What I Own: We pay £1,000pcm to live in our quirky ex-corner shop in Manchester

Welcome back to What I Own – Metro’s property series where we speak to homeowners about getting on the ladder.

Estelle Bilson grew up with parents who loved collecting antiques and as an adult, she’s chosen that vintage aesthetic for her own home.

She goes to car boot sales at least once a week to nab the best buys, and even salvaged a kitchen from a nearby property that was due to be demolished.

Estelle, in her late 40s, bought her first home in 2002. Now, she lives in an ex-corner shop in Manchester with her husband.

He bought it in 2003 for a humble £78,500, but since Estelle moved in 11 years ago, she’s given it a new lease of life with her retro interiors.

Here’s what Estelle had to say about her property journey…

Tell us about yourself!

My name is Estelle Bilson, and I’m the author of 70s House: A Bold Homage to the Most Daring Decade in Design.

I’m also a broadcaster (I’ve worked on the BBC’s The Bidding Room, among others), and I’m a designer.

Alongside my husband, I live in an ex-corner shop, two-and-a-half-bedroom home in Manchester.

Where is your property? What do you think of the area?

Our home is in South Manchester. We absolutely love the area, as it has everything we need, including shops, a park, great neighbours, and a great community.

Everyone is lovely locally, and there is a real sense of belonging here. There are also some great independent shops.

I rarely go, but we’re near the city centre if you want to go out, and we’ve great transport links. The only thing I’m missing is that I’d love to live by the sea.

When did you move in?

I moved in in 2015, and my husband has owned the house since 2003.

How much does your property cost?

It cost £78,500 back then, and it would’ve been a 1% deposit. In terms of bills, we’re not particularly extravagant.

For the deposit, my mother-in-law saved my husband’s rent money when he lived at home with her, and gave him back the money for a deposit — she knew he was useless at saving. He’s never moved since he bought.

Our mortgage and bills combined currently cost around £960 per month. This includes household bills, including council tax, gas, water and contents insurance, and things like Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Disney Plus. I know some of these are luxuries some can’t afford.

Our mortgage is a 30-year term, and we have around five years to go.

We don’t have any personal debt as we worked hard to get rid of that, and we now concentrate on saving money on the decorating by buying second-hand.

Prior to meeting my husband, I bought my first house in Bedfordshire at 22. At the time, it cost me £34,000, which I then sold.

I then bought another home before I moved to Manchester, which is one of the benefits of being old, I guess! But when I bought my first house, I was only earning £12,000 a year, and it was a real stretch for me to be able to afford it at the time. Everything is relative.

How did you find this property? What made you choose it?

My husband already lived here and owned it, and it was better to sell my house and live here together, than the other way around.

How have you made the property feel like home? What’s the inspiration for your interior decor style?

The decor has changed several times since I moved in, but has always retained a mid-century flavour, as that is where both of our loves lie. 

Over the years, we’ve made improvements such as adding patio doors, new doors and windows, rewiring and plastering — those never overlooked and unseen costs of having a beautiful home. 

I’m an avid DIYer, and I do a lot of the work myself, including painting and decorating, fitting carpet, and rewiring lights. Most of our furniture is preloved, and I go to multiple car boot sales each week to find unique vintage and antique pieces for our home.

I love to be able to style it up to make it look expensive and not like a junk shop. My favourite upcycle would be the kitchen, which we installed in 2024, after ripping the original 1976 kitchen out of a house in North Manchester, which was being demolished.

Our home is quintessentially us. I also really have a soft spot for the sets in Mad Men, inspiration-wise.

What’s your favourite room and why?

I go through phases, especially after I have initially completed something. My favourite would have to be the bathroom, which is a brown ombre French suite which cost me £20 from eBay. It has been fitted and styled in a style reminiscent of Studio 54, or the famous London fashion store from the 70s, Big Biba.

What’s your favourite piece of furniture in the house?

My Bauhaus, original Marcel Breuer long chair. I wanted one for years, and I found a wrecked one on eBay. My father (an ex-cabinet maker) and I restored it.

Do you feel like you have enough space?

Absolutely not! I would love a garage to sort all my finds, and a utility room or downstairs loo. I find storage is the biggest issue in the house.

Do you have plans to change the property?

Internally, there’s not much left to do. Our bedroom needs replastering this year, so that’s on the cards. We’ve tackled each room, giving it a quick makeover in some cases before saving the money to have it done properly. This was the case for the hallway and landing, as we made do for decades, and then once we saved up, we had it replastered.

I stripped all the wood and did all the decorating, even chopping up a £60 unit from Facebook Marketplace to cover our electric box, as we couldn’t afford the quote of £500 to have one custom-made.

Are there any problems with the property that you have to deal with?

It’s an old house, more than 120 years old, and there’s constant maintenance that comes with owning an older property. We had to have the chimney repointed and capped again last year, as we were getting damp coming in.

What do you want people to know about buying a home?

I’ve bought two in my time (not this one though), and it is stressful, but buy the worst house you can find in the best area.

Don’t try to get it perfect in one go, as you’ll end up making more costly mistakes that way. Live with it, see how the natural light works throughout the day, and use colour theory to see which ones look better in your light.

Our living room is north west facing, so blues look awful in there, which is why we decided to paint it a warm dark burgundy. If in doubt, paint everything white while you decide on a blank canvas.

What are your plans for the future, in terms of housing? Do you plan to stay here long-term? 

We’ve no plans to move at the moment, but we would love to relocate to the South West at some point.

Shall we take a look around?

Do you have a story to share?

Get in touch by emailing [email protected].

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