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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing [email protected]

Comment now
Comments

Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google
Add as preferred source