At Home With Natasha @thehousebehindthehall
This week I'm at home with Natasha the lovely lady behind the popular instagram account @thehousebehindthehall where she shares images of her beautiful home in a lovely village in County Durham. Read on to learn more about Natasha, her home, lifestyle, family and some top home styling tips.
Tell us about you
My name is Natasha and along with my husband Iain and our two children, Eadie (3) and Archie (5months) we live in a lovely little village in County Durham called Tanfield. It’s a stone’s throw away from Tanfield railway and a little further down the road there’s Beamish museum! We also have a great village pub (always good to have one close by!) and a beautiful coffee shop called Bayberry Hollow which sells homeware, what more do you need!
We moved here just over a year ago, we had always wanted to live in the village as I had previously lived in Tanfield with my parents. Little did we know we’d end up living next-door years later! We also have lovely memories from our wedding back in 2018 as the reception was at my parents in a marquee and we have photographs which were taken in the garden of our now home!
We are surround by beautiful countryside and have horses and sheep on the land that my parents own, it’s so lovely to see Eadie with the horses (she’s horse crazy already!)
Tell us about your home
The house was rebuilt in 1995. It had originally been a school, hence the name, The Old Grammar School. The house is situated in small estate of other buildings that have been rebuilt/restored from original bricks. Originally, it was all on one storey but has since been remodelled to include an upper floor.
When we moved in the house was quite dated with very few original features, other than the huge Georgian style window openings situated along the back of the house. We intend on trying to reintroduce features to compliment the period in which it was originally built.
How would you describe your home?
At the moment we are gradually going through the house room by room. Trying not to dive straight in and really thinking about what we want to do. The house has hints of lots of different styles, we have a few vintage pieces dotted around the house, from Art Deco style sideboards and writers bureau, singer sewing machines to mid century modern pieces.
I’m a huge fan of a bit of up-cycling so I suppose my style is quite vintage with modern elements thrown in the mix.
Which is your favourite room in the house?
We are still working our way through as we’ve only been just over a year, however I absolutely love Eadie’s room (maybe because this is one of the rooms completely done, as well as our guest room).
I got a little bit obsessed with sulking room pink after painting the panelling in our bedroom and went for it with a scalloped edge in Eadie’s room.
How does your home reflect any passions or interests?
I love up-cycling furniture! So much so that at 38 weeks pregnant I was keeping busy, inducing labour with another up-cycle project for Eadie’s room.
I want to add elements of traditional/vintage furniture throughout the house as it’s timeless but also well built and sturdy.
What are your favourite items in the home?
I have a beautiful mid century headboard and dressing table that belonged to my Grandma. These pieces are absolutely perfect the way they are and it’s so lovely to have something to remind me of Grandma Betty!
When you moved into your house was it the finished article or was it a project?
Hmm typical woman, I told the husband it’s basically fine the way it is. Then we moved in and I wanted to decorate everywhere!
The house is fairly neutral throughout, the wallpaper in the living room and hallway doesn’t offend me greatly so I can live with that a little longer. However, the kitchen has to go. This will be our first big project in the house and we’ll be starting soon. Most projects so far have been a lick of paint here and there.
What renovation and decorating have you done?
Up-cycling, up-cycling and more up-cycling!
I’m an Art teacher so I would say I’m pretty practical and get stuck into anything DIY/ decorating wise.
Have you had any DIY or styling disasters?
So far, no but we have the kitchen remodel to go yet.
What is your top home styling tip?
Before moving into our home I created mood boards (just the art teacher in me!) this gave me a good idea of the furniture I needed to look out for which takes me onto my next “tip”….
Don’t rush when it comes to choosing colours and pieces to compliment the room. I have waited over a year to buy a sideboard for our bedroom as I knew I wanted a vintage piece and I’m so glad I waited. I think I used to be quite bad for impulsive decorating and buying but I think I’ve calmed down a little knowing that we’ll be in this house forever and it’s ok to take it slow.
Is there anything in your home that you couldn’t live without?
Other than my lovely little family and I never thought I’d ever be this person but, my robot vacuum.
I’m currently on maternity leave with Baby Archie who just loves to snuggle and housework rarely gets done throughout the week. Watching that little robot vacuum whiz around every morning brings me so much joy.
They say that every home tells visitors a story about who lives there. What do you think your home says about you?
Hopefully welcoming and tidy (although with two young children this is a daily struggle).
I’ve always got the candles burning on an evening making the house all cosy! I’m looking forward to getting the kitchen sorted so we can have guests round more often for a wee tipple, especially after all this Covid malarkey.
The Home Edit
Lived-in or showhome?
Ooh a bit of both!
If you could only paint your walls one colour, which one would it be?
Sulking room pink (two rooms have been painted with this colour, so far!)
What is your pet hate when it comes to your own or other’s homes?
Ahhhh grubby fingerprints all over the oven and hob (Iain!) can’t even blame the kids!
Favourite front door colour?
Definitely bold colour! I’m still deciding what I want for our new front door!
Carpet or Floorboards?
Floorboards! We have kids….and cats….and Iain!
Kitchen table dining or formal dining room?
Kitchen table
High gloss or rustic?
Rustic
Wallpaper or Brick Walls?
Brick walls
If you enjoyed being at home with Natasha you might like to take a look inside other popular home styling accounts on instagram and find out more about the people behind them. You can see more of these "at home with" articles here
You can catch up with Natasha's instagram account here. It's well worth a look!