Real Homes, Real Residents #16

MEET AYISHA & GEORGE! 

What made you choose a Simple Life Home?

Myself and George had just finished University and started our careers, we wanted to move to Manchester but have a place to call home. However, everywhere we looked just wasn’t really up to standard or reminded us of student houses. We wanted the option to have a home which felt modern and like it was ours without having a mortgage. Our house has a perfect layout, feels super modern and is easy to style and keep clean, it just felt like the perfect option for two young working adults who wanted to start a home together without any ties.

What’s your favourite room in the house?

The kitchen is what sold us on the house, I am obsessed with the huge skylights that let in so much light making it feel really open. We also love entertaining so having the french doors in the Kitchen out to the garden is perfect for this. Literally obsessed with how cosy it feels in there when making dinner and having a glass of wine in the evening.

Best home-hacks to personalise your space?

Shop around, don’t just buy the first thing you see, make sure you really love it before purchasing so you don’t get sick of things down the line. Also put up pieces such as photographs etc which mean something to you. We have a few prints which are personalised to us which makes it feel super personal. Get your DIY on as well, we have made and painted some of the canvases and decor in our home ourselves to make it suit our style. Buy and invest in timeless pieces that you will keep for a long time and change how you style them to make the home feel personalised as well as also giving it a switch up now and then.

How would you describe your interior style? Does this reflect your personality?

The style is very minimalist and neutral. I like the house to look really clean and the neutral colours of beige and white and black accents are carried throughout the house. It completely differs from my personality which is loud and vibrant but I’ve always wanted home to be a calming place to switch off which is why we’ve decided on neutral and minimalist vibes.

Where do you go for interior design inspiration?

I use Instagram for the most inspiration, you can find some many pics on similar accounts which will be good for inspiration. Pinterest is amazing for finding home inspo. I’m fashion mad so looking into trending fashion also helps with inspiration. I also love going home shopping, walking around looking at pieces and how they are merchandised definitely gives inspiration.

Do you follow trends or stick to one style?

We tend to stick to the one style, however we will swap pieces in and out based on trends, for example in Autumn and winter we will change the prints and add finer details like different colours to match the season such as flowers, decor pieces etc just so the home feels aligned and cosy. In summer we tend to go for brighter whites and summery pieces. In general though we tend to stick to our own style as it is what we like, I feel these are timeless looks and can always be accessorised with different items.

Which room do you find the hardest to get ‘right’? What are your specific tricks to get around this?

The room we struggle to still get right is the living room, it looks great but I’m constantly changing my mind on where things go and how they should look. I would say a trick to get around this is to play around with the accessories rather than the main pieces, change where they go and how they are laid out, swapping things out every few months also helps as you can never get bored of how the room looks. The other room is the spare bedroom which doubles as a makeup room, we’ve been struggling to make it multi purpose but a trick around this is to prioritise the specific use. We get ready in it every day but have guests every couple of months so we prioritise how it feels to get ready in with a nice dressing area which helps.

We love hearing about how our residents have converted their rented home into something special for them. Homes are so important, so why not add décor pieces and style it to suit you own taste. Remember, you can contact your asset manager with any decoration or changes you wish to make in your Simple Life home.