What I Own: My £345,000 house is 99% pink — my sons roll their eyes

This weekend, we’re in Uckfield in East Sussex visiting Emma Simonetti (Picture: Andrew Hasson) Welcome back to What I Own – Metro’s property series where we speak to homeowners about getting on the ladder. Emma Simonetti and her family rented for 15 years, and all that time, she hated having plain white walls. So, when the opportunity finally came to get on the property ladder in 2025, she jumped at the chance to decorate. By the time they’d settled on their £345,000 Uckfield home, she already had a plan. Everything would be pink, and she’d picked out the exact wallpaper she wanted before they even booked the removals van. Here’s what she had to say about their property journey… Tell us about yourself! I work in opera. I love languages, travelling, reading, karaoke, and dancing with my friends. I’ve got my two boys, who are nine and 12, and we love music and going to the theatre. Ready to start your homebuying journey? You can access completely fee-free mortgage advice with London & Country (L&C) Mortgages, a partner of Metro. Customers benefit from: – Award winning service from the UK’s leading mortgage broker – Expert advisors on hand 7 days a week – Access to 1000s of mortgage deals from across the market Unlike many mortgage brokers, L&C won’t charge you a fee for their advice. Find out how much you could borrow online Mortgage service provided by London & Country Mortgages (L&C), which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (registered number: 143002). The FCA does not regulate most Buy to Let mortgages. Your home or property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage. We previously rented for 15 years, but we were never able to buy. We’d spent all that time living in white rooms. After moving here, within about a month, we’d practically decorated the whole place. I kept thinking of more and more things to do, so that’s been a big hobby of the past year and a half. Emma got back on the housing ladder last year (Picture: Andrew Hasson) Your house is pretty much entirely pink. What inspired that? The house is very pink, and my boys are fine about it. They roll their eyes a bit, but they’re fine. They haven’t got pink bedrooms. Ask Metro Use AI to go deeper into the stories you care about – powered by Metro and trusted publications. When I got married, I thought I had to be a grown-up, and I got rid of so much stuff. When we got this house, I wanted to make it mine. I hadn’t set out to make it pink, I just wanted it to be colourful. I built a log cabin in the garden, and I’ve painted that pink on the outside. I’ve always been quite a girly girl. I owned a flat in Leeds, where I used to work when I was 20. People used to call it the pink palace. You’re like, really pretty (Picture: Andrew Hasson) Whereabouts is your property? What’s the area like? We wanted to live in Uckfield in East Sussex. I’m from a village down the road, and I moved away for a few years to Paris, Spain, and London. My sister lives around the corner, and my mum is 10 minutes away. My two best friends live here, and so does my other friend from my NCT class. I wanted the luxury of being able to walk to the supermarket. There are woods behind us, and the boys can climb over the fence into them. My view from my garden is just trees, and there’s nothing overlooking me. How much did you buy your property for? £345,000. Why did you decide on this house? How did you find it? I did a lot of looking on Rightmove. I think we only looked at three or four houses, but once I’ve made a decision, I’m a very in the moment person. I don’t dwell on things, or worry about the future. As soon as we decided on this house, I knew we’d make the best of it. We’ve got three bedrooms, and we had to have a bath, because I have a lot of baths. The house was on for £360,000, but we offered a bit less. I had actually picked a wallpaper before we’d decided on a house. How much was your deposit? It was 10%. What’s the monthly cost of living here? The mortgage is £2,080 per month. I pay £200 per month for gas and electricity. Water is about £400 per quarter. We used a mortgage broker, and our salaries – together with my now ex-husband’s – were decent enough. What’s your mortgage rate and term? 20 years, with a fixed rate at 5.19% until April 2027. Do you have a favourite room? The living room, just because I love it, and I think it photographs the best. It’s cosy, and I love my massive sofa, all my pictures, and my Dolly Parton portrait, which weirdly fell down last week. My favourite wallpaper is probably in the kitchen, so that’s my other favourite room, even though it’s tiny. Emma managed to rebuild her own Smeg fridge for free (Picture: Andrew Hasson) One of the things I always wanted growing up was a pink Smeg fridge. Buying a new one wouldn’t have been possible for me. I got one free blue one and one free pink one on Facebook Marketplace, and they both weren’t working properly. Everyone told me you couldn’t take them apart, but I just did it and combined them. Now it works perfectly. Do you feel like you have enough space? Yes. In our old house, we had a huge double garage, three bathrooms, and four bedrooms, so I had an office, too. We had so much space, and I do think you can spread to what you have. Ufurnish Awards 2026 In partnership with Metro, the ufurnish.com Home Awards 2026 showcase the homeowners, influencers, innovators, retailers and manufacturers transforming living spaces across the UK. Read more about the finalists on the Ufurnish website. Do you have any plans to change inside the home? If I had enough money, I’d do something with the kitchen, because there’s a bit of space at the back of the house. I would love to do the bathroom, as it’s navy tiles everywhere. It’s really nice, but not what I would have chosen. I’d change the taps to gold instead of silver, and there’s this pink basin I want. I’ve already bought it, but I have no way of fitting it at the moment. She’d love to change these tiles, as they’re not quite her style (Picture: Andrew Hasson) Have you had any issues since you’ve moved? There was a bit of damp on one of the walls, but we got some damp-proof paint. What are your plans for the future? Do you see yourself here long-term? I don’t have anything in my head to move anywhere. It will very much depend on what’s going on in our life at that time. It took me so long to get to this point, so I want to enjoy it. Shall we take a look around? Welcome home! (Picture: Andrew Hasson) Every room in their previous home was pretty much white (Picture: Andrew Hasson) They weren’t able to buy until last year (Picture: Andrew Hasson) By the time they’d moved in, Emma already had a plan (Picture: Andrew Hasson) Her sons roll their eyes a little bit about the pink (Picture: Andrew Hasson) …but they’re mostly fine (Picture: Andrew Hasson) Emma didn’t necessarily set out to make her home pink (Picture: Andrew Hasson) …but it did end up happening that way (Picture: Andrew Hasson) We’re loving the wallpaper in here (Picture: Andrew Hasson) Her old flat used to be called the ‘pink palace’ by friends (Picture: Andrew Hasson) Can we steal that ice cream table, please? (Picture: Andrew Hasson) Emma now lives about 15 minutes from where she grew up (Picture: Andrew Hasson) Disco disco disco (Picture: Andrew Hasson) The boys haven’t got pink rooms (Picture: Andrew Hasson) Now that’s a lot of cowboy boots (Picture: Andrew Hasson) Yee haw (Picture: Andrew Hasson) Their home is surrounded by nature (Picture: Andrew Hasson) …and her boys can climb over the fence into the woods (Picture: Andrew Hasson) Shower karaoke, anyone? (Picture: Andrew Hasson) It isn’t What I Own without the toothbrush shot (Picture: Andrew Hasson) The bathroom was already tiled blue when they moved in (Picture: Andrew Hasson) Anyone got a pen? (Picture: Andrew Hasson) Her boys have injected their own personality into their rooms (Picture: Andrew Hasson) Bisou bisou (Picture: Andrew Hasson) We’ll always have Paris, it’s true (Picture: Andrew Hasson) They only looked at three or four houses (Picture: Andrew Hasson) …but they knew this was the one for them (Picture: Andrew Hasson) They offered a little bit less on the home (Picture: Andrew Hasson) …as they managed to negotiate down (Picture: Andrew Hasson) The house was originally up for £360,000 (Picture: Andrew Hasson) A dramatic exit indeed (Picture: Andrew Hasson) Kitchen disco? (Picture: Andrew Hasson) We’re enjoying this mini chandelier (Picture: Andrew Hasson) Emma lived in a range of places before settling here (Picture: Andrew Hasson) Emma feels they have enough space (Picture: Andrew Hasson) …but in their old home, they had four bedrooms (Picture: Andrew Hasson) There’s a bit of purple out here, too (Picture: Andrew Hasson) Emma has created her own pink working space in the garden (Picture: Andrew Hasson) She doesn’t have any current plans to paint the inside pink, though (Picture: Andrew Hasson) Do you have a story you’d like to share? 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