Sometimes a property and a person meet and totally gel to create a home that is so special that it becomes an extension of the owner's personality, creativity and interior design soul.
This three-bed semi-detached house in Vale of Glamorgan may look attractive but relatively standard on the outside but it is anything but standard on the inside - so much so it was named the best house in Cardiff and the surrounding area on a national BBC property programme.
The family abode featured on BBC's property programme Best House in Town; and it won the competition easily with all five judges choosing it as an outstanding and surprising home that took their breath away as a house not full of retail sourced features but a home that the owners have lovingly built and reworked to create their perfect family home on a budget.
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The BBC One property programme took five local property professionals to 12 stunning homes in and around Cardiff to be judged on the criteria of ambition, surprise and functionality.
Brave homeowners, including the owners of this home in Penarth, put their house forward in one of the four categories, terraced, semi-detached, detached and wildcard, to be explored by the judges, who were acting just like nosey neighbours having a rummage around strangers' homes but with permission so there were no arrests for trespassing - that's a different TV show completely.
All 12 homes were unique and truly amazing. Featured in the show was the glorious Cardiff terrace bursting at the seams with colour and pattern, and you can see inside that special home here. There was also a cottage that was hiding a modern home at the rear, owned and decorated by a colour therapist - have a nose inside that one here. But the winner was this Penarth semi, which is now for sale, and there are a raft of reasons why it topped the list.
Called Hastings, the home is very unlikely to cause a battle between anyone in the family about buying it - one viewing is all it should take for the whole family to fall in love with it. Features to captivate include the garden office, the children's play area, the pizza oven and outdoor kitchen with alfresco dining - and that's just the external features to fall in love with.
But for those house hunters that have the budget to bag it, Hastings might create some skirmishes between potential buyers who want a TV star for their next home.
And when Hastings is secured by the winning buyer, calm will descend as the house has rooms and a garden for everyone's desires. But maybe the home's more unique selling point is its trend setting interiors that mean you won't have to lift a finger to create a stunning home after you move your furniture in because owners Miffy and Gareth Shaw have done that for you. Find out more about the house being on the BBC show here as well as photos of how the interiors and garden looked in 2019.
Highlights that secured the home its TV fame and the winning title of 'Best House in Town' include the concrete kitchen worktop and bespoke bathroom basin, both created by this future forward thinking couple long before thousands of online influencers have shared their concrete creations.
Scaffolding boards have been a feature in this home since the work started years ago to create a home worthy of any interiors competition top prize. Of course, it helps that Gareth runs his own loft conversion and building company, which also gives Miffy many ideas.
There's always the opportunity to pinch some of Gareth's work materials to upcycle in the home to create a special and yet cost-conscious dream home, so Gareth has to be careful what he leaves unattended - pipes, scaffolding, wood, concrete, bricks, taps are all at risk from being side-lined for upcycling by the resourceful Miffy.
The Shaws are early adopters of emerging interior trends as well as creative thinkers who see spaces differently - if there's a wall they don't like then it's gone, if there's a redundant loft space then it's turned into a quirky mezzanine level, if a property needs a unique look to make it stand out from the rest, then Miffy will create it.
See the couple's most recent and spectacular renovation project here - and it's not surprising to find out that the house in Barry sold in a matter of days.
But the couple have worked hard to get to the point where they are now about to move on to their ultimate family dream home. They started on the first rung of the property ladder renovating and selling property as their temporary home in each instance in order to move up to the next rung.
The properties they bought, renovated and sold along this 'flipping' journey were a means to an end - to one day be able to afford to seek out their forever home. That is until they bought Hastings and fell in love with it and actually unpacked, making it their family home for many years.
When the house was featured on the show in 2019 the front room was a striking mustard colour that was a second and separate adult study and relaxing reception room but now that the couple's daughter is older it is a very special and super sweet playroom for her.
The hall was awash with family photos in an array of different style and colour frames that fitted together like a perfect picture puzzle, creating a unique visual introduction to this home and a perfect mesh of images that created a beautiful overall piece of wall art. The photos have now gone ready for a potential new owner to visualise their accessories hanging on the wall.
The hub of the home is, of course, the kitchen diner and lounge area at the rear, created by walls being demolished and an extension built onto the back of the home.
The kitchen is a triumph of using upcycled and cost effective materials to produce a rustic industrial look - scaffolding boards used for shelving, the island unit and worktops, poured and polished concrete for the island worktop, leather strips for unit handles and second-hand sourced accessories are just some of the highlights.
The dining area is a fabulous eclectic mix of items too, featuring mismatching chairs each with its own design story that have been given to the couple or found in charity shops; ideal for a family home as there's no drama when they get bashed and disrespected.
The table is made from more leftover scaffolding boards for the top, built onto the legs of a snooker table found whilst rummaging through a reclamation yard.
And there's a utility area too - you just can't see it. This resourceful couple didn't want to eat into the space of this open-plan room so took down the entrance doorway and extended the kitchen carpentry into the under stairs area and that's where you'll discover the hidden appliances for a perfect washing day.
The home has had an eco-friendly wildlife garden on the roof of the single-storey extension for years. The outside pizza oven has created many a feast for the family and friends to enjoy in the alfresco dining area that flows seamlessly from the open-plan kitchen diner lounge, thanks to bi-fold doors and the use of the same flooring both inside and out.
The master bedroom is bathed in dark and moody grey and fully embraces the rich and deep tone as a backdrop to metallic accessories, with intrigue created by a feature mural on one wall and a statement, metallic fern central light.
Throughout Miffy has upcycled, reused and repurposed both furniture and materials to great visual effect and banked ideas and creativity as she has continued her interiors journey for future use. In 2019 the very humble yet talented interior designer shared her tips on creating an individual style in your home which you can read about here.
There have been other updates since the show as well as the front room morphing from adult to child space, such as the main living area now sporting a pink and black colour scheme, including the ceilings, rather than the navy and white first seen on the TV.
Plus the hall has been neutralised ready for sale by the removal of that tapestry of family snaps that first captivated the Best House in Town judges.
Miffy says: "I feel really sad and a bit gutted to be leaving Hastings. I always wanted to live in the gardens area of Penarth and one fell into our lap through friends and she was perfect. We made the decision to buy it before I'd even seen it - Gareth called me and described the parquet floor and fireplace and I told him to get it!
"I feel weird about selling it because it was our first home, goodness knows how many properties we have done now but they were never homes, they were renovation projects. We had visions of our family growing up here.
"It's been awesome living here, we love it, we really do and I am super sad but we've started to dream up a different home, our dream family home. An opportunity has come up and we need to go for it.
"Hastings has been in magazines and adverts as well as on the TV so the new owners may see it pop up somewhere - hopefully they don't mind! And hopefully they love it as much as we have."
Hastings is for sale for £550,000 with estate agent Shepherd Sharpe, Penarth, call them on 020 2070 7999 to find out more. And don't miss the best dream homes in Wales, renovation stories and interiors, join the Amazing Welsh Homes newsletter, sent to your inbox twice a week.
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