Five Minutes With...Carla Courtney

With more time spent indoors, it’s been easier than ever to identify what works in our current set up – and what doesn’t.

And while a luxury newly built home might be a great starting point, people are keener than ever to make their mark on their property.

Harron Homes, a luxury housing developer in South Yorkshire has teamed up with one of its customers, Carla Courtney, to discuss how to treat your home as a springboard for your ideas and visions.

“My taste is really varied,” said Carla, “so it’s important to me that everything has a simple, clean and modern base that still look sleek once adapted a little.

"Our kitchen is quite industrial, whereas the rest of the décor is relatively simplistic.

"That said, we’ve a young son – three-year-old Tommy – and busy lives, so we’ve had to work hard to make the most of our space.”

To make the most of your space, Carla offers the following tips.

1. The thing I get asked most about in our house is the playroom – we converted half the garage.

We split the integral garage down the middle, so the front is storage and the back is the playroom.

We boxed in the boiler and combined it with shelves and storage for toys.

Then we painted a chalkboard wall under the stairs.

My little boy loves it!

2. We converted one of the bedrooms into a dressing room.

We put in fitted wardrobes for hidden storage, as well as a dressing table, cabinet and day bed.

I work long shifts, so it’s lovely to have somewhere to get ready on a morning away from the main bedroom.

Most recently, I’ve panelled the walls in there to give it a chic extra touch.

3. We’ve put rustic tiles on the walls in the kitchen to complement the natural stone feature wall.

We knew we wanted it before we even moved in, and it’s why we decided to go with a more industrial style kitchen.

We’ve also changed the flooring in the hallway and kitchen to make the space more our own.

4. My husband has been working from home through the pandemic and probably will be for the foreseeable, so we’ve turned the spare bedroom into an office.

We’ve redecorated with neutral, natural textures and calming colours.

We wanted to make the space work for us as much as possible.

5. I spent a lot of time on Instagram while Tommy was little, looking at how to do his room.

I ended up painting mountains onto the wall and put a tepee in there.

We wanted it to be in keeping with the rest of the house - light and bright.

When he needed a bigger bedroom, we had to repaint the mural in the new room.

So that’s my number one tip - always give your child the bigger bedroom or you’ll end up having to move them anyway.

You can follow Carla on Instagram @no53_thewindsor.

Harron Homes currently has homes available for sale in South Yorkshire at Rosendale Gardens in Rotherham. Telephone for more details 07773 590585.

Harron Homes sales executives in South Yorkshire are now back in the office and customers are able to view show homes by appointment only.

Appointments can be made by calling the development or by visiting www.harronhomes.co.uk.

Meanwhile if Carla’s style isn’t to your taste what about what The Yorkshire Fabric Shop suggests.

Upholstery fabrics can be a great way to update your home without changing your whole interior space. Simple touch ups like transforming old cushion covers or making your own curtains can uplift a room in seconds.

Yorkshire Fabric Shop have provided some suggestions of some new fabric trends that are sweeping the interior world at the moment.Earthy hues are becoming more popular as we approach autumn/winter. From neutral shades to greenery, these sophisticated colours are ideal to bring warmth into your interior space for the colder seasons. These colours are perfect for a long lasting look, as this trend is set to stay for many years to come.

Florals are always a timeless choice when it comes to updating your space, which is why choosing floral fabric would be fitting for designing new curtains, cushions or even furniture. Dark florals are always a good choice for the colder seasons, bringing a wintery vibe into your home with floral patterns. As flowers always remind us of summer, injecting dark florals into your home over the winter would be the best way to bring summer into your home in a more subtle way. Dark florals work well all year round.