I have followed Miffy on Instagram for a while now ( @miffyshaw ) Last June she won the weekly challenge on my hashtag 'Sassyhomestyle' with a photo of her fabulous kitchen shelves which brought me to the attention of her whole wonderfully renovated home...... I love her eclectic, beautifully designed family home and was so pleased when she agreed to me featuring her renovation story on the blog.

MIffy is a bit of a renovation expert as this is her 9th home renovation to date! She has lived here with her husband Gareth, two year old daughter Frankie and french bulldog Tugboat for the past four years and has no plans to move on this time.... Well, certainly not in the foreseeable future.

To say myself and Miffy have similar tastes is a little bit of an understatement, her home is full of the type of modern rustic decor I love- Miffy tells me she is inspired by rustic, industrial spaces and loves raw, natural materials like wood, stone, leather and metal...... You and me both Miffy!

I love all the little details in their home, the use of reclaimed materials, all of the pattern and accessories, and the fact that a lot of it is handmade makes it all the more personal and special to them...... So without further a do let me hand you over to Miffy..... 

My name is Miffy and I am completely obsessed with interiors and have been since I was a little girl! I used to work as an estate agent but had to give it up as I needed a kidney transplant so my husband and I decided we would start developing properties to move up the property ladder- we are currently on our 9th property and I Love it! 

I studied interior design in college and have done home courses- the only homework I have ever Loved! I have been doing interior design for the last 14 years on the properties we have purchased and more recently for other people. I eat, sleep and breathe interiors!

I live in a 1930’s semi with my builder and handyman husband Gareth, my 2yo daughter Frankie and Tugboat our Awesome French bulldog. We live in the coastal town of Penarth in South Wales which is a Beautiful town just outside of Cardiff. We bought it about 4 years ago and knew it was going to be home to our future family as all the other properties we'd bought previously were just projects to renovate and sell.

I have always lived in and around Penarth and have no desire to move, the thought of living through a renovation with Frankie scares me!!

The Kitchen is Miffy's favourite room in the house......  

I love it when the bi-fold doors are open and we have friends and family over for a BBQ or pizza party. The kitchen is the heart of the home and it’s where we eat and relax. We’ve used the same limestone flooring inside and out and used the same colour on the walls, so when it’s all opened up it feels like one big space.

Miffy and Gareth carry out all the renovations and DIY themselves apart from the the electrical and plumbing work, so nearly everything you see in their home has been built, fitted or made by them..... The Kitchen/living area was the biggest project, knocking through internal walls and adding a flat roof extension at the back with bifold doors. The flat roof has a wild flower garden planted on it which Miffy says looks unbelievably beautiful when they're all out in the summer.

Miffy told me about how they found their house and the renovation process......

A friend of mine kept telling me that she had a property that was going to go on the market but thought we would be interested in. We didn’t think we would be so didn’t see it for quite a while- there were no properties on the market at the time and had just sold so ga went to see it. I remember he phoned me and said ‘you’re gunna LOVE  it’ knew from that we Had to have it. It was just how we like them- full of crazy carpets and a lil' bit smelly!!

We completely renovated the whole house with the biggest job being the kitchen and garden. We knocked through the back reception room, kitchen, lean to and old coal shed to make our lovely kitchen. We knew we wanted one big living area for us to hang out in with an island and bi-fold doors out onto the garden. I am Super lucky having an Amazing builder as my husband who also used to be a landscape gardener. I remember designing the garden with him on a napkin up the pub- I so wish I still had that napkin!! It is exactly as planned with the whole garden being built around the apple tree which is one of the very few originals still remaining here. 

I asked Miffy about her style and how she decided on the decor for her home.....

I had a good idea of what I wanted when we started - very industrial, modern-rustic and using a lot of organic materials - stone and reclaimed wood. like Sharon I have a bit of a thang for exposed brick so we started hacking off the plaster and of course it had to have dark moody blue walls. I have always loved navy and seem to be drawn instantly to anything blue! I’m gunna be in trouble if I ever want to change the colour of my kitchen as almost everything is navy!!

When it came to doing the Bathroom Miffy had decided she wanted a feature concrete sink, this meant pinching a bit from the room next door to it to make it all fit, but it was worth it! She has teamed the industrial edge of the sink with reclaimed wood, patterned tiles, plants and a glamorous chandelier....... This is one of my favourite bathroom areas on Instagram...... Modern rustic at its best.

The most recent room to be decorated is daughter Frankie's 'big girl' bedroom. The room has a scandi feel but with a clever twist.... Miffy has teamed the traditional pink of a girls room on the fireplace and skirting boards with a  bold burgundy on the walls and ceiling, not something many of us would be brave enough to do, and it looks fabulous! 

On the feature wall Miffy has used a patterned wallpaper, adding a sense of fun to the room and of course Frankie's room still has the modern rustic touch alongside the glamour with a timber windowsill, rustic wood shelving, a jute rug and potted plants.

I asked Miffy where she finds her inspiration......

I love Instagram...... Hornsby Style was one of the first accounts I followed on Instagram and I immediately loved everything about Sharon’s style. (Awe thank you Miffy!)

 I LOVE EVERYTHING from @pea_style Anwen has the Best stuff and the best house! There are some super cool accounts local to me- Cardiff is making waves. @rockettstgeorge.co.uk is one of my go to’s and also @smallable_store I want Everything!!

There are plenty of lessons learnt whilst renovating, I know I've learnt a fair few over the years..... After nine renovations though Miffy is somewhat an expert and I asked her what her advice would be to anyone carrying out their first renovation....

I think the biggest lesson I’ve learnt is to be brave. Sometimes an idea feels a bit crazy but fortune favours the brave. Your home is a reflection of your personality so go with what you love and what makes you smile.

Great advice! I hope you have enjoyed Miffy's house tour as much as I have doing it, I'm quietly hoping for an invite to sip a few G&T's in her fabulous garden in the Summer that's for sure! What are your favourite parts of their home renovation? Do let me know in the comments section.

Thanks as always for reading, see you next week,

Sharon x

* Additional Photography by Becky Briggs...... Becky.briggs_photography@hotmail.com