With a growing family and after a bigger home to upsize to, this home owner decided to keep it in the family and swap houses with her mum and dad.
‘Swapping houses with my parents was the best decision we made,’ says Emily May @life_at22. ‘As they wanted to downsize and we wanted to upsize, it made total sense. We both lived in 1930s houses five minutes apart in Stafford, but ours was a lot smaller with three bedrooms while my parents’ place had four bedrooms.’
‘I’d grown up on the street and loved the area, so I knew we wouldn’t find anything better. Everything was quite straightforward. We had both properties valued, used the same solicitor and then exchanged the money. It was great as we could move in our own time, swapping bits here and there, as well as sharing vans.’
Kitchen-diner
‘At first it was weird moving back into my childhood home and it took a while to feel like it was truly ours. We didn’t waste any time with the renovation though and booked builders to knock through the kitchen and sitting room a week after moving in.
‘My mum had always wanted to do the same, but was too busy looking after us, so my husband Tom and I were eager to do it before starting a family.’
‘I really struggled with guilt when it came to changing mum’s things, like her £500 curtains in the living room or the beautiful blue-and-white striped wallpaper in the bedroom. Mum’s style is more Art Deco, which looked great, but it’s not really us. I did try and work around some of the decor for a while, but over the years we’ve found our own look, which is boho, rustic and eclectic, with a mix of old and new.’
‘The colour palette is warm and neutral with a splash of black and gold as I need a little calm with two young children. Luckily mum was fine about all the changes and loves what we’ve done.’
‘The previous kitchen was a galley style with red laminate worktops and a breakfast bar, but we wanted an open-plan kitchen-diner. This involved blocking up a door into the front living room and adding a steel beam.’
‘To save money we kept most of my parents’ Howdens white gloss kitchen, but added a new island and a bar area in the dining space. We also replaced the worktops with grey laminate. I hadn’t really found my style back then, so we chose modern grey gloss for the island.’
‘More recently we’ve added beading and painted it in Rust-oleum’s Fallow so it works better with the new panelling by the dining table.’
‘If money was no object, I would’ve got someone to redesign the whole kitchen layout, maybe with built-in ovens and a different fridge. I wish the boiler wasn’t there either, but we moved it from the smallest bedroom and couldn’t find anywhere else for it.’
‘My mum used to have her dining table in the conservatory and so did we, but it was too cold in winter and too hot in summer. In 2023, we decided to have a roof put on and blocked up the door to the utility, which cost around £13,000.’
‘It was a bit of a nightmare as my husband was in Kenya, so I stayed at my mum’s with the kids. When we popped back, the tradesman had put our dining chairs outside and it had rained after he’d taken the roof off! I wasn’t happy at the time, but it looks great now and has completely changed the way we use the space. We never shut the bi-fold doors to the kitchen-diner anymore because it feels like part of the open-plan space.
‘The kids love it too. Their playroom is actually in the front living room, but they play more in here now because they want to be near me in the kitchen.’
Living area
‘Decorating has definitely been a labour of love, especially with the living room colour scheme, because I kept getting it wrong. I’ve probably changed the colour scheme in there about five times.
‘At first I went for navy blue, then deep green and then sage green with scallops when it became a playroom. Later I painted it white, but it felt too cold, so I switched to dark pink. Now it’s a Valspar colour match of Kashmir Beige by Craig & Rose, which works the best as it’s really warmed up the space.’
‘I’ve definitely discovered that moodboards and me don’t mix. I tried making one for the children’s bedroom but it ended up looking completely different. My mum always says start with one thing, like a cushion, throw or paint colour, and the room will happily evolve itself. That’s my approach too, even though it takes a while to get there.’
Master bedroom
‘Buying my parents’ house has definitely given us lots more bedroom space. In our bedroom I’ve gone for a darker shade above the picture rail and ceiling, while in the kids’ shared bedroom I’ve colour drenched the whole space and then painted scallops in two different colours. I wanted it to feel like a warm hug.’
‘The smallest bedroom is my dressing room and we’ve also got a multifunctional loft room, which was my childhood bedroom at one point. It was a dumping ground for around six years but now we have a fully functioning room that encompasses a home office and the kids’ rotation of toys. They have so many, it’s ridiculous, so we have to hide them to make them seem new!’
Bathroom
‘With the inside finished, last year we replaced all the windows, put up a pergola and built a half underground Wendy house at the bottom of the garden.’
‘Next I’d like to add panelling in the utility room so it flows with the kitchen and eventually get a new bathroom.’
‘My dad did the bathroom for my mum’s 40th birthday about 20 years ago but it still looks good so we revamped it for under £50. I’ve put wood-effect vinyl on the bath panel, sprayed the handles and put reeded glass film on the shower screen.’
Children’s bedroom
‘I painted the children’s bedroom green when my daughter was born, then changed it again when my son came along. Rather than creating two distinct looks in each half, I opted for a cosy neutral colour drench with a woodland and circus theme to please them both.’
‘This is my favourite corner of the room. I love the little peg hooks and animal head banner from H&M, and have sourced several print-at-home pictures on Etsy. The Clarkson grey diamond rug from Kukoon Rugs is similar.’
Hallway
‘We’re lucky to have the original black and white checkerboard flooring in the hallway. My mum used to have teal wallpaper and a pew for putting on shoes, but we found this console on Ebay and picked AS Creation Art Deco Fan Arches wallpaper from B&Q.’
‘I think this will definitely be our forever home as we love it so much. It’s a lovely area with fantastic neighbours and we’re not overlooked. My husband is very proud of his garden too. The house has evolved so much and it’s definitely more ‘us’ now.’
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