‘i took a risk with bold ceilings and it paid off!’

Colourful terrace

When Sarah and Scott Finlay were expecting their first child, they knew they’d soon outgrow their two-bedroom house in Monkwearmouth, Sunderland. ‘I wanted an older terrace closer to the beach, but we weren’t after a big project,’ says Sarah. ‘I’d grown-up in a 1930s semi but remember visiting friends who lived in old terraces when I was a teenager and thinking I would absolutely love to live in that type of house.’

Unfortunately, their first attempt to buy a property fell through as it was deemed un-mortgageable due to a bitumen roof. Having already sold their house, they had to move in with Scott’s mum for a month – with Sarah’s due date drawing ever closer. Desperate to find another place, Sarah put a shout-out on Facebook and got a message from a seller whose three-bedroom Edwardian home was about to go on the market. ‘I loved the original features, like the ornate ceiling in the living room, and there wasn’t much work to do – just putting our own stamp on it,’ says Sarah. ‘In our old house you could touch all four sides of the kitchen, so I loved the size of the kitchen-diner too. As the seller was moving to Ireland, there was no chain, and our offer was accepted straight away.’

Tilly was born just five days after the couple moved in. ‘Eight weeks after having a caesarean I was pulling up carpets, sanding the stairs and decorating the nursery, which I probably shouldn’t have done,’ reveals Sarah. ‘In hindsight, there was no rush to do the nursery as they sleep in your bedroom for the first six months anyway.’

COLOUR CRUSH

Although their last home was mostly grey and white, Sarah and Scott wanted to be a bit more adventurous with this house. ‘I didn’t love our last house,’ admits Sarah. ‘It didn’t have any original features, so I wasn’t really bothered about doing anything with it, whereas here I had Pinterest boards coming out of my ears!’ Luckily, most of the