Martin and Shirlie Kemp's mid-makeover disaster at formerly 'run down' mansion
Roman Kemp's parents Martin and Shirlie may have found fame through their musical talent, but their hidden DIY skills are what keep them occupied away from the limelight.
The Spandau Ballet bassist and the Pepsi & Shirlie star often share home renovation updates on their dedicated Instagram page @maisonnumber9. As well as showing off incredible before and after photos of their impressive work, they are not afraid to document when things go wrong.
Case in point was their latest photo, which showed a mid-renovation mishap. The middle of the white wall had been partially covered with pale green wallpaper with an intricate swirled, floral print while either side was left bare. Shirlie admitted she had miscalculated how much wallpaper she would need.
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"3 rolls short because originally I was going to put a dado rail," she wrote alongside a pained emoji. Here's to hoping the stunning wallpaper is still in stock!
Martin and Shirlie's home transformation
The couple – who are parents to singer Harley Moon and former Capital Radio DJ Roman – bought a "doer-upper" Victorian home in 2021 and they have spent the past three years transforming the "run down" property into their "dream" home.
"We took an old house that was completely run down, and we knocked every single wall and ceiling down that you can imagine and we rebuilt something that would be perfect for us. That is what we have now and what we're doing now is just finishing touches," they said in a recent interview with HELLO!.
"That was always something that we spoke about when we were moving from house to house. We tried new houses and old houses, but we always said we'd love to find something we could do from scratch. And that is what happened, that was the ultimate dream."
Martin and Shirlie have revealed their pristine white kitchen in their main property, separate rustic cottage, and old pig shed known as 'Piglet' which has undergone a major transformation into a work space for Shirlie. See their latest garden transformation...
Royal-worthy property
The Princess of Wales has been among the visitors at the Kemps' home. She stopped by to be interviewed by Roman Kemp in 2023.
Speaking about the encounter, Roman reminisced: "We were sitting at the kitchen counter, with my mum and dad and my sister with all the dogs, and Kate was there with us.
"The funniest thing was she didn't have any shoes on because she was respectful enough to take her shoes off at the door. That really stuck in my head because you never see royalty with no shoes."
