Our Nest: Building character into Savannah and Tristan’s Bellway Dingley

In the latest edition of Our Nest, we meet first-time buyers Savannah and Tristan, who have taken the blank canvas of their new build Bellway property and created a family home with space for everyone to relax, play, and grow. From personalised touches to space-expanding projects, this capable couple have embraced the potential of their brand-new home, and you’re certain to be inspired by their impressive achievements.

Searching for the perfect home in which to raise their new son, Tyler, Savannah and Tristan chose a Bellway Dingley, which boasts three bedrooms, an open-plan kitchen and dining area, and a separate living room, plus two bathrooms and a downstairs cloakroom – which as anyone living with children will agree, is almost essential for a smooth family life. From the moment they reserved their plot, they’ve been documenting their exciting first home journey over on Instagram at @homesby.st.

Savannah tells us, “Before buying our Bellway home, we were living with parents to save money. Finding out we were having a baby pushed us even more to save for our first home.

“Buying a new build property was the right decision for us because we wanted to able to design the interior how we liked, without having to change someone else’s décor that they chose, plus everything would be brand new and unused.”

With a young baby to consider, the couple wanted to make sure that their new home would meet the needs of a growing family – both inside and out.

“One of the main reasons we chose our Bellway Dingley was because of the property’s location. Our plot is set on the first row of houses in our estate, opposite open green space with a beautiful children's play park.

“We also loved that our house style has wide doors and openings inside, and the huge downstairs cloakroom was also a bonus for the days when we would go on walks with a buggy.”

A garden playroom built with love

As Tristan is a carpenter by trade and works for his family’s building company, they soon set about putting their own stamp on their home.

“The best thing about owning a new build home is being able to start from scratch, on a blank canvas. We’ve been able to bring our own ideas to life and make it our home.

“We like to go for a modern industrial style, and the inspiration mostly comes from Tristan. Due to his job he visits a lot of upscale homes across the county and sees many different interior styles.”

Tristan has used his talents and creativity to create a number of pieces of bespoke furniture for their home, including a beautiful wooden dining table and matching bench, which are topped with herringbone flooring. 

However, his most spectacular creation is the garden playroom, which he designed and built for their little boy, and is complete with bi-folding doors, a heated patio and hanging egg chair!

“We are so proud of our garden, which took three months to complete,” Savannah explains. “Tristan did most of the work by himself on weekends – with the occasional help of his dad - and even worked through the rain and snow to get it finished. I then helped with painting and decorating the inside of the playroom.

“The garden is so beautiful to look at! There’s enough room for all three of us to relax and have fun. The playroom is just steps away from the house, the artificial grass area is easy to maintain and our toddler son loves to kick about his football on the large paved area. Not forgetting the hanging egg chair where we can sit and look up at the sky, and listen to the birds singing.

“Our garden playroom was something we always wanted to have, because we didn’t want to have hundreds of toys in our living room anymore. It has helped, but I can confirm we do still have toys in our living room – although nowhere near as many!”

For the foreseeable future, Savannah and Tristan are focusing on interior decorating projects to further add character to their home, and they were glad to share some tips to help future Bellway homeowners create their own dream décor.

“Our advice for anyone starting to decorate a new build home is to visit places to get inspiration, search online for ideas, and make sure to be well informed of what you are planning to do before starting out.

“Most importantly, love the experience, make it fun, and make it yours!”

You can follow Savannah and Tristan’s Bellway home journey over at @homesby.st, and for more inspiration from real Bellway homeowners, take a look around Abbi and Jack’s fabulously eclectic Bellway Misbourne, or hop inside Shantelle and Hugo’s Bellway Japonica which they share with two very special family members: their house bunnies, Crisps and Brie.

If you’d like the chance to be featured in a future edition of Our Nest, share your interior style with us @bellwayhomes using our dedicated hashtag #mybeautifulbellway.