Name: Alicia Ellis
Age: 34
Occupation: Senior HR advisor
Location: Tyrone
What type of house is it? A detached home, built about 15 years ago
How many bedrooms and bathrooms? Four bedrooms and three bathrooms
When did you move in? Four years ago
Who lives there? My husband and me, with our two young daughters, and Polly the cat.
We loved the fact that the house has so many reception rooms so we could make one a home office, and one a play room for the kids (although neither ever make the Instagram grid, as they’re the most untidy rooms in the house). Our previous home had a much smaller foot print, so it was the extra space that sealed the deal for us.
I love the rich blue colours in our living room, and when I sit in there with my feet up, all the day’s stresses melt away. It was the first room where I used bold paint colours, and once I saw how it turned out, I didn’t look back.
Our kitchen is very dated and the tiles are an awful colour – it’s the original kitchen that was installed in the home when it was first built. It’s the next room I’m saving up to overhaul. It might take me ten years but Rome wasn’t built in a day.
I love the new floor tiles in our entrance hall. They make a big impact when you first walk in. Also the hand-painted patio makes me feel like I’m holidaying somewhere when I sit out with a cocktail in hand. It’s one spot that people always compliment us on.
From Tuesday to Friday, my alarm clock is set for 5.45am so that I can have half an hour to myself before the madness starts. After getting ready in the bedroom, I come downstairs to the kitchen to make myself some cereal and a cup of tea. I watch the breakfast news with my cup of tea in pure quiet bliss in the living room, thinking of what’s planned for the day ahead. I leave the house at 7am for work.
Once dinner is done and the kids are in bed around 7.30pm, I hit the shed to do a basic workout in my home gym that we invested in just before lockdown. By 9pm, I sit back into the living room, feet up and we’ll watch an episode of whatever it is we’re into at that time. By 10pm I’m back into the bedroom to get my clothes ready for the day of work ahead and then lights out.
I’d add a cloakroom for coats and shoes. There is an empty space behind one of the kitchen doors that leads to the playroom that could easily be boarded up and used to store those kinds of things.
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