Loran McElroy may only have moved around the corner, when she purchased her brand-new home, but she collected her keys on the same week England went into its first Covid-19 lockdown.

One of Persimmon Homes’ latest ambassadors, Loran shares her journey from moving into her Kendal style house at the Bardolph View development in Burton Joyce, Nottinghamshire, to launching her first Instagram page - renz_home - and reveals how her home is the perfect platform to reveal her inner creativity.

“We were so relieved to be able move into our new home,” explained Loran. “March 2020 was such a strange and worrying time for so many. We were so close to moving and were concerned that it would all stop as the pandemic was taking its grip on the country. It was such a relief that the Persimmon team helped to ensure we could successfully move in.”

“We got our keys and were eager to start making the house our home and then everything closed. So our plans for new floors, wardrobes and decorating took a little longer, as everything was delayed.”

“Fortunately, the spacious layout of the four-bedroom Kendal house type, which is what first attracted us to the property, really came into its own during lockdown. The four of us all had our own space, unlike our previous home.”

“I have always been a big Pinterest fan and love making things, so I think my creative streak was just bursting to come out and our blank canvas new home was the catalyst I needed.”

“Working from home enabled me to get to know my neighbours quicker, obviously at safe distances, and I came to realise there were quite a few others at the Bardolph View development using Instagram to capture their home styling journey.”

Loran launched her Instagram page renz_home about eight months ago and is already close to 1,500 followers, proving there is a growing appetite for her upcycling ideas and simple but effective design tips.

“I have found the home community on Instagram so friendly and supportive. Everyone is willing to share their experiences and tell you where items were purchased. I can quite easily lose myself on Instagram and Pinterest as I feast on other accounts for new design inspiration.”

“I really believe you don’t have to pay mega bucks to get the looks you are after. I love to upcycle and would suggest other people to be brave and experiment.”

“I recently used wool to upgrade a plain ribbed lampshade, creating a more textured and tactile finish. I shared the project, with my learnings, in my stories on Instagram and was delighted with the interest and support I received.”

“I’m thrilled that my daughter also shares the same creative passion. Our first joint project was upgrading a black leather footstool. My daughter had a sewing machine for her birthday so upcycling the pouffe in a soft white material, from Fabric Galore, seemed like a good challenge to test her sewing skills. We worked together but I left her to do the sewing alone and I was very impressed with the finish.”

“This inspired me to reupholster an ottoman from baby pink and gold to a grey pinstripe and black fabric, from Pound Fabrics. I replaced the feet and in total spent £136, a lot cheaper than buying a new version. My daughter made some complementary cushion covers – she is quickly becoming an expert on her sewing machine.”

Panelling is fast becoming the must-have feature for walls so, when Loran wanted to create a statement kitchen dining room wall, she knew she wanted panelling but not in the traditional way.

The panels form a collection of diagonal geometric shapes on the wall, painted in the same Farrow and Ball ammonite paint as the wall and