Never Not Messy: How we balance renovating with real life and how you can survive, too

Welcome to the first in a new series of columns by David and Andrew Harrison-Colley, as they join Ideal Home's Open House to chart their renovation progress and share the knowledge gleaned from undertaking a lot of projects, big and small.

Hi, we’re Andrew and David, and we should probably admit this upfront: our house is never not messy.

Not in a “we’re on channel 5’s worst hoarders” way (we hope), but in the way real homes get messy when you actually live in them. Especially when you’re in the middle of renovating them – which we seem to do a lot.

It all started with our little flat in Brixton, which we swapped for two places in Suffolk - one now a holiday let, and the other . . . well, let's just say it’s a serious work in progress (complete with a demolished carpenter’s workshop and very unfinished extension). Stay tuned for more on that!

Embracing the lived-in look

We didn’t buy our cottage because we wanted perfection. We fell for it because it had potential – and a ton of character under the old carpets and the suspiciously spongy bathroom floor.

Our approach to making a home has always been about layers. Vintage pieces with history. Second-hand bargains with stories. A few newer, on-trend pieces to keep it feeling fresh.

But that also means it’s never going to look minimalist or matchy-matchy. And honestly? We’re okay with that.

We like rooms that feel collected over time. We want our space to show who we are, not just what Pinterest says is in.

The balance of old and new

That said, there’s a fine line between “eclectic” and “please call the producers of The Hoarder Next Door”.

We’ve learned (often the hard way) that not every vintage find belongs in our house – even if it was £5 at a car boot sale.

Our rule of thumb?

• Don’t buy everything at once. Let rooms grow and change over time.
• Mix old and new to stop it feeling like a museum. Pair vintage tables with modern chairs, or vice versa.
• Edit regularly – even if you love a bargain, not everything needs to stay forever.
• Leave space around things – warm-white walls, empty corners - so it feels calm, not cluttered.
• Only keep what you really use or love. If it’s just gathering dust, rethink it.

We really believe that’s what makes a home feel personal. For us, that means a simple dining table with mismatched old chairs, or a second-hand sofa made contemporary with a few neutral cushions. It’s not about following rules. It’s about balance.

The unavoidable chaos of real life

And then there’s the mess.

We don’t hide the fact that we actually live in our house. There’s usually a project on the go (meaning tools scattered from room to room), plants that are trying to die on us, and Amazon boxes that we swear we’ll recycle later.

Because making your home feel lived-in means, well, living in it.

We don’t want rooms that look too precious to sit in. We want friends to feel like they can put their feet up on the coffee table (even if it’s an upcycled antique trunk).

A home that feels like us

In the end, that’s the point of all of this. We don’t want our house to look like anyone else’s. We want it to feel like us.

That means it’s never perfectly tidy. It’s a bit of old and new, a lot of second-hand, and a constant work-in-progress.

And if you’re okay with that too, you’ll probably like hanging out here with us.

What we’ll share here

In this column, we’ll keep telling the honest story of our renovation.

We’ll show you the vintage bargains we couldn’t leave behind (and where we found them).

We’ll share how we mix them with modern pieces to avoid that overstuffed “junk shop” vibe.

We’ll be real about the mess, the compromises, the small wins that keep us going.

Because we think your home should tell your story - even if that story is a little messy.

David & Andrew