For newsworthiness, the construction of waterside homes in seaside towns normally falls into the coals-to-Newcastle category. But the Sovereign Harbour complex a mile east of the town centre is not directly on the sea and, in its division into Outer, Inner, North and West Harbours, mirrors London’s Docklands. “We are experiencing something of a shortage of good quality property, and we hope that more properties will become available at the end of the holiday season,” says Richard Rager of Rager & Roberts. His house is on sale for £650,000; e-mail: j.nisse independent.co.uk House Doctor is on Five at 8pm on Thursdays. There were common-sense things, such as getting rid of clutter or making the rooms look comfortable and spacious. These are just a case of her making you do things you know you really should have done ages ago And then there are her pet mantras. No strong colour, no personal details, don’t be controversial.We could have got out the magnolia paint We would have got rid of the Neisha Crosland We could have put the bar away But we won’t.
We have to live in the house before we sell it.Thanks for the advice, Ann. But were not blanding our home for anyone.Jason Nisse is business editor of ‘The Independent on Sunday’. She liked our bedroom, cooed over the nursery and merely suggested that we change the duvet cover in the spare room The study, though, was a different matter. We should pack everything away in boxes and store it otherwise people would think we didn’t have enough room.In the end, Maurice’s advice boiled down to two themes. It was better suited to a bachelor pad.After the pasting downstairs, upstairs got off lightly.
“Half the books are upstairs.” Get rid of the paperbacks, we were told. Accessorise them with a few ornaments.The John Piper lithograph had to go from above the fireplace Too busy So should all the family pictures. “People will evaluate the house by the people who live in it,” she said. Obviously we were not a saleable family.In the dining room, it was my turn to take a beating.
My bar, a stunning piece of 1950s kitch with a leopardskin front, and a beer fridge on top, was about to be Mauriced “I hate it,” she said I was out of keeping with our 1920s, family house. “You don’t have to have every book you own on display,” she said “We don’t,” we said. And then blow me down with a feather, my wife also fell into line “I’ve never been sure this worked,” she admitted “You’ve never told me that,” I blurted “I told someone,” she said. It was like family therapy.Fired by her success, Maurice launched into our bookshelves, which stretch over most of one wall of our living room. “If you have neutral colours nobody’s going to object to that.” My wife conceded a pale green. I just nodded.Elsewhere in the kitchen there was clutter to be removed and the pictures were too high Maurice is big on sight lines.
