A mum has shared how she transformed her new house in just 10 weeks, creating a colourful paradise complete with neon walls and disco balls.
Kimberley Yates, 34, from Lancashire, and husband Mark, 32, bought their home in August 2020 for £460,000.
The four-bedroom Victorian property was "tired and dated", so the family decided to put their own stamp on it - by completely redecorating the house to suit Kimberley's eclectic, maximalist style.
After gutting the entire space and making cosmetic changes to each room, as well as installing a new bathroom, the family are now thrilled with the finished look.
Kimberley says grey, beige homes are "long gone" – and colourful, statement homes like hers are the new trend. She says her children Ronnie, 5, and Remi, 2, love it.
"I believe your home should reflect your personality and ours does for sure," said Kimberley, who is an interior design student and property developer.
"I'm a colour enthusiast and love working with bold, bright colours and I confidently clash complementing patterns.
"I think it's important to preserve character and features in our Victorian home as well as inject life and personality with colour, patterns and textures - enhancing original features with design techniques."
The rooms were previously decorated in drab neutral tones and have all been given a major burst of colour.
The lounge had beige walls with wooden panels and brown carpet. Now, it's a stand-out room, with electric blue and pink painted walls, decadent hot pink and teal sofas, a leopard print armchair, and golden furnishings – including a leopard statue.
The kitchen has undergone an equally impressive change, with plain sage walls and wooden cupboards swapped for chic forest green cabinets with gold handles and pink hexagonal tiles for a quirky backsplash.
The master bedroom has also enjoyed a major upgrade. Kimberley replaced the dreaded cream palette with warm burgundy walls, a statement gold bed and animal print finishes including a rug.
Kimberley also has the benefit of a glamorous dressing table area with heavy red curtains and an incredible check-board, floral and leopard print patterned table.
Both the family bathrooms are also completely unrecognisable thanks to her handiwork.
One, which was previously white and bright with powder blue walls, now has glossy green tiling, black walls and a trendy gold shower.
The second bathroom is even more exotic, with tropical wallpaper, pink panels and a bright blue cabinet.
Out in the downstairs hallway, dated carpet and plain terracotta walls have been traded in for orange panelling, a neon sign reading 'She is a belter', and an assortment of mismatched frames – including a quirky portrait of Vincent Van Gogh wearing an Adidas jacket.
To finish the area with a touch of glamour? Disco balls, of course.
Leaving no corner spared during the glow-up, Kimberley also made sure the front door was fit for her bright home.
Previously a dark green wooden number, she gave it a fresh lick of hot pink paint, adding a rainbow doormat and floral wreath as well as gold metal finishes including a lion knocker.
She said: "The house had been a well-looked-after family home for years with the previous owners but it was very tired and dated.
"It was screaming potential and I couldn't wait to get stuck into the decor and design schemes and bring the features and character back to life."
The mum describes her style as "modern vintage with eclectic maximalism" – which her home perfectly encapsulates.
Kimberley sourced many of the more unique items from local vintage stores and charity shops.
She said: "I spend most of my time hunting for bargains, looking for perfect statement pieces to glow up and upcycle, transforming them into my own personal style.
"We have an annex which I use for my workshop, where I do all my spray-painting of vintage furniture.
"I absolutely love a bargain and look for all the different ways in which I can reuse a certain something and give it a new lease of life."
The couple spent £30,000 on the renovations in total, including the new bathroom.
Kimberley said: "The only thing we've kept is the kitchen, which we painted, but everything else is new.
"I prepared the design schemes during lockdown while the sale of the house was going through and did 3D visuals and mood boards to represents designs.
"We were good to go the day we got the keys.
"With my husband being a project manager, we both work well together and time management and keeping within budget was key."
The house was completed within 10 weeks of them getting the keys, and the family moved into their "dream home" in November 2020.
Kimberley added: "We are a fun-loving family and our home reflects just that.
"Our children are used to living in a home full of fun and colour - it's all they've ever known. I'd love to see their faces if I changed it all to grey.
"I'm a big believer in 'more is more'. The kids love it and it's a perfect family home - we are so happy here."
