This colourful Welsh home is so gorgeous it had to be shown on TV

When someone buys a new home, more often than not they are keen to change the décor, at least to some extent, to reflect their own personality and taste - and for this traditional semi-detached family home in Cardiff it was definitely a case of banishing the beige and welcoming waves of colour.

Now this smart semi-detached house in the capital has captivated the nation by appearing on series three of BBC Cymru Wales' popular property show, Wales' Home of the Year, which every year seeks to find the most amazing Welsh abode to take the best home crown.

Owned by Eleri and Christian, both aged 38 and from Wrexham and Salisbury respectively, the couple opened the front door of The Graylands to the three judges to reveal an interior with no grey at all, but rather a visually engaging interior that mixes the home owners' favourite colours with clever ideas and bespoke carpentry.

For more property, renovation and interior design stories sent to your inbox twice a week sign up to the property newsletter here.

READ MORE: Inside the house just named the best home in Wales 2023 that the owner didn't want to buy

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: Inside the semi-detached house so stunning you’ll want to steal its style

Eleri and Christian fell in love with the house when they viewed it. They felt embraced by an inviting ambience that flowed through the house which had been a much-loved home for the same owner for decades, and was a blank canvas of neutral colours.

Eleri says: "A lovely lady had lived in it all her life with her children, it needed a lot of work but that really excited us because that was what we wanted - a project to put our own stamp on. We bought it about 10 years ago and it’s definitely been a journey; it definitely didn’t happen overnight.

"We started with the downstairs extension to create an open-plan family space. My husband Christian loves to cook and he was squeezed into the galley kitchen with no space, he’s got loads of kitchen utensils and we wanted something social so we could have loads of friends over."

Next on the list to bring the couple's dream home vision into reality was the conversion of the attic to create a peaceful sanctuary that included a luxury shower room as well as a picture window perfectly framing views over the rooftops of the capital.

But the new structure of the house is only half of the story of the most recent chapter of this home - the interior design was of equal importance to the couple. Eleri says: "It was just too white inside for me - I don’t really come alive when I look at a white wall and I think Covid exacerbated that, as I’m sure it did for a lot of people - you’re stuck in the house, missing the outdoors, and the neutral just wasn’t inspirational."

When the judges visited the house during episode two of the series they were impressed with the flow of the colour palette through the property plus the clever storage, both elements of the couple's home that were carefully thought out to achieve an effortless style that is soft and inviting and with moments of personality and drama.

Eleri says: "We started putting colour in the living room and it just started from there really. I’ve always had a real interest in interiors, and I just wanted to make sure that the whole house visually connected so that you weren’t coming into one room and then it was a stark contrast in the next but also that they didn't all look the same too."

Having a cohesive interior design plan for the whole house can also obviously assist with furnishing and accessorising it, with a view of easily changing the spaces for little or no extra expense. Eleri explains: "I often change things in the house because the colours complement one another so a lot of things work together. So when my husband is whining I’ve bought another cushion I can say, 'well it’s actually very useful because we can use it in multiple places within the house!'"

Eleri says the starting point for interior design for her is usually a fabric that she loves and then this expands into the overall scheme that flows through the house, with colours changing in intensity and tone to create pockets of drama or a particular ambience in a space but staying true to the colour scheme. For their home the base of the colour palette is the couple's favourite colours - pink for Eleri and green for Christian.

A visually engaging example of this use of different tones of a colour can be seen within the dining space. Tucked under an upstairs bedroom before the new extension's ceiling soars upwards, Eleri has deepened the shade of green used and drenched the space, including the ceiling, to create a cocooning and more intimate atmosphere to surround everyone dining at the table.

But Eleri says that even more important than the pretty interior design is the need for practicality in each space. She adds: "More than anything we wanted the spaces to be practical for us, with the most storage possible. I’m very lucky that my husband is an excellent carpenter, it’s not his profession but he is brilliant at woodwork.

"So, with this in mind, we also wanted to make sure there was wood in each room, to bring in a natural element because of what my husband does, so it’s another thread that goes through the house - we were very lucky to still have the parquet flooring in the hallway that flows into other rooms and that became our inspiration.

"Poor guy, I basically came up with an idea for storage or wood accent and would say, ‘I think we should do something that looks like this, and works like this, and I want to store this and for it to be this colour and I’m very lucky he could do it!"

There are numerous examples of bespoke, clever carpentry that Christian has toiled in his workshop at the end of the garden to achieve - and the results have been well worth it, impressing the judges and also offering viewers some clever ideas to steal and recreate in their own homes.

The storage and shelf unit in the front room is a Christian carpenter special - having moments of symmetry as well as asymmetry to make it visually engaging and using the upper most panelled section as a clever way to hide the wiring for the downlighters.

Eleri has used colour well in this space - the façade of the unit is the same colour as the walls and ceiling to seamlessly blend it into the overall décor but the inside of the shelves boast a blush pink tone, creating visual depth as well as a contrasting backdrop for all the displayed treasures.

One design element of the house that Eleri loves are the window seats and in this space she says she often likes to sit and admire the bespoke unit - a proud wife moment. She also admires the most recent addition to the bespoke storage family - the under stairs space with hidden lighting for their daughter to use.

Benches with a hidden bonus is also a recurring theme within this colourful home packed with personality. In the hall there's a conveniently located seat for putting shoes on, and taking them off, but lift the seat up and there's a storage box underneath ready to hide them away.

In the kitchen diner there is good use of space with the addition of a banquette bench seat - another Christian triumph. This type of seating is usually a bench that runs along one wall and is specially made to fit that space, and in this home it can offer storage under the bench too.

In this room there are some features that the couple have created for very little money because being more creative and thrifty with some elements in the house has meant they could keep larger slices of their budget for the things that they love, like more expensive fabric and wallpaper.

Eleri explains: "The dining table cost a total of £30, it was made from recycled palettes and Christian just put them together and we got the legs secondhand from an old catering company. Our dresser was secondhand and we upcycled it.

"I do have expensive taste as well. In my study, for example, I wanted it to be alive with pattern and colour so that’s why I chose a wallpaper in it that’s crazy. It's from Cole & Son, so I couldn’t afford more than one wall of it to be honest, but when I’m working in there it’s what gets the creative juices flowing."

The clever attic storage uses the eaves spaces to the maximum with the sliding drawers magically disappearing into the walls. Meanwhile, colour drenching the whole space in one sumptuous green jewel colour not only helps the storage to seamlessly fade into the scheme, it makes the room look bigger and the atmosphere more serene and relaxed.

The house has special memories for the family, especially in the newly created open-plan kitchen lounge diner, where their daughter walked for the first time and Christian went down on one knee to propose even though he was recovering from an appendix operation. But if Eleri had to choose one space as her favourite she says it's the attic bedroom for being so tranquil and calm.

The couple have enjoyed renovating their home together, both bringing their personal skills of creativity and practicality to the experience, so much so that they have recently set up a business to offer this service to other people - called Elm & Alder. An Instagram account has just been set up to follow the couple's progress.

It can be daunting thinking about giving your home a redesign and interiors glow-up but Eleri says just take your time - it's been almost a decade for the couple to get their home exactly how they want it. She also says don't be afraid of colour - just be open to it.

Eleri says: "For me, something triggers me - it will be a fabric, like the fabric on the window seat in the attic triggered the attic design. I collect fabric samples, swatches and things along the way, as well as Pinterest obviously, because you never know when you’re going to use it.

"And always be on the look out for inspiration, and it doesn’t have to be a house programme, it can come from anywhere - hotels you stay in, the restaurants you visit, and the clothes that you love - constantly be on the look out because you don’t know when and where the inspiration will come from. But, above all, if you love it, then just do it - do what makes you feel happy."

Episode two of the third series of BBC Cymru Wales' property programme, produced by IWC media, Wales' Home of the Year 2024 is available to watch on iPlayer, with the series continuing every Wednesday at 7pm.

For more property stories join our Amazing Welsh Homes Facebook group here.

Find your own unique home or business here: