical/bright decor, without tipping into anything too rainbow tacky!" Credit: Viv YappCredit: Viv Yapp
"I’m inspired by the links between color, design and wellbeing. I choose my decor based on how I want to feel in the space. For most of my home, this results in bright, cheery yellows, soft warm pinks, and a few statement pieces that never fail to make me smile," she continues. Credit: Viv YappCredit: Viv Yapp
"The living room is my favorite room — the sunshine streams in every day, and it contains my pride and joy: my yellow sofa, which kick-started my love of colorful interiors," Emily admits. Credit: Viv YappCredit: Viv Yapp
"The kitchen diner is my proudest project to date," Emily begins. "I designed and built a shelving unit for the dining room, which accommodates the radiator and light switches as well as providing somewhere to display items." Credit: Viv YappCredit: Viv Yapp
"Every time I sit at the dining table I still feel slightly incredulous that this huge piece of built-in furniture came from my little brain!!" Credit: Viv YappCredit: Viv Yapp
Emily says that you can't have too much storage. "We actually have multiple empty cupboards in our house — it sounds silly, but it’s nice to know there’s always room if we ever need more stuff, and there’s always somewhere to shove things if you need to hide mess away in a hurry!" she admits. Credit: Viv YappCredit: Viv Yapp
"Our bench seating in the dining room is one of our best buys — it has loads of storage inside the seats." Credit: Viv YappCredit: Viv Yapp
"I don’t believe in ‘spare rooms’!" exclaims Emily. "We originally planned to use the second bedroom as a guest room and the smallest room as a home office, but quickly decided that was a silly use of space." Credit: Viv YappCredit: Viv Yapp
"We’ve instead got a great home office in the second bedroom that provides plenty of space for the two of us to work in, and we can quickly rearrange the desks to put a sofa bed or airbed in there when guests stay. The third room is a walk-in wardrobe that I love." Credit: Viv YappCredit: Viv Yapp
"This means we use every single square foot of our home every single day. Nothing is wasted and everything is hugely appreciated! To me, this feels much better than having a ‘spare room’ that only gets used on the odd weekend we have guests. I also think if we had a room like that it would just gather clutter!" Credit: Viv YappCredit: Viv Yapp
"The biggest challenge that a lot of new-build owners face is the overwhelm that comes with a brand new, shiny white home," admits Emily. "It’s crying out to be personalized, but it took a little while for me to brave decorating for fear of ruining it. It was so new and perfect and I felt like there were a million ways I could mess it up." Credit: Viv YappCredit: Viv Yapp
"However, once I got the first bit of paint out, there was no stopping me! I realized that, even when mistakes happen, a house that reflects the people that live there is a million times better than a soulless, plain space," she continues. Credit: Viv YappCredit: Viv Yapp
"I also found our bedroom a challenge as there is not really storage space for a wardrobe. We got around that by converting the box room into a luxurious dressing room. It just has plain white IKEA wardrobes in, but it feels so extravagant — I love it!" Credit: Viv YappCredit: Viv Yapp
“Before I first saw my home, I didn’t think I’d like it and I didn’t think I could afford it,” begins Emily, who is both an NHS medical physicist and a DIY and interiors influencer. “My husband and I were not immediately looking to buy a home, but went to have a nose around a new-build development out of curiosity; that escalated!”
“Previously I thought new-build houses were all quite small and cramped, but as soon as we stepped inside, we were so pleasantly surprised by how spacious it was — particularly the hallway and garden,” Emily continues.
“We found out more about the schemes available from both the government and the house builders, and worked out that we could just about afford it. Ours was the last one left on the development — so we threw out our plans to buy ‘in the next few years,’ scraped all our resources together, and jumped at the chance to live here.”
Emily says that before, she always thought she would prefer to live in an older home, but says she admits she loves the “ease, practicality, and personalization factor of our brand-new home. When we moved in, everything was ready for me to jump straight into decorating. The decor and the things I’ve added are what I love most about our house — it’s a very happy place that is very ‘us.'”
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