I’ve spent £25k transforming my boring beige home into a pink paradise – I’ve always been obsessed with the colour

A MUM has transformed her drab family home into a pastel pink paradise.

Haylea McDonald, 36 from Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, has spent the last four years designing and creating her dream house.

The creative beautician and her husband, James McDonald, 41, have forked out more than £25,000 on pink items and rose gold renovations including a new kitchen and conservatory.

It was her life-long obsession with the girly colour that inspired the home makeover.

She said: “I used to be a ballerina when I was younger and I have always worn pink outfits – it’s just always been my favourite colour.

“It’s my thing, it’s what I’m known for and it’s something I’ve never grown out of.

FABULOUS BINGO: GET A £5 FREE BONUS WITH NO DEPOSIT REQUIRED

“I love French country-style homes but I find them bland so I wanted to take that style and add my own touch.

"I’m not into super bright, Barbie-style pink.

"I don’t think of my home as tacky."

However, her husband wasn’t always on board with the girlish décor and needed some convincing.

Haylea said: “I think a lot of girls would have their dream home if they didn’t live with someone who put their foot down all the time.

“I’ve always loved pink since a really young age – we’ve been together 18 years and he met me that way.

“I wanted to be different - initially, I just wanted a pink door but he said no.

“Then one day, I think he got sick of me asking and ended up painting it himself.

“We’re known for being different and now a few houses around the village now have pink doors too.”

Haylea shows off her blush-pink palace on Instagram and whilst the responses are mainly positive, the beautician admits that some are not happy that men also live there.

She said: "There have been a few comments about my husband - some people tell me that my man isn't a man because he lives in a pink house.

"Others don't believe I actually live there with a kid because it's so clean.

"Overall, I've been quite lucky because most people love it - there's just the occasional nasty remark."

Every room including the garden fits the mum-of-one's cotton-candy aesthetic, except her son's bedroom.

Mason, 6, is the only man in the house that Haylea cannot fully convince with the pink theme.

Haylea said: “He moans about it from time to time but he’s very laid back.

“I don’t want him to get bullied – his bedroom is grey and white but I add terracotta orange pieces in his room so it doesn’t stray too far from the theme.

“Thankfully, he doesn’t really care and sees it as a good thing – it’s nice to be different."

The couple have already spent more than over £25,000 since buying the house four years ago however, she claims that there is still more work to do.

She said: "Every day off we have, we do something for the house.

"We’re only halfway done – we want a loft extension for another story and there’s still lots to do.

"It’s all planned – I want to add in pink wardrobes, and a pink-tiled en-suite with a gold shower.";

Whilst Haylea admits that she’s spent a fortune on the make-over, she is proud of her crafty ideas which saved her some cash.

She said: "I made the sofa out of a pair of curtains - some wacky pink things are hard to come by so we had to make a lot of stuff ourselves."

"I look on Instagram and there's a few pink based companies I like to buy from but I also love Primark they’re the best for cheap candles and accessories.

"I love Home Bargains just as much as everyone else but everyone ends up getting the same things and I like to be unique."

Haylea is now thrilled with her dream home and has even encouraged other women to follow in her footsteps.

She said: "I've received messages from women who have showed pictures of my home to their husbands.

"They've used my pictures to show you can have a pink girly house in a non-tacky way.

"Your house should reflect yourself and that’s what mine does - I'm so happy with it."

For more house stories, check out we’ve turned our dated house into a dream home on a budget – we’d never done DIY before &; added £45k to the value

Plus, I transformed my dull, worn out bedroom into a cosy space for less than £100 using bargains from ALDI, Wilko and IKEA

This savvy woman turns kitchen from drab to fab with Amazon and Dunelm bargains and it saved her £1.3k