Home Style: Winter Wonderland

Tuesday, 10 December 2024 11:47

Designer and builder duo Emma Jane and Steve Betsy, doubled the size of their property to create a spacious family home filled with unique finds

Interior designer Emma Jane Betsy and her family moved so they could be nearer to her parents – plus she was more than ready to get stuck into another venture. “We wanted to be closer to my mum and dad and after spending three years doing up our previous home, we were ready to get our teeth into another renovation – we love a project!” she said.

The house they chose was a small property that needed a lot of care and attention. “It hadn’t been lived in for a couple of years and had never really been touched since the day it was built – there was still an outside toilet and an extremely small kitchen and bathroom. The whole place needed to be renovated, even the garden, which was one large vegetable patch and crying out to be totally re-landscaped,” recalled Emma Jane. Unusually, it was the outside where they started work once they’d bought the place. “Our first planning application for the house was turned down, so we started re-designing and planting up the garden,” she explained.

Emma Jane and husband Steve, a builder, had gained considerable experience redeveloping their previous home. “It was an ex-local authority property, but by the time we finished, you would have never known it was a 1950/60s council house,” she said. So, with extensive experience under their belt, the couple weren’t daunted by the scale of the work they needed to do to their current home. “Once we got the planning permission, we were able to really focus on making the structural changes,” she said.

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The house, which started off as a three-bedroom, one bathroom property with three rooms downstairs, was virtually doubled in size. “There’s not a lot of the original structure left now except the old kitchen, which is now the bar,” stated Emma Jane.

But it was the interior that she was most excited about. “Being a designer isn’t only a career for me – but my true love. My vocation in life is to make a space look beautiful and I won’t rest until it’s just right,” said Emma Jane.

In terms of schemes, Emma Jane knew exactly what would work. “I wanted to create a seamless flow through the house and did this using my favourite blend of styles; traditional mixed with rustic chic,” she said. When it came to choosing the colours, she takes lots of elements into consideration. “No one shade is perfect for every room or every house,” she explained, “but my starting point here was to keep things neutral and warm and welcoming, and the colour choices stemmed from there.”

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Luckily there weren’t any decorating problems, partly thanks to a gadget that Emma Jane and Steve created themselves. “We were able to fly through the painting as we used the Betsy Paint Mate, which we had recently invented and showcased on Dragon’s Den – it was a godsend when decorating those tricky high up areas.”

Emma Jane is no stranger to new trends. “I’m always searching the net and trawling through the latest interiors magazines,” she said. “But I find styles and fashions change so quickly that, before you know it, something else is the latest thing. I think a home is some-where you should feel relaxed - I’m not a fan of modern minimalism. “I am in the design profession, so my own house has to be my calling card. I find my customers are keen to learn how my home is decorated, as that’s my true style, and one I like to create for them – it’s a showcase of my work.”

And there’s no better time to show off her house than at Christmas. “It’s a wonderland,” she smiled. “I probably go over the top, but all our friends and family congregate at ours most years as we love entertaining – and the more the merrier at that time of year!”

Photography: Robert Sanderson/Living4media

Styling & Writing: Penny Botting/Living4media

Home Style: Winter Wonderland

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