'I brought my home to life with cottagecore décor'

Rich colours, floral accessories and artwork, and lots of unique second-hand buys have helped Sharon Parnell fall in love with her modern, new-build home

- Lisa Moses

After living elsewhere for a few years, Sharon and Daniel Parnell, along with their youngest son Oscar, decided to return to Sharon’s hometown of Hayle, in Cornwall. To get the best house for their budget, they started looking at new-builds. ‘I’ve never been a lover of modern houses, if I’m honest,’ says Sharon, ‘but there simply weren’t any older properties on the market that we could afford, and we needed the help-to-buy scheme to be able to move locally, which meant looking at new-builds.’

SHADES OF GREY

Daniel suggested viewing this house as it was close to Oscar’s school and their workplaces. The downside was that they wouldn’t be able to choose the fixtures and fittings, as you usually would with a new-build, as a previous buyer had pulled out at the last minute after already choosing dark-grey carpet and a grey kitchen. ‘I was stuck with their choices, which I didn’t really like,’ says Sharon, ‘but it was a corner plot with a lovely garden and the house gets the sun all day, so we decided to go for it.’

LIVING ROOM

‘Most of my cushions have been made by my sister, who is a seamstress, from samples of quality fabric that I buy cheaply on eBay,’ says Sharon. ‘I have about ten fabric brands that I