'I decorate with colours that make my heart sing'

When Zoe and Mike Bywater finally hit the jackpot in the search for their perfect family home, they couldn't wait to bring it to life with mood-boosting pastels and prints

- Abbi Henderson

‘We had been searching for our next home for a good few years, Zoe says. “Nothing we viewed felt right, and we weren't prepared to leave our previous home unless we came across something really special. Together with her husband, Mike, Zoe was on the hunt for somewhere with a little more space that could comfortably accommodate the whole family - particularly as their two children move into their teenage years. However, the perfect home proved hard to come by, and the pandemic further delayed the search.

Eventually, though, the couple came across a property that just fit. We fell in love with this house the moment we pulled up outside, Zoe recalls. “The kids were running around during our viewing, and they didn't want to leave! We knew we could watch our children grow up happily here, and that feeling is what sold it to us.' The property, a detached four-bed, was more spacious than their previous home, with a big garden to boot – both huge bonuses for Zoe. "The size and the layout of the house was just perfect, and the large hallway was a dream,' she says. Luckily, the owners were keen to sell to a young family, and accepted their offer out of many.

COME ON IN...

WE ARE Zoe Bywater, 38, a make-up artist, my husband, Mike, 37, our two children, aged eight and four, and our dogs, Freddie and Epona.

OUR HOME IS a late 1990s, fourа bedroom detached house in Telford, Shropshire. We got the keys in January 2021.