We Got Rid of the Magnolia!

Lucinda Mitra combined moody blues with modern Scandi looks to create a stylish family home that’s brimming with colour, character and personal touches.

- Cassie Pryce

Buying our first home was an exciting time for me and my husband James,’ says Lucinda. ‘We’d not long been married and we didn’t want to waste time getting onto the property ladder. 

Before tying the knot we had been renting a small flat in southwest London, but knew we would have to move out of London to find a family home, as we wanted a space to grow into. My sister and her husband had recently moved to Buxted, East Sussex, and we fell in love with the area. The house is in a lovely secluded spot and has a train station less than a 10-minute walk away, which is ideal for James’s commute into London.

On viewing the property, I was sold when I saw the kitchen – it has lots of surface space and plenty of storage, which was a breath of fresh air compared to the poky kitchen we’d been used to in our rented flat. The open-plan layout flowing into the dining area was perfect and I knew it would make a really sociable space, which was high on our priority list. We were also impressed with the size of the garden – coming from London it was a big selling point! We were very lucky that the house had been well looked after by its previous owners, although once we moved into the empty property, we soon discovered that there was quite a lot of cosmetic work to be done.

A family home

As there weren’t any structural changes that we wanted to make right away, it meant we could start on the redecorating almost immediately. Soon after buying the house and moving in, I found out that I was pregnant with our daughter Sienna, so I prioritised jobs around the house that I knew I’d struggle with later on in the pregnancy. I’m a big believer that if there’s a job I can do myself, then I will always do it – it’s all part of the fun of decorating and I like to get stuck in!