‘We styled up a BLANK CANVAS'

First-time buyer Kate has used her creativity to bring her characterless and dated house to life with pops of vibrant colour

- KAREN WILSON, MICHELA COLLING

Having rented a series of generic newbuild flats in Manchester city centre, James and I were itching to buy a Victorian terrace,’ says Kate. ‘South Manchester seemed ideal as it’s an easy commute by tram for our jobs in the city, and lots of our friends live there. As we were priced out of popular Chorlton and were struggling to find anything within budget, it made sense to look slightly further out, in Sale. This house seemed like a bit of a gem as it had a third bedroom – something we didn’t expect for the money – and we were seduced by the extra storage space.

Our vision

As the owners wanted a quick sale, our offer under the asking price was accepted. I think other potential buyers had been put off by the lack of original features. It was certainly a bit beige and boring, but we saw it as a blank canvas and decided to use its flaws to our advantage. We spotted the positives of not having to work around any tricky features, and decided to make it bright and colourful. I’ve always loved interiors – my mum used to have a curtain-making business, so as a child I was always getting dragged around fabric shops and posh houses. Even in our rental homes, I did whatever I could to make it homely, like placing artwork on cupboards or bringing in nice rugs and changing up the cushions. Now we had our own place though, I was itching to paint.

Finding our style