My Own Home takes you inside a reader-owned property to ask how much they paid, why they decided to buy and what they have done with it since moving in
Product designer George Evans, who works for Careem, bought his first UAE property with his wife, Emily, a graphic designer with Spinneys, in May last year. They paid Dh2.4 million for a four-bedroom home in Noor Townhouses, in Dubai's Town Square community, and still love it as much as they did on the day they moved in with their children Max and Harry.
The family had previously rented for years in Town Square, but had to move out so their landlord could sell the property, at a time when they could not buy it themselves. After a brief stint in Damac Hills 2, they returned to the community to buy their dream home.
The National takes a look around.
Please tell us about your home
It’s a four-bedroom, four-bathroom town house, with a maid's room, that spans about 273 square metres.
Why did you decide to buy a property?
The same reason as everybody, I think. We lived in Town Square before and the rental prices had begun to rise to a point that we couldn’t justify the cost, so we moved to Damac Hills 2.
The distance and quality of the community made us want to move back to Town Square, so it seemed like the most sensible option financially.
Why did you choose Town Square?
Having two kids, we really appreciate somewhere with a community feel. We also love the location as it’s right on the green belt between communities.
What facilities do you have access to?
The community has great amenities. It has three swimming pools, two gyms, tennis courts, football pitches and basketball courts.
The square in the centre of Town Square is a lovely 10-minute walk away and we have access to restaurants, parks, a splash pad, carousel and train ride. It really has everything we need.
What renovations have you done?
We recently completed renovations downstairs. We changed the flooring and gutted the kitchen, going for built-in appliances, moving the sink to the other side of the kitchen and making more effective use of space by building an island.
We also added a tonne of storage around the TV wall, and added built-in units in the guest bedroom with a Murphy [pull-down] bed so it can be a space for the kids to play most of the time. We’ve done some minor upgrades to the bedrooms as well, by laying new flooring and painting the walls.
The goal was to try to design the house around the family’s needs. We were really lacking storage so there were a lot of opportunities to incorporate that throughout the kitchen, TV wall and by adding a bench in the guest room.
We improved the lighting in the kitchen and under the TV unit, which was then connected via smart plugs. We can control all this through our Amazon Echo. We also created a dedicated space for our robot vacuum that we run on a nightly schedule. This has become an essential item in keeping on top of the mess made by the kids.
How was the renovation process?
The renovation only took around three weeks. We used a company called KPLR, which did a great job sticking to a fairly demanding schedule. Of course, with any renovation there are minor issues along the way, so we had to stay close to the project. A lot of preparation in design and face-to-face discussions with KPLR helped us avoid any major issues.
How would you describe your interior design style?
We drew some inspiration from modern interior design as well as some Scandinavian elements. Pinterest was a lot of help in designing our space.
What else would you like to change about the house?
We will eventually tackle the maid's room, which is currently functioning as an office, as well as the bathrooms. However, they're in pretty good shape, so it would just be cosmetic.
Also, even though we have made some minor upgrades to the garden with artificial grass, lighting and a tiled seating area, we will eventually look at completely redesigning this space to incorporate an outdoor kitchen, improved lighting and overall aesthetic improvements. It’s a decent size and a good space for the kids to play, but currently quite basic.
How long do you plan to stay in this property?
Indefinitely. We have been in Dubai for about nine years now. Both of our kids were born here. We have our house. We’re very settled and we love living here, so there are no future plans for relocation right now.
