Whether for your own use, or a holiday rental, it’s important to create a space that’s welcoming and calming, yet practical.

Your home from home

As it’s for your private use, a second home should be designed to suit your taste. But perhaps it’s a change to go for something a little more daring than you’d have in your main residence. Holidays are about fun and spontaneity, and nothing shouts a good time more than some injection of colour and some characterful accents here and there.

A holiday home tends not to have all the paraphernalia we accumulate in our main homes. But you still need to think about good storage so you can put things away, dust free, for the periods it isn’t being used. You will also need plenty of seating and beds if you often have family and friends join you.

Whether you intend to start from scratch, or mix new with a few pieces from your existing home, I can help pull everything together into a cohesive design aimed at easy living. That might just be curtains and blinds but I can also provide furniture, bed linen and towels, kitchenwares, decorative accessories, pictures on walls and lighting.

Your holiday let

A holiday rental property should appeal to all tastes. Make it discerning and sumptuous, considering all seasons if you wish to rent it out all year round. It’s important to make it feel cosy in the colder months. Add all those special touches, to ensure guests have everything they need to make their stay really enjoyable and memorable.

Having a holiday let of my own here in Ventnor, I know what to provide for guests. Plus I have installed hundreds of buy-to-let properties for private landlords over the years, so I have a great deal of experience in pulling together a ‘house pack’ of everyday basics, from crockery and pots & pans, to bed linen and towels. Having dressed showhomes for house builders for more than 30 years, presenting a property for visual appeal is something I can almost do in my sleep.

It is important to ensure guests feel at home and have everything they need. This just needs to be everyday basics as it is unlikely they will be cooking gourmet meals. But there are also some additional touches that make a holiday extra special for guests.

Turn-key installation

If you are having major work done, and your permanent home is on the mainland, it is challenging to oversee work being done here on the Island. I can help take that worry away by liaising with your builder and tradespeople, and send a regular video update so you can visually check how things are progressing.

As part of my installation, furniture will be placed in position, kitchenwares unboxed, washed, and put away in cupboards, bulbs added to lighting, towels laid in place, bedding ironed, and beds made. Curtains and blinds will be fitted and artwork hung on the walls.

After installation all packaging and rubbish are taken away and disposed of according to local regulations, and the property is dusted and vacuumed ready for occupation.

Home finder service

If you are looking to buy a second home on the Island I can help you in your search. If you are serious about buying a place, then you need to be registered with as many Island estate agents as you can. It’s no good waiting for properties to appear on the likes of Rightmove as you will miss out to other buyers already on agents’ books. The most desirable properties often sell before being listed online.

You need to react fast when a potential property comes onto the market. Yet you may not be in a position to drop everything at a moments notice and make a trip over to the Island for a viewing. To wait until the weekend could result in you losing it to someone else.

I can help you by conducting an initial viewing on your behalf, saving you a wasted trip should a property not be right for you. You would be in control of briefing the estate agent; I would simply view and appraise a property and email you a written report, along with a short video of each room.

With 30 years experience designing show homes, I am well versed in understanding houseplans and architect’s drawings, and I can provide you furniture layouts allowing you to reimagine using the property yourself.

Cheeky as this might sound, but if the property sounds perfect after my appraisal, and you’re in a position to proceed quickly, then I advise you put in an offer even before you actually see it. Then view it in the flesh at your earliest opportunity. You are not committed to buying it at that stage, but this gets you ahead of the rest and will increase your chances of getting it.