HOME IMPROVEMENT

Abi Hugo, 32, from Essex, used inventive DIY skills to transform her home into the place of dreams...

- ANAIS SEELY

Jingling keys in my hand, I gave the front door a bit of a hard kick.

'We're home,' I smiled at my husband Ian, 34.

Buying our first home together in 2017, was such an amazing feeling.

Only, putting our things inside and standing in the hallway didn't fill us with joy.

In fact, it was a feeling of determination instead the whole house was a major fixer upper! Structurally we wanted our home to be open planned, and that was before we would be able to tackle the cosmetic side of things.

It was going to be a bit of a journey before we had a paintbrush in hand-but that was the most exciting part.

Growing up, my mum Dawn showed me everything I needed to know about DIY - her work was inspiring.

She had learnt a lot from my grandad Bob, who was quite literally Bob the builder!

With experience in renovating houses, our family knew all about how a lick of paint could make a whole world of good and I knew my way around a drill!

So, being faced with our own house to work on was exciting.

Although, it seemed like I was whole clearly on my own with this one.

Ian made it clear from the very start that he was not a fan of DIY-the garden was very much his domain instead.

Even better, I thought, knowing a lot of decisions would go my way!

Over the space of two years, whilst also welcoming our beautiful children Henry, four, and Millie, two, into the world, we had completely gutted the inside of our house.

By the time we were finished, it looked like a new home!

Only, we had quickly outgrown the space and needed somewhere bigger.

So, listing the property on the market we quickly moved into our family home in November 2020.

This time around the structural side of things were exactly how we wanted them to be-open planned!

Only, the interior was not a vibe at all!