'Second-hand treasures make my home unique'

With a keen eye for all things vintage, Natasha Harrison Taylor has filled her Victorian home with thrifted finds and revamped every room with DIY updates

- Natasha Harrison Taylor

'We saved for a decade before we bought this place,' says Natasha Harrison Taylor. 'Neither my husband, Nathan, nor I wanted to rent or buy a "stepping-stone" house, so we decided to wait until we could afford to get our forever home.' While they saved up for it, the couple lived with their parents, although 'we were paying our way,' says Natasha. 'We didn't expect them to support us. When the couple finally had the funds for a deposit, they knew the exact style of home they wanted to go for. We both love period properties, so when this Victorian house - full of character and original features - came up, we jumped at it,' explains Natasha.

TIME FOR TLC

The exterior was everything Natasha had dreamed of, but the inside left a lot to be desired. 'It felt really unloved and looked like it had never been updated,' she says.

Although they were inexperienced in terms of decorating, they were raring to go. As it’s a large house, they decided to concentrate their efforts on the most-used rooms first, starting with painting the walls to update the tired existing colours. ‘The living room was navy, the dining room had red walls andthe hall was painted lilac with teal wooden floorboards,’ Natasha says.

The couple decided to paint above the picture rails in a purse-friendly, white trade paint and then go for warm magnolia on the walls. ‘I worried that all-white rooms could look too stark. But we had a lot of rooms to paint, so choosing trade paint was a good budget solution, even though I felt the house needed colour as soon as we moved in,’ explains Natasha.