Two striking Yorkshire homes take centre stage in national awards
Artist Suzy Broome’s bright orange front door and colourful tiled path have won national recognition, after she was named a winner at an awards ceremony.
Suzy, inset, who was one of two Yorkshire designers recognised at the uFurnish.com Home Awards, laid the path herself over a single weekend, choosing green, orange and yellow tiles to complement her Victorian house in South Yorkshire. The front door was another project. When one side of the original grey double door began to rot, her father-in-law built a replacement, while Suzy stripped the remaining door, added an antique knocker and brass handles, and painted both orange. The result won the Best First Impressions category.
York-based interiors stylist Pandora Maxton was also among this year’s winners, taking the Best Seasonal Styling award for her home displays.
Known as “Mrs Christmas” to her followers, Pandora has built a following of almost 200,000 on Instagram through her elaborate festive decorations, but her styling extends throughout the year.
Her Christmas trees have featured everything from dried hydrangeas and tiny disco balls to deep red ornaments, while her seasonal displays include Halloween tablescapes and hand-painted Easter egg wreaths.
She also teaches wreath-making and makes her own advent calendars and Christmas sacks.
The awards, now in their third year, attracted 1,400 entries, with 90 finalists competing across the categories and more than 42,000 public votes cast.
The overall winner was Jade Fish, from Somerset, whose £250,000 new-build house was named Britain’s Best Home.
Jade entered the competition as a wildcard, having bought the property with her husband eight years ago. Its awkwardly shaped walls initially presented a challenge, but she gradually transformed the blank canvas into a home reflecting her personality and love of the countryside.
The awards also recognised a range of renovation projects, many completed by homeowners working around jobs and family.
Lancashire mother Emily Barratt won Best Before and After Transformation after creating a second bathroom in her seven-bedroom house without sacrificing a bedroom. She converted a space previously occupied by two water tanks into what she calls the “bathroom of doom”.
The project proved more difficult than expected, and after 10 weeks waiting for her plumber to complete the first fix, Emily, 41, took over the tiling herself, completing the room in a fortnight.
In the Best On a Budget category, NHS psychiatrist Orima Kamalu and her husband Joel, a GP, transformed their kitchen for £590 after being quoted about £60,000 for a replacement. They fitted new-style cupboard doors, painted the units black, retiled the walls and refreshed the worktops.
Former Interior Design Masters contestant Ben Irurzun won Best DIY Creation for an antique-style cabinet made from 84 IKEA drawers. Using second-hand materials, vintage labels, antique handles and marble salvaged from a fireplace hearth, he created a piece resembling a £3,000 antique for about £400.
The judging panel included interiors journalist Barbara Chandler, television presenter Max McMurdo and Interior Design Masters designer Nicki Bamford-Bowes.
Deirdre Mc Gettrick, founder of uFurnish.com, said: “These awards celebrate real homes and the people who make them, and this year’s winners show what you can do with a bit of vision, a lot of graft and, in one case, a £100 worktop paint kit.”