Posted 14 February 2022 by
Keith OsborneWhen they married in 2019, Chris and Hannah were keen to swap the urban for the suburban – but without completely relinquishing city life.
The pair had been living in a flat in the centre of Aberdeen, but were yearning for a commutable, well-served countryside home – something they found at Places for People’s Chapelton development just eight miles south of Aberdeen.
Three years on, we catch up with the pair to find out how they’ve made this Chapelton home their own with some incredible, bespoke designs.
Location, location, location
Chris (30) says it was the location of Chapelton that first caught his eye; the development is part of a long-term vision to create a new sustainable town, which will comprise of 8,000 homes as well as open green spaces, local shops and close-knit neighbourhood squares.
“I originally wanted to buy a house in town,” he said. “But when Hannah showed me Chapelton I changed my mind. We love the village; we’ve always thought it was special and everything just seems so perfect here. We know that the town is continuing to grow with different shops and restaurants planned for the future so it’s great to have everything we need close by.”
Chris is a self-employed joiner and works in and around the local neighbourhood, while Hannah (29) enjoys hybrid working as a housing officer, something which allows her to make the best of both the comfort of home, and the proximity of the city.
An individual approach to design
Now well settled into their abode, Chris and Hannah have really made their mark, fusing the original design with their own aesthetic; Chris explained: “I wasn’t originally keen on a new build, but when we visited Chapelton, I was instantly attracted to the unique features and quality.
“The higher ceilings, sash and case windows and wood burning stove made the home unique and sold it for us. As a joiner I’m particular about these things, but these homes were good quality compared to others.”
Their spacious three-bedroom house features a large open-plan kitchen/dining room with patio doors that lead out to the rear garden and garage as well as the couple’s favourite room – the lounge. “The home ticked all our boxes,” adds Hannah. “It fitted in our price range and was just perfect for what we needed.”
But it was the appeal of adding their own ideas that sealed the deal, with the pair’s shared love of the old and the new seamlessly fused in their home. “Our interior design is just our own personal style,” Hannah continued. “We don’t tend to copy anything, and it matches our personality.
“We really like antique items and wood tones. We go to antique fairs often to find new items and mix them with new quirky items and lots of colour. We have a lot of prints on the wall as well which bring out our personality and warm up the room. With new builds everything is a blank canvas, so we wanted to add our own style to it through different colours, darker pieces of furniture.
“Everything just seems so perfect. And the finishings are really attractive.”
Life in Chapelton
The pair say they have settled into Chapelton brilliantly, building friendships with their neighbours: “Everyone here is so nice and chatty,” Hannah continued. “I’ve quickly become best friends with Skye next door and Chris has just organised a bus tour for the lads in Chapelton for a bit of a bar crawl so it really is nice to have that community around us.
“We get involved in events like the Easter Egg Hunt and Scarecrow festival. The addition of The Boxes, which provides additional shops and cafes has also been great. It’s so handy and it’s nice to go out for a coffee and meet people – especially when I’m working from home.”
As a joiner Chris made their dining table himself – an impressive piece featuring wooden legs and topped with glass, as well as other pieces such as the hallway mirror – and now Hannah says his skills have appealed to neighbours who are keenly booking him in for work, meaning he’s building a brilliant commercial network around Chapelton: “Chris is also now working in a lot of the homes here,” she adds. “He’s getting to know more people. There are some great small business owners living here and it’s great that we all support each other.”
For now the couple have put down their roots and see themselves at Chapelton for a long time to come. “There’s just so much that makes us really happy;” concluded Hannah. “We see ourselves living here long term and would probably just get a bigger house in Chapelton if the time came. Once you’re here, you’re here forever. It’s just so nice to be so close to town but also in the country – it’s a great mix.”
Chris and Hannah’s top tips
Here are the couple’s top tips on adding your personal stamp to your home:
- Head to antique fairs to find original pieces
- Consider a new build home; they give you a brilliant blank canvas to work with
- Be individual and don’t follow the crowd, we feel everyone goes for the same thing, so we wanted to do our own things and whatever we like we just put it together.
- Start with the furniture and then work out your colour patterns, working your way through accessories and wall coverings
- Mix the old and the new: we wanted echoes of our old flat in our new house, so we added tiles into the hall; they aren’t typical ‘new build’ flooring but bear resemblance to the Georgian tiles in our last place
Chapelton is a long-term vision to create a new sustainable town, comprising 8,000 homes as well as all the amenities you would expect, with a range of two-, three- and four-bedroom homes currently available to move into. The show home and marketing suite is open Thursday to Monday between 10.00am and 5.00pm. Find out more from Places for People.
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