"We've chosen uplifting COLOURS'

Ditching London life and moving to Deal, Natalie took an unmodernised, plain terrace and transformed it into a bright and inviting seaside escape

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Like a lot of people, 2020 was a rough year for us,' says Natalie. 'My husband and I were living in London and our jobs were extremely stressful, particularly mine as I was working in the healthcare sector when Covid hit. When our lifestyles became unsustainable, we decided to change our careers and move back to the coastal town of Deal, where we are both from, for a more relaxed pace of life. Sam started up his own accountancy firm working with small local businesses, and I started assisting him. While we were renting, we started looking for a doer-upper that would satisfy our urge to renovate.

We're both huge fans of all things interiors, watching all the renovation shows and reading tons of interior magazines. We couldn't wait to get stuck into our first house project together, so when we spotted this ripe-for-renovating terrace just a few streets from the beach, we knew it was perfect. Despite its wonderful period vibe, the house was totally unmodernised with a series of small, poky rooms and a completely overgrown garden. The previous elderly owner had been living in just two rooms upstairs and had pretty much abandoned the rest of the rooms, so it felt very unloved. We felt this urge to fill the house with natural light and add buckets of cheerful colour to bring back the joy.

Work gets underway