Designing my own home

Although I love period properties, I have always dreamed of building my own home one day. It will be made of wood, have large rooms with huge windows, a simple interior, all the light in the world and be set amongst the trees or next to the sea (probably the sea).

What appeals to me about designing my own home is that I would be able to make the house work for me in a way that period properties just don’t: I really don’t like the small windows, the wonky floors, the cramped spaces, the lack of insulation in period properties. Don’t get me wrong, I love the charm that all of these flaws give to an old house but one thing I can say about new builds (having lived in them for the past ten years) is that they are so easy to manage and maintain. However, even when a new house is built without the specific owner in mind there are things that aren’t perfect like the location of the plug sockets and radiators that restrict furniture placement, the flimsy plasterboard walls that restrict wall mounting pictures, mirrors, hooks with ease and the lack of storage.

I went to a brilliant event this week at the Good House Keeping Institute hosted by George Clarke of Channel 4’s Amazing Spaces. George gave us the low down on a new type of plasterboard called Lifestyle Wall, a product he is really excited about from British Gypsum’s Rooms Made For You range. Lifestyle Wall allows you to fix anything anywhere without any need for drills or specialist fixings: shelves, curtain poles, kitchen cabinets, large pictures, TV’s or mirrors. This plasterboard offers complete flexibility and ease when making a house a home. Gone are the days of wanting to put up a shelf and desperately tapping the walls to figure out where the joists are or traipsing around hardware stores trying to figure out which fixings you will need for your flimsy plasterboard, or going to the cupboard to get out the drill and realising it is not charged and having to hoover the horrible plaster dust after you have used the drill. With Lifestyle Wall a single screw can support 15kg!

A group of us bloggers tested out the plasterboard with George and it really is that easy – no drill, no mess, complete flexibility. I’m pretty sure this type of plasterboard will become standard in new builds but if you are considering a renovation or loft extension I would highly recommend it, having tested it myself.

When we build ourselves a house Lifestyle Wall is exactly the type of thing I would use to make the space my own. Just thinking and writing about designing my own home makes me excited. I might have to wait for a few years yet but in the meantime I have been avidly following this Instagram account of a self-build – it is literally like she has reached into my mind and built my dream home!!!

Katy x

 

*This post was written in collaboration with British Gypsum.