It was the start of the hottest weekend of the year so far and although it felt like summer, unbelievably it was only late March. Strolling in the morning sunshine, I made my way to the Belmont area of Hastings, to meet Ashia Redhead and family to find out about their move from East London to the south coast and their subsequent house renovation. 

Ashia, a social worker, her partner Jason, a self-employed courier, Ashia’s mum Moni, a florist, along with their young daughter Zyra moved to Hastings from London to start a new life in January 2020. Pre-empting the pandemic driven exodus from the capital by nearly a year, they got a head start on many who made a beeline for the south coast. 

Moving when they did meant they got a bargain by today’s market-value, snapping up an unloved three-bed Victorian semi with tonnes of potential, just 15 minutes’ walk from the beach and the charming narrow streets of old town Hastings. “Literally all the character was taken out of it,” Ashia explains. “Everything was magnolia, it was a holiday home for the former owner, and he’d gone back to America.”

The house itself is easy to spot. The colour palette is a rich navy blue for the walls with a vibrant orange front door. “Our neighbour was painting his house and we complimented how neat it was. He said he could do ours.” 

The sense of community surprised them both from the moment they arrived in the area, “As soon as we moved in, we had cards through the door saying welcome to the street, and people say good morning every day here!”

On entering the house I sat down to talk with Ashia in the lounge, many people’s favourite room and you can immediately see why. The walls are Farrow & Ball Bancha Green giving the room a rich feeling, contrasting delightfully with the floor length yellow curtains and the ever-so-comfy family sized sofa in mustard. The velvet tangerine armchair is a bold addition and gives another pop of colour to the room. 

Ashia describes herself as a maximalist and this room is the epitome of what she loves – a house full of interesting things. There are exposed floorboards throughout the property and the lounge is no exception, a cashmere rug from Roberts Rummage in Hastings only adds to the hospitable energy the room exudes. 

The early 20th century desk is an eBay purchase which fits perfectly into the alcove next to the chimney breast, juxtaposing with the Apple computer nicely. Antiques and trinkets fill spaces in the room and yellow candles are neatly lined up on several surfaces.

To the left is a stunning piece of traditional Japanese artwork – a pink flower which one feels may have been the inspiration for the colour choice. 

Ashia and Jason’s is the final bedroom, decorated in a dark blue-grey which makes the room feel contemporary and intimate. There are also a number of pieces of furniture they have purchased locally, “I think one of the first pieces we bought was the chest of drawers, it’s from 20th Century Funkin Junk. We love it and it fits in the alcove perfectly. It is mid-century and so is the bed design.”

The wardrobe, along with a few other items, is from Emmaus, a charity which gives their profits to the homeless. The bed throw is from Morocco and has travelled with Ashia through her life in London, “It’s wool and is super warm, I love it and I want to go back to Morocco to get more bits.”

Textiles are particularly important to Ashia, “They make the room. That’s why I love wool, it just brings a cosy richness. Without that bedspread, it would look like a totally different room. I think they just add a lot of character to things. I’m drawn to natural materials. All of our stuff is mainly natural, like linen, wool, cotton or wood – obviously, you can see we love wood.”

As we go downstairs we enter the penultimate space, the dining room, “It was originally burgundy and it was very dark in here. We freshened it up with Mylands paint. We’ve been working with Mylands through our Instagram account and they’ve been giving us paint in partnership for content. I used to use Farrow & Ball a lot, but now, I’m a convert. This is Grouse on the wall and Pediment on the ceiling.”

The flooring in the dining room is hard-wearing jute from Knotistry, the table is from Made and the chairs are vintage Ercol, on the wall there is a tongue-in-cheek illuminating Mona Lisa which looks over the family as they eat dinner.

In the kitchen they have upcycled the old laminate units, refreshing them with Haymarket yellow from Mylands, “So we’ve kept the cupboards and painted them and we’re going to get a new wood worktop and new sink. And then we’re going to pull up the flooring and get new tiling,” says Ashia.

Outside is a container garden, offering privacy as well as being a total suntrap in the summer. They have added decking and lots of pot plants to create a green space, with festoon lighting adding that bit of fun – a great place to kick back and chill.