Words Hannah Nixon

Photography Rachel Ferriman

In her own unique way, Akilah is pushing back on the before/after one-click content that dominates social media. Followers have come to recognise her signature brown bonnet and paint-splattered Adidas tracksuit – a uniform that helps provide a much more relatable and realistic picture of what it is to live in a home while renovating.

Recently, we asked Akilah to choose one of our doer-uppers to explore on camera. She picked Chesterton Road, a Grade II-listed modernist home designed in the 1970s by the erstwhile Cambridge University professor, Marcial Echnique. The house pays homage to Walter Segal’s methods of construction and centres around a double-height reception hall with glass-paned external walls that give way to views of the garden and park beyond. It is in original condition and is being sold with plans for a kitchen extension that have been approved by Echnique himself.

The Modern House spent the day with Akilah (who works in fashion) and Desmond (an A&E nurse and Akilah’s videographer) exploring Echnique’s “grown-up tree house” in Cambridge. Find out what Akilah makes of the house here and read on to hear about her own doer-upper in north London.

How did this all start?

“I’ve always enjoyed storytelling, and I think when I was growing up, there wasn’t space for people that looked like me. Social media presented a democratising opportunity.  It was during the pandemic that I think I discovered some of my storytelling skills …

“Initially, I was just making story content for my friends – long video tours of the house. Then everyone kept asking: ‘What’s going on with your house?’ I was shocked that people were pleased with where we were up to. To begin with, it felt like we just needed to get the renovation done quicker. We thought, people are going to want to see the finished product, but I’ve come to realise that actually, it’s the process that everybody wants to see. I guess that’s the joy of stories, isn’t it? It’s the friction. That’s where the intrigue is: the struggle, and (hopefully) the triumph.”

What were your first impressions of the house?

“I remember standing outside the house and saying to Desmond, ‘We can’t buy this. We can’t. We cannot buy this.’ And he said, ‘No, we can!’ I looked over at him and he was facing the other way, looking at a house on the other side of the road! He said, ‘You’ve just got to imagine that one day, it will look like that house.’ But imagination is not the problem – it’s finance!  If we weren’t naive, and we weren’t future-focused, we wouldn’t even have started.”

How much of the renovation have you undertaken yourselves?

“Desmond and I spent our weekends doing all the demolition, taking it right back to the brick. After that, we realised the rebuild was a skilled task. We had to have the house replumbed, rewired, plastered, a new roof and we had to take some walls down as all our joists needed replacing. Some of the walls had started to shift, so we had to have those reinforced. Now we’re at a point where it’s back to us.”

As you’re still mid-renovation, what’s the vision for the interior design?

“The way that I dress is very, very bright but that’s not how I’ve decorated. Over time, I think I’ll introduce lots of colour to the house but right now, I want a restful home. We’re leaving the walls with exposed lime plaster. I love the texture of it, the organic-ness of it. You can see the movements of the trowel and imperfections in the wall.

“I really love space-age design – a lot of the lights are vintage space-age pieces that I’ve found in Eastern Europe. I want my eye to rest and, if it falls on something, I want it to be intentional.”

Tell us about your renovating look.

“ To begin with, it actually was just what I was wearing because the house was absolutely freezing, and I was doing DIY.  We’d done some content before, and I had to get ready all the time and I was like; I just can’t be bothered. That’s not who I am. I want to be authentic. I want to tell the truth about where I am and who I am and where I’m not. I can be glamorous, but I’m also prepared to look like this and go down to the high road to get some chips.  I’m not embarrassed by the way that I look. I just wanted it to be genuine. I didn’t do it to be radical, but I think it’s amazing how much other people have related to the outfit. I think people feel that they themselves have to be complete, even if the property isn’t.”

Do you have a favourite tool?

“ A scraper, but it’s not like a standard scraper: it’s got a flat side and different shapes. One side is straight, one side is curved, and one side is angled. So, you can get right into the corners when you’re scraping and stripping. Tools are wonderful – if you have the right tool, you don’t struggle. You can do anything.”

What’s your dream house purchase?

“In the future, I want to do a partial side return and have a little courtyard that has a canopy window so you can have an indoor-outdoor bar situation. I’d like a set of high stools for outside, and in my mind, they are the Dirk van der Kooji Chubby ones.”

What are the benefits of a slow renovation?

“I’m glad we’ve lived here whilst doing the work because I’m like, ‘Oh, OK, I need this here; I need that to work this way.’ Slow renovation allows us to respond to the needs of the house and our lifestyles, it also keeps you laughing. Though I have found it, at times, very desolate because when you’re buying the house, you picture it finished. You’re don’t think about having to swap your shoes every time you walk through the house because so many of the rooms are covered in dust. You know, that’s not the vision that sells you a house! But as I’ve gained a sense of community on social media, I’ve realised there’s nothing wrong with the pace. It’s just life.”

Follow Akilah on Instagram and TikTok