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Welcome back to What I Rent – Metro’s tenant diary series exploring what renting is like in the UK and further afield.
Trix Eden Breuls has a knack for putting her own stamp on a rented property.
Her one-bedroom flat in Margate has a plant in every corner and her own artwork on the walls, while lamps and trinkets fill shelves and surfaces.
In previous houses, the photographer and content creator has even painted rooms and used peel-and-stick tiles.
Trix is proof that with a few touches, you can make any house feel like a home.
Here’s what she had to say about her renting journey…
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Tell us about yourself!
I’m 29, and I’m a professional wedding photographer and Instagram influencer. I used to be a registered nurse, but after the pandemic, I went full-time with my passions.
I live in Margate. I’m originally from Belgium, but I fell in love and made the move to the UK. In August, I’ll have been here for two years.
How do you find the UK compared to Belgium?
It was more of a culture shock than I initially thought it was going to be. In Belgium, it can be a little more closed-minded. For example, I’m quite heavily tattooed, which is more normalised here. I feel way more at home in the UK, because I think it fits my personality better.
In Margate, if you walk into any shop or a waiting room, everyone always says hello, which doesn’t always happen back home, so that’s been really nice too.
How much do you pay to live there?
My rent is £850, and I live here by myself. My bills come to around £240, and my deposit was one month’s rent.
Do you feel like you have a good deal?
Yes, it’s very spacious. My double bed is in the middle of my bedroom, not even touching a wall.
My old flat was a two-bed, so it had a desk area, which I miss. But moving made me realise that you actually don’t need that much space. I did a big purge and got rid of a lot of stuff that I hadn’t used in years.
What do you think of the area?
There are a lot of creatives here, and Margate is very up-and-coming. It’s had quite a bad rep over the years, but then the Turner Gallery opened in 2011, and Tracey Emin moved back to Margate six years later, both of which put it in the spotlight.
London is only an hour and 20 minutes away on the train, so after the pandemic, a lot of Londoners moved here — we call them DFLs (which stands for ‘Down From London’). They brought a lot of life back into the area and now there are small businesses, coffee shops, and lunch places.
I love running along the coastline, and I think Margate has the prettiest skies in Europe.
How have you made this place feel like home?
All my previous flats needed a lot of work, a paint job or a bit of TLC. It was really easy to put my personality into this place, because I didn’t have to pour effort into making it look nice to begin with, because it was already in good condition.
I like putting up photographs I’ve shot, or collages that I’ve made. I’ve got really high ceilings, probably about three metres, but the minute I started putting up art, it felt like home.
What’s the inspiration for your interior design style?
A lot of my furniture is thrifted. It’s the pieces themselves that spark the inspiration, and not the other way around. The chair with the birds is thrifted, as is the media unit with my record player on it, my wooden coffee table, the clock in my kitchen, the magazine rack next to my big monstera, the rattan chair in my bedroom, and both my desk table and chair.
I’ve got a lot of checkerboard pieces in the flat, like a rug, cushion, and mug. I think that’s the emo inside of me that comes out in my interior design choices.
I also like warm tones, burned orange and wood, and I’ve got a lot of little pockets of light that just warm up the space.
Is there anything specific you look for in a home?
In the UK, a lot of places have carpet, which in Europe is just really not a thing. I don’t want that, but it’s almost inevitable — my old flat was fully carpeted, and I didn’t like that.
I could also never live in a basement flat. I want big windows, and I need good light.
Are there any problems you’ve had to deal with? Or any changes you’d like to make?
When I moved in, this flat was partly furnished, and a lot of the furniture wasn’t my thing, so I put most of it in the storage space.
And, every once in a while, the drains smell a little bit, but I think that’s a Margate problem.
One of the changes I’d like to make is to my balcony, because at the moment, it’s pretty bare with just a table and chairs. It needs cleaning, and I want to hang some plants.
Other than that, I want to change the curtains, because they’re not really long enough.
In one of my previous flats, I painted the kitchen and put vinyl down with my landlord’s permission. I was learning as I went in the evenings, on YouTube. It’s always worth spending a little bit of money and time, because it affects your mental health so much. Creating something with your hands is really fun.
Do you have any plans to move again anytime soon? What about buying a place?
I would love to buy a house at one point, but I’m not financially ready.
Shall we take a look around?
Do you have a story to share?
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Bengali (Bangladesh) · 
English (United States) ·