We’re Moving… The Real Reason Why | An Emotional Goodbye transcript

Hi everyone and welcome to our home. Come on in. So today's video I am sharing some big news with you all which is >> [music] >> we are selling this house and we are moving. I can barely believe that I'm saying these words out loud. It's come as a massive surprise and I thought what I would do in today's video is I'd give you a tour around the whole house including rooms that I've not shown before and that we've always wanted to keep away [music] from YouTube and I'll talk you through the reasons why.

So stay tuned and I'll tell you more details about why we're leaving this home and where we're moving to next. But let's start off on the ground tour. This might be the last time we ever see this house so I hope you enjoy it. I've loved showing you around all these years >> [music] >> um and this has been such a special home to us so let's have one last look around. For those of you that saw the house tour of Mr. P's study, this is my husband's study and this was the one of the first rooms we ever designed um and we really haven't changed it because I think it's so true that timeless never goes out of fashion.

We've got lots of antiques in here. Some of my favorite pieces include the Louis Vuitton trunk >> [music] >> and I love the wallpaper by Cole and Son. We're not going to be doing anything like this in our new house. We're going to have lots of antiques >> [music] >> um but it's going to be a much lighter color palette because whilst this color palette suited this house, I think our new house um needs something very different. >> [music] >> So I'm going to miss this room a lot because it's been one that we've really loved and I don't think we're going to have anything like this again in one of our homes.

This sitting room is just one of the most magical rooms. I remember when we first looked around this house, this was one of the rooms along with the kitchen, that really sold this house to me. The fact that you've got these triple windows overlooking the garden, but then you've also got two windows either side of the fireplace, it's just flooded with natural light, and it has such a warm and cozy atmosphere at night, but in the day it's just light and bright and has beautiful views into the garden.

Things that I'm really going to miss about this room include the fireplace, again just a timeless classic, this limestone fireplace. Um [music] and this beautiful silk wallpaper that I get asked about all the time. When we first moved in here 14 years ago, it was such a splurge. We'd spent all of our money on the house, and to buy silk wallpaper just felt like it was this massive extravagance, but it just goes to show that when you invest in really beautiful materials, um they'll last forever.

Wonderful room. We've got lots of happy memories in here. And then through the double doors, we have the dining room. And this is one of the things that I think is so special about this home is that the layout is amazing. You've got this central massive hallway with all the rooms on the ground floor off of it. So, when you want to feel together as a family, you just open all the double doors and you have this kind of semi-open plan feeling.

But then when you want to have a little quiet moment to yourself, maybe if the kids are sort of entertained and I want to go and read a magazine for 5 minutes, I can shut the doors and get some peace and quiet. Um so, it's been a brilliant layout and that was one of the first things I noticed about it when I looked around this house and it was just a building site was that the layout was perfect. There was literally nothing I wanted to change down here.

The dining room in our new house isn't, I would say, as strong as this dining room. This dining room is particularly big. Um I love the fact that you've got the triple aspect windows, the central French doors that completely in the center of the uh the garden. So, as you look out, you get an incredible view across the fountain and onto the seating area with the sculpture at the end. Um and we really wanted to create an indoor-outdoor feel in this room. and the wallpaper, which is the olive gray by Farrow & Ball, does that so well at bringing all the greenery from the outside in but in a really sophisticated way.

Through to the kitchen, again this was an incredible room for us. We moved from London um to Esher in Surrey and the difference in the space that we could get was just mind-blowing to me. The fact that we could have this kitchen as big [music] as this was about the size of our old house um but it just has such a good layout. All the cooking appliances are laid out exactly how you'd want to have them. I love to cook, so that was really important to me.

Two dishwashers, total game-changer. And one of the things I loved about this design, and we literally haven't changed it in 14 years, is that you have the smoked mirror splashback. So, when you're sat at the bar here, you can look out behind you and see that beautiful view into the garden. Having an open-plan sitting area within the kitchen was something that I really wanted to have because it just gives you that amazing sort of family living where you can all be in the same space [music] and here we zoned it with an L-shape sofa, which works really well, so it definitely feels like its own separate space.

Um and then for the TV, rather than having some heavy joinery, we went for a chimney breast style um and did this amazing texture plaster, which is something I love and I'd definitely like to use again in our next house. Let's go through [music] to the utility room. This is the best utility room and I will really miss this room. Again, in our next house, the utility room isn't as strong and this one just has so much storage from what started off as the flower pantry and I turned it into our post and package parcel um cabinet to the candle pantry.

I'm really going to miss this cupboard. It's been so useful. >> [music] >> Um the two washing machines and tumble dryers um it's just so perfectly laid out and again a really [music] timely timeless aesthetic that I love with the herringbone tiles, the shelves, and I've dressed it with art as well. So, it's like a beautiful space. It's not just utilitarian, but a space you actually want to spend time in. Then back to the back corner.

I think this is an area that I've never really shown you on YouTube because we actually used to have our office at home until 2 3 years ago when I bought a an office separately. And so, back in the day this is where all the team would come in and I put a wall there so it divides and that works really well not only if you want to run a business from home, um but if you want to have living staff, they've got their own separate entrance.

You can completely segregate it um from the rest of the house. So, behind me is a meeting room. Now, I'm not going to show you that because there is a lot of mess that I need to get rid of. Might be a borderline hoarder. Got so much stuff it's actually rammed full. Originally, we took one of the triple garages and turned it into a meeting room and it's worked really well, but when I eventually get rid of all that stuff, I'm going to dress it and have it as a sort of massage treatment space um which is the dream.

Up this staircase, we have the kids playroom. At the top of the stairs, we have this incredible space that's really well lit. And this was where I used to run the business. So, we've got a little kitchen area where people would have their breakout. Now, it works so well as a playroom. So, the kids will have loads of playdates up here. They've got their own little like cooking area so make snacks for the playdates. And then through here, just so much storage for all the toys and the arts and crafts they love to have.

And then in each window, we've got a built-in desk, so they can do homework up here. They've also got this big desk area over here with a pin board where some of my designers used to work, as well. Um and they showcase all of their art projects um that they're very proud of. So, this is definitely a room that just is such a good addition to any family home. When I'm designing projects for clients that have got children or they're planning on having children, I always try and earmark a space for a playroom because it totally transforms your experience living in the rest of the house.

All the toys can be up here. They can make a mess up here. I'm not precious about it at all. And the rest of your home gets to stay nice. Heading up the stairs, we've got this massive skylight that just floods the whole central part of the house with light. And then, this beautiful egglomise mirror that we installed, again, reflects all that light back into the hallway, so it's a really bright space. I love this staircase I redesigned when we first bought it.

It was a very sort of classical feel. And it's a floating staircase, so it just really emphasizes that feeling of light and space as you walk up the house. And then, a little practical addition for those that have dogs or kids might appreciate, we even had matching stair gates fabricated, which has been a game changer. Let's head into Oscar's room. Oscar's bedroom is at the front of the house, and it's probably the smallest bedroom, but still really generously sized.

We've got um a large bed. We've got lots of room for desks, toys, storage. I've gone for a very timeless aesthetic here cuz I didn't want it to feel too babyish. And it's done a really good job of growing with him. And this room could transition really well into a guest bedroom for those that don't have children. All of the bedrooms have an en suite bathroom. And his one is a really sort of light, beautiful color palette with Carrara marble tiles.

And then, large format slabs on the floor. We've gone for quite a light timber veneer on the vanity unit. This is probably the room that makes me most sad about leaving this house. And we keep to be completely honest, we keep having wobbles about whether we've made the right choice. And we're kind of like we're committed and we are so excited about the new house. It's incredible. But it was always going to take something really special to make us want to leave here because the plan was never to sell this house.

We were going to stay here until the children left. Um it was our forever home. And we just have so many happy memories here. It's a really happy home. It's got great energy. Um but I think particularly the children's bedrooms is the one that really sort of pulls at my heartstrings. >> [music] >> The idea of leaving this wall covering behind, you know, all the beautiful features, the joinery, even like the island that I designed for Ava because she wanted to have like her own little dressing area.

Um every single detail's been so thought through. And in our next house, I've been told by Ava that I'm not allowed to help her with her room at all. She wants something very teenage. She's got her own Pinterest page. It's going to be all white with >> [music] >> solid blocks of sort of neon color. Um and her major inspiration is the Assouline travel books, you know, like the ones from Capri, Saint Tropez. >> [music] >> Um so a big departure from this.

And actually I'm really excited to see what she creates because I think it's been really important as a mom for me to learn to give them space to be creative. You know, you've seen their playroom. They love to paint. And I think a big part of why I'm an interior designer is that my mom never sort of restricted what I was able to do. She involved me in all of our renovations. She helped me let [music] me choose carpets.

And I always got to decorate my own room. So I definitely wanted to allow my children to have that creative um freedom. Um so watch this space. Maybe she'll let us film her new room. I'm not sure. She's quite private. So we'll have to see. >> [music] >> Um but this has been a really special room and I'll definitely miss that. The problem with having such a good guest bedroom is your guest never wants to leave, and this room definitely exemplifies that because we continually have a flow of guests here, um and they're always happy to extend their stay.

I really wanted to keep this room as light and neutral as possible, so it appeals to everyone that wants to come and stay. We've got a big super king bed, a nice little sitting area, and then this beautiful um screen where that I designed with Fromental. And wallpaper is something that I really love, and we've really gone to town throughout this So, in here we've got a beautiful grass cloth in a neutral um color. It just picks up the light so nicely, >> [music] >> and I feel like wallpaper in a bedroom just adds that kind of cocooning softness, um and it just feels such a luxurious experience sleeping in here.

It's got a coordinating bathroom, again with natural stone. We went for a limestone in here um in a honed finish, which has just um you know, aged beautifully. I think again it's just a very timeless design. The primary bedroom was a really strong point of this house, and we took over another guest bedroom so we could create separate his and her dressing rooms and bathrooms. [music] We even have a gym attached to our bedroom.

It's like a kind of apartment within this house, >> [music] >> and it's made traveling really hard because no matter what hotel we go to, even if it's an amazing five-star hotel, I always [music] miss sleeping in this room because it's just the most luxurious space to spend time in. I love the darker color palette that we've gone for in the walls, and this is the Magnolia canopy by Formentera. It's a beautiful burgundy silk and again it just creates this really cocooning [music] feel.

And where you have three huge windows pouring in all that natural light into the room, >> [music] >> we could really afford to go a little bit darker. Off the bedroom, as I mentioned, we've got a gym and this has been a really good asset and addition to the house. Lots of people will put the gym downstairs and that kind of feels like a more obvious choice, but we had a sitting room up here that we literally never used and it's got a gorgeous balcony that overlooks the garden.

And for us, being able to wake up early, go straight to the gym before you even had time to think about an excuse of why you don't want to work out has been brilliant for us and it means we can work out without waking up the kids. Then we finish our workout, we have a little coffee from the coffee station, sit out on the balcony and it's just such a great way to start your day. I never wanted to have a gym that felt like your typical gym with like the rubber matting.

I wanted it to feel almost more spa-like and really elevated. So we've gone for a whitewashed oak on the floor, >> [music] >> beautiful paneling with the integrated mirrors, built-in joinery that's got loads of storage underneath. And then this TV is actually a computer, so when I was working out with my trainer, we could do like video conferencing so she could like watch me work out and make sure that I was doing it properly.

I wasn't just sitting on the on the floor having a coffee. This room was meant to be the dressing room for both of us to share when the house was first built. They did I think too much of a small dressing room so we just separated this. We made this just for Kevin and I've gone for a high gloss timber [music] with a lacquer which feels very sort of masculine and then did mirrors on the wall opposite just to make it visually feel a little bit larger.

And this was a great addition having a little shoe island, so he's got separate storage for all of his shoes away from his clothes. The primary bathroom is vast. It's >> [music] >> so much space and we really went oversized. We've got a huge shower enclosure, this amazing floating bath. And then for the marble itself, we didn't skin. We went for a Calcutta Oro in a beautiful book matched layout pattern above the bath, in the shower and by the vanity unit.

And then this bathroom also has a separate toilet cubicle which is something I always like to do on our projects. It feels like more of a room rather than this really sort of utilitarian cold space. >> [music] >> And it's been amazing for us that I there's nothing that I'd change about this space. I think [music] it's timeless. Um and we can fit the whole family in this bathroom all at once if we want to. The last room in the house that I'm going to share is my dressing room.

But before we get in there, this was a brilliant addition to the primary suite. When we >> [music] >> took this room with it was a guest bedroom and turned it into my dressing room. This was originally part of the um entrance the landing. Um but by separating off you create this kind of lobby before you get to the primary suite which I think's a really sort of elevated way um to plan all the space and it gives you that kind of feeling of separation.

This dressing room is just flooded with light and it's not just been in my dressing room for the last 14 years, but if I work from home, this is a space that I love to work. You've got a beautiful view out the window overlooking all the gorgeous mature trees in the front garden. Um so much storage in here, but my favorite feature and I think this was a big part of why I didn't want to move is the hand embroidered wallpaper from Fromental um that I will really miss.

Like I know every single bird, butterfly, flower and even though I've lived with it for years and years, I never wake up and take take for granted how beautiful it is. There's just incredible craftsmanship in this wallpaper. We have separate bathrooms, which is a game-changer um for your marriage. And when we go on holiday, we really annoy each other cuz we're used to having separate space. And this through here is my bathroom.

So, now I've given you the full house tour, I thought we could sit down with a cup of tea, and I will spill the reason why we're selling this house, why we're moving um because it came as a massive shock to all of us. We weren't planning on leaving this house, as I said. Um so, I think I need to talk you through why we're leaving. So, my very speedy tour around the house, I think it's the quickest I've ever done it. I actually forgot to show you this TV room, so this is the last room. >> [music] >> But, I thought I'd sit down with you, have a cup of tea, and share with you exactly why we're leaving this house.

So, for the last [music] 2 years, we've been designing a renovation of this space. As you can see, it didn't need work being done, but I think I was just really craving a change. We've lived here for 14 years, and as a designer, you always get these new ideas that you want to implement, and [music] we planned this big renovation where we were going to change the bathrooms, we were going to change the floor downstairs, the kitchen. >> [music] >> Um we were going to do an extension, we were going to do the garden and pool house.

And it kind of just grew arms and legs, and I think a big part of that was the fact that like I get to do these amazing projects all over the world, and I wanted to implement some of those ideas here. But then, it got to December last year, and we'd literally done everything we had planning, all the designs were done, and then me and Kevin just looked at each other and we thought, why are we doing this? Like, this house is beautiful.

It's perfect as it is. We don't need to do this. We don't need to spend all this money. Um but we still wanted to have a change. So then we decided to look at the house market and see if there was any other houses in this area cuz we love living in this area >> [music] >> um that we would like to move to. And Kevin's always looked at Rightmove. He's like addicted to it. He looks at it every single night. I'm not interested.

Um but he's been looking for years and he's never seen anything special. He was like, "You know what? There's this one house that I've seen that has really stood out to me that I absolutely love. Would you like to go and see it?" So I think I was a bit nervous because I actually didn't want to fall in love with another home. Like Ava's always loved this home. I get very sentimentally attached to our houses. And I thought that it would be quite disruptive for the children to leave.

They'd always kind of said, "We're never allowed to sell this place. We don't want to move." Um >> [music] >> and I was scared that if I went to go and look at another house that I would fall in love with it and then I wasn't quite sure if I was mentally ready for all that change. Um but we went to go and look at it the next day. And from the minute the gates opened, it's a very different style of house house. It's still Georgian style um but it's got white render on the outside.

I never thought I wanted a white render house. I've always loved red brick. Um but it just sits so beautifully in its plot. And my husband, you know, Kevin, he just he fell in love with that. And it's quite interesting that every single house we bought together, we've had This is our second house. Now buying our third. I've always been the one that's found the houses and I've always kind of fallen in love with them. By the time I show them to him, he kind of knows, "This is the house.

We need to make it work." Um and that was the first house where I was like, "I like it. Yeah, I really like it. But like I don't know like if it's what I had in mind." Whereas for him, it was a dead cert. For me, it was like a slow burn. Every time we went to go back, I was like seeing more things that I appreciated. It wasn't completely our style. And so I think I just kind of felt like if we were buying a new house, it seems crazy to then rip out some stuff and renovate.

Um but the location's amazing, the garden's amazing, and I think it's just the change that we need. So, there's no like massive reason for us to leave, and it's not like our new house is a big upgrade. This is like a very similar size to this house. I think it's just purely that we want to have >> [music] >> a different chapter, and something that we've always kind of said to each other is like when we get to the end of our life, look back and be like, "Oh, remember the time we lived in the mews?" Cuz we used to live in a mews house.

"Or remember the time we lived in the house in Esher?" Or remember the time we lived there? And you kind of have these different chapters to your life, and it gives you sort of like different eras. Whereas I feel like if you live in the same house forever, whilst there's something really special about that, you kind of you don't get that new perspective on life. You don't get that fresh energy. Um so, I think that's the main reason, but because there's not like this really compelling reason, we're not moving country, we're not moving to a much, much bigger house, or like the city, >> [music] >> I keep having these little wobbly moments where it kind of dawns on me that we're leaving here.

And I think as much as it's exciting doing the new house, leaving this one is going to be quite emotional because it's been such a special house for us. But I think, >> [music] >> you know, it's just time. It's time for someone else to come and live here, and I'm excited to see whoever buys this house next. I hope they have as much of a happy time living here as we have because I'll look back at this chapter with such fond memories, and I think it was probably Oh, it's making me emotional.

Probably the happiest time of my life. So, it's hard to leave that behind. But, we've got some very exciting things coming. So, I just wanted to share with you all first hand exactly why we're leaving, give you one last look at this very special home. It's been a big part of my journey as an interior designer. I've built my business here. We've had our family here. One of the most magical homes that we could have been fortunate enough to live in and um we've just put it on the market.

So, hopefully it won't be there for long, but I wanted you guys to be the first to find out and have a little look around before it gets bought and no longer is our home. But, don't worry. Just because we're moving this house and selling from here doesn't mean that's the end of our content. There'll be lots more content coming this way. We've [music] just filmed an incredible home tour of a project we've done in Notting Hill that will be coming onto the channel very, very soon.

And once we're underway with the new house, got some interesting and exciting news that I'm going to share with you. We're not quite there to share it, but there will be lots of content coming from the new house eventually and I can't wait to share the whole journey of that with you as well. >> [music] >> Take care and I'll see you very soon.