DARE TO DREAM: Marlybeau Cottage case study

Tired of waiting for the dream property to come on the market, Carly built her own home with
her husband in her parents garden. Now as the project nears completion, client Carly, says it’s
like a shrine to Avalana Design and she couldn’t be happier.

First-time self-builders Carly and her carpenter husband were left feeling perplexed when their
property search resulted in dead ends. Everything on the market was either already
modernised, lacked any character or was over budget. They eventually looked into purchasing
half of Carly’s mum’s land.

The location in Beckenham is in a historic site and Carly had such a personal connection so it
seemed like they had the location, just not the house. They had never built a house before but
luckily Carly’s husband had worked on building sites and together they quickly learnt the
planning and building regulation basics. In May 2020 they began work on building their dream
home right next door to Carly’s mum.

Carly said: “My mum’s house, next door is a beautiful old cottage so the main objective was to
design it in keeping with the surrounding properties. We matched the brickwork and clay tiles as
best as possible and used windows with heritage bars to give an older effect. We set out to
create a two bedroom bungalow but we tweaked the drawings and made it a three bedroom
which was a genius idea as this is now called the black and gold swan room. We also decided
to go open plan with a vaulted ceiling and a few other minor changes so there were moments of
going back to the planners to tweak.

The couple remained on site throughout the project and kept up their day jobs – Carly an interior
designer and her husband a carpenter. They moved into the property in June and started work
on the stunning and unique interior scheme.

Avalana Design – Lake Santharia Gold Wall Mural & Swan Lovers Cushion

Avalana Design – Pink Banana Leaves Wall Mural

In Carly’s words, she’s a neutral no go and confident color addict. She loves Art Deco and
modern maximalism.

Carly said: “I first spotted Avalana Design on Instagram, I somehow came across her page and
saw her drawing the most beautiful birds on her golden Orient design. I instantly fell in love and
knew how unique her murals were, and after looking at just about every wallpaper and mural on
the planet I always knew I would dedicate at least one room to her fabulous designs. However,
four rooms later I had to stop myself in case it ended up looking like an Avalana museum.”
“Working with Avalana Design on a project means it’s a completely bespoke service and a
unique approach to wallpaper design. You provide a photo of the space and the overall

dimensions you need making sure you point out any obstructions like headboards and Avalana
will design it tailor made to your walls and will also tweak the colour way to suit your style. I am
totally obsessed so I even used it on the fifth wall – my ceilings. The result draws the eye around
the whole room and up, it’s so unique.”

Avalana Design – Bespoke Cantaloupe Jaguar Ceiling Mural

Avalana Design – Cantaloupe Jaguar Wall Mural 

To follow Carly’s extraordinary home journey, give her a follow on the gram!

If you love the look of the above, all of these murals can be ordered as a sample. If you have any
questions about your project, please do not hesitate to contact me!