When Charlotte Knowles and her husband Jonathan moved out of their rented flat in Jesmond, Newcastle, and bought their first house together, they had zero experience of renovating.
However, they soon got to work knocking down walls, adding wooden shutters and respraying the existing kitchen units, and the result is a beautifully light and airy home with period features and industrial touches. Here, Charlotte shares her home makeover story...
My story...
‘As Jonny had inherited some money, we had a good-sized budget for first-time buyers and were able to afford a five-bedroom house in nearby Gosforth. I grew up in an old terraced house, so that’s the style I was drawn to.
‘We viewed some lovely properties, but none quite had the character of this one. I particularly loved the high ceilings, bay windows and lovely open- plan kitchen-diner space.
‘The location is great too, as we have shops on the doorstep yet it’s within easy reach of the seaside and Northumberland.
Welcome to my home
A bit about me I’m Charlotte Knowles (@gosforthhome), 28. I live with my husband Jonathan, 31, and our two dachshunds, Austin and Magnus.
Where I live We live in a five-bedroom three-storey Victorian terraced house in Gosforth, Newcastle, which we bought four years ago.
‘The house was generally in decent condition apart from the outdated bathroom, so we tried to maintain the original features where possible while giving it a modern, industrial twist. Apart from remodelling the bathroom, which took months and was an absolute nightmare, the work was mostly aesthetic.
‘This included knocking down the dodgy wall at the front and building a fence, having the porch and windows restored and painted, adding wooden shutters in the bay window and respraying the existing kitchen units.
‘I’d say my style is a mixture of old and new. I love old industrial pieces, mixed metals and dark wood paired with bright whites and modern touches.
‘I love bringing a look together with plants and a few pops of colour here and there. I love a good bargain too and can often be found hunting in charity shops, strolling around Tynemouth Market or finding something a bit different in HomeSense and TK Maxx.
‘It helped that I subscribed to loads of interiors magazines when we moved in and I followed lots of Instagram accounts for decorating inspiration. I’m pretty obsessed with moodboards too, as I do them a lot with my job as a textiles teacher. I always start with a colour or a main piece of furniture and work around that.
‘Eventually we’d love to move to a house with a bigger garden and take on a new challenge, but we’d be gutted to leave our first home.’
A bit more about my home...
What I wanted to change Some of the rooms felt dark and the floral bedroom wasn’t to my taste. It was the dated bathroom that needed most work though.
How I made it my own We’ve lightened up most of the rooms with white paint, resprayed the existing kitchen units, added new flooring and replaced the bathroom. Copper and black accents give the house an industrial feel.
My favourite part Our new boutique hotel-style bathroom.
Living room
‘The living room was pretty dark when we moved in with grey walls and dark woodwork. At first, we painted one wall dark and the others white. Then we scrapped that and did the whole thing white before adding colour through accessories. The first thing we bought was the blue sofa. It was a total impulse buy, but we worked around that for the whole room. It really makes the living space, along with the shutters from Shuttercraft.
‘I didn’t want to have standard matching furniture, so I love that each piece is individual. Now the room feels so much lighter and brighter, but at the same time very cosy and homely with the fire. The only thing we might do in future is paint the beautiful ceiling mouldings an off-black colour to make them stand out more.’
Kitchen
‘Although the kitchen was relatively new, I didn’t particularly like the colour. There was a lot of grey in the room and we wanted to break it up, so we sprayed the outer units white to make it even lighter and painted the handles black to match our other furniture and stools.
‘At one point I considered changing the dining area into a more informal sofa zone, but that would’ve meant putting the dining table into the snug next door and we quite like having a separate snug.’
Master bedroom
‘This room just wasn’t me before, with its ultra-feminine blue floral wallpaper. I wanted to bring in some mixed metals like in the living room, so we bought a few random photo frames to create a gallery wall. We also repainted in pale grey with a mauve feature wall, replaced the curtains and bought new furniture.
‘Since moving in we’ve actually changed our bed a couple of times and ended up getting a low one so the sausage dogs can climb up! The only thing left to do is add fitted wardrobes to the alcoves. In future we may even knock the bedroom and dressing room together to make a bigger space with a dressing area and en suite.’
Guest bedroom
‘This was another very floral and feminine room that needed a refresh with some white paint. The previous layout – with the bed the other way around – made it look small, but now it even has a king-size bed in there.
‘We went for a neutral backdrop with lots of copper teamed with industrial-style furniture. I also tried my hand at painting the wall and gave it an ombré effect with black and white paint. It actually looks like wallpaper, but I always make a point of telling people I painted it!’
Bathroom
‘This has been the biggest transformation in the house. It was so bare and boring in here before with a wooden floor, cream walls and dated bathroom fittings, including a random washing machine! We ripped the whole thing out and started from scratch, opting for an industrial but luxurious look.
‘The step up to a built-in bath, copper taps and hexagon tiles make the bathroom feel like a fancy hotel. It wasn’t all plain sailing though, as the work was supposed to take a month, but ended up taking six as the tiling was so tricky. I love the new space and I may even consider painting the walls black or covering an entire wall with fake plants.’
This is a digital version of a feature that originally appeared in HomeStyle magazine. For more inspirational home ideas, why not subscribe today?
