Our Nest: How a cancelled wedding led to Amy and Jake’s Bellway Chandler love story

In the latest edition of Our Nest, meet first-time buyers Amy and Jake, who found their perfect Bellway home after they were sadly forced to cancel their wedding during the Covid pandemic. As fate would have it, they viewed their new Bellway Chandler home on the day that their wedding should have taken place, and a whole different love story began instead.

The couple, who are now happily married, were living with their two children at Amy’s mum’s house to help them save money towards a deposit. Amy admits that she had hoped to buy an older home that she felt would be unique and full of character – however after visiting their Bellway development in Cambridgeshire for the first time, she realised that a new build home was the ideal choice for their family.

“I had always idealised character properties, but considering that we already had two kids and were renting prior to moving in with my mum, we decided to be open-minded,” reflects Amy.

“After our wedding was cancelled, we saw that a Bellway estate had launched in our preferred location, and decided to book an appointment. It was all a bit out of the blue; coincidentally, we viewed our Chandler on the day that we were supposed to get married. We instantly fell in love.”

Amy and Jake were impressed by the spacious feel of the development, but it was the home itself that sealed the deal. Part of Bellway’s Artisan Collection, the 3-bedroom Chandler boasts an open-plan kitchen and dining area, with stylish French doors that open onto the rear garden, plus a separate living room, a downstairs cloakroom, and an en-suite shower room to the first bedroom – everything that a young family could need, with more room to grow.

“I loved the realisation that we were going to have brand-new everything, but we specifically chose the Chandler for its open-plan kitchen and dining area. Having enough room to fit a dining table within a kitchen is a life-saver, as I’m sure other people with children would agree!

“We also loved the position of our plot at the top of a cul-de-sac, which really allowed us to visualise our children growing up here.

“We’ve had a third child since moving in, and so having three bedrooms has given us space for the two girls, Maisie and Beatrice to share a room, while Oscar has his own.”

“I want my house to feel happy and calm”

One of the most exciting things about buying a new build home is having a blank canvas on which to add your personality and individual style. However for Amy, her interior décor goals are less about how her home looks, than how it feels.

“I want my house to feel happy and calm, and somewhere people are welcome all the time,” Amy explains. “I’m a big believer in what a room, house, or garden can do for your mental health. Having a fresh sense of a room really makes me feel good, and I’m always a happier and calmer version of myself when my house is tidy.

“When styling my home, I tend to just go for things I like; I used to try hard to stick to a décor style, but always felt that I was blocking another part of me from coming out.

“I am also a person who likes to switch things up regularly, which is made easier by not having a particular decor style! I love colour, mixtures of patterns, wallpapers, merged with more neutral tones to really emphasise on the rest.”

Amy and Jake prioritised their children’s bedrooms when decorating their new build home for the first time. They felt it was important to create “comfortable and personalised” rooms that would help them to settle in.

“I filled Maisie’s room with colour: a mint green bed, mustard yellows, pinks, terracotta accessories and wicker touches. One thing in her bedroom that I absolutely love is the wicker chair we purchased second hand; she often sits on it and reads books to her little sister now.

“For Oscar’s room, we wanted to go for a slightly more toned-down décor. We used black, white and khaki with hints of earthy colours popping through. We added bunting, a picture wall, and plenty of storage for his toys, although the best thing we did was add a wall mounted clothes rail, which gave Oscar more space to enjoy his room.”

Unsurprisingly, Amy’s favourite room in her home is the open-plan kitchen and dining area, which was the space that stole her heart when they visited their Bellway Chandler for the first time.

“The kitchen is the heart of our home; I spend most of my time in this room, whether that being cooking, pottering about whilst the kids are outside or at the table playing with playdough, working from home, or organising everyone’s schedules.

“The room just feels light and airy. I love the French doors into the garden, which are often open in the warmer months whilst the kids play. We installed a tumble dryer in the understairs cupboard so we could use it as a utility room, and still have space to store our vacuum cleaner, mops and brooms, as well as shoes. The storage in the main part of the kitchen is also very generous and I just genuinely love the overall layout.”

The couple’s Chandler home is characterised by solid walls of soft colour, accented with pretty florals and natural materials, however they have used paint in unexpected ways to highlight certain aspects of their home and add further character.

“I’m most proud of the sectioned area that we’ve created in our kitchen,” says Amy. “Painting that area has really given a sense of separation from the main kitchen and dining space. My most prized item of furniture is the bespoke corner bench in our kitchen, which my husband and hid dad built together. Not only is it fab seating for our dining area, it also provides storage – we can’t get enough storage!

“I also love my son’s room; having recently redecorated it, it feels fresh and suited to him and his Pokémon obsession! I used a rich and bright fox red for the walls, and a monochrome wallpaper on the top section, as well as on a full wall. It’s a room that he can grow up in, and will mature along with him.”

Creating a home that’s worth sharing

Like many new Bellway homeowners, Amy decided to set up a dedicated Instagram account for her home, @houseintheshire, as a way to document their journey and help her to find interior inspiration.

“My friends and family often compliment my interior style and eye for things, so a few years ago I started my home Instagram account to see if it was something worth sharing. Since then I’ve gained so many fantastic ideas and see so many beautiful homes that have inspired me to evolve.

“As a full-time working mother of three, it’s sometimes hard to find the time to take pictures for social media, write captions and upload them, but I never started my account with the intention of being influential, so I just try to enjoy it. I do use it for interior décor advice though; it’s so useful to have a good selection of people to ask!”

And it isn’t just the online Bellway homeowner community that has helped Amy and Jake to feel supported during the process of making their new house a home:

“What I’ve enjoyed most about decorating a new build home is having a blank canvas, and knowing that all the major things are complete and working, with the reassurance of having the Bellway team behind us to fix anything that isn’t quite right. We had a great experience with them.”

Of course, every journey has its ups and downs, and Amy recalls how they learned the hard way that they should be patient when starting a new decorating project.

“When installing our panelling in our hallway, my husband and I were a little too eager and accidentally drilled into our radiator pipe. When we managed to get a plumber out to fix it, he had to take off the panelling that we had put up, only to realise he would have to go through the wall in the living room to reach the damaged pipe.

“I have to say he did a very good job at covering up the holes and the next day we were able to finish the panelling. However, while all of this was happening my daughter accidentally swallowed a marble, so we were making a trip to A&E just as the plumber finally arrived – fortunately, she was fine!”

Having grown their family since moving into their Bellway home, Amy and Jake hope to expand their home too, as well as to make smaller tweaks and improvements to suit their family’s needs.

“Our future plans for our home include extending up into the loft, to add two further bedrooms, but our priority right now is to build an entertainment wall in the living room. We want to create a faux fireplace, and install cabinets and shelves within the alcove to create more storage for our children’s toys, and finish it all off with brick slips.”

For people who are in the process of buying their first home, or have just moved in, Amy has some must-read tips before you dive in to the décor:

“My advice to anyone decorating a new build home is to take your time, and plan everything out before you actually go ahead. I have a bad trait of having an idea and wanting things to be ‘done yesterday’, and I end up starting something without thinking it through and then changing it soon after.

“I had once painted my hallway a horrible colour then ended up looking like a custard tart, and it was all because I didn’t want to order testers and wait. So changed it a couple of days later. However, I for one need to have these mistakes occur to learn my lesson – ‘trial and error’ is my motto!”

You can follow Amy and Jake’s Bellway home journey on Instagram at @houseintheshire, and for more inspiration from real Bellway homeowners, take a look at some of our previous Our Nest features – such as Emma and Dom’s New York industrial-inspired Bellway Tailor, and Shantelle and Hugo’s Bellway Japonica, which they share with their house bunnies.

If you’d like the chance to be featured in a future edition of Our Nest, share your interior style with us @bellwayhomes using our dedicated hashtag #mybeautifulbellway.