What I Own: My £230,000 home offends boring people — what’s not to love?

This weekend, we’re in Wisbech in Cambridgeshire (Picture: Martin Pope) Welcome back to What I Own – Metro’s property series where we speak to homeowners about getting on the ladder. As a self-employed creative who works from home, Daniel Bland wasn’t too fused about location when he started house hunting. So, he focused on creative potential instead. He ended up somewhere he’d never heard of before he took the leap: Wisbech, in Cambridgeshire. Taking inspiration from its Victorian setting, Daniel has turned his five-bedroom property into a Gothic dream, with dark ceilings, copper-leaf walls and a surprise ‘cartoon’ room for him and his two fluffy tenants to enjoy. Here’s what Daniel had to say about his property journey… You won’t find another house like this (Picture: Martin Pope) Tell us about yourself! Ready to start your homebuying journey? You can access completely fee-free mortgage advice with London & Country (L&C) Mortgages, a partner of Metro. Customers benefit from: – Award winning service from the UK’s leading mortgage broker – Expert advisors on hand 7 days a week – Access to 1000s of mortgage deals from across the market Unlike many mortgage brokers, L&C won’t charge you a fee for their advice. Find out how much you could borrow online Mortgage service provided by London & Country Mortgages (L&C), which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (registered number: 143002). The FCA does not regulate most Buy to Let mortgages. Your home or property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage. I’m 31, an artist and specialist decorator working all over the UK and internationally. I specialise in mural painting and gold leaf ceilings, and I have my own foil wallpaper collection. I have my two cats, Tallulah and Lord Mittens, and I love to decorate my house, which has grown a large audience on social media. Whereabouts is your property? What do you think of the area? Wisbech, Cambridgeshire. It’s a Georgian town that was once grander but has been a little forgotten because it doesn’t have the best transport connections (there isn’t a train station here anymore), but the remaining architecture and history are beautiful, which is why I moved here. It’s a feast for the eyes (Picture: Martin Pope) When did you move in? 2017. How much does your property cost? Ask Metro Use AI to go deeper into the stories you care about – powered by Metro and trusted publications. I bought it for £230,000. How much was your deposit? £12,000. It took two years to save while I rented a cheap room at a friend’s house. What is the monthly cost of living here now, both mortgage and bills? £1,500 per month. The mortgage interest rate is 4.2%, and the term is 35 years. What was the process of getting a mortgage like for you? Did you find any parts challenging? It was fairly straightforward when I did, as I was working in retail at the time (PAYE), but I have since gone self-employed. How did you find this property? What made you choose it? I was just looking on Rightmove to see what I could afford and kept widening the search location as I wasn’t having much luck. I hadn’t heard of Wisbech. It was over an hour away from me, but I could work from anywhere, so I wasn’t particularly tied to a location. Daniel specialises in mural painting and gold leaf ceilings (Picture: Martin Pope) How have you made the property feel like home? What’s the inspiration for your interior decor style? I’ve decorated every room at least two times since I’ve been here. I’ve been developing my sense of style and learning new skills. I’m fortunate enough to work with brands to create content for my DIY projects, which helps encourage me to go bold. The property is Victorian and a bit dark naturally, so I’ve been leaning into the gothic style, doing things like painting all the woodwork glossy black, and using rich, deep colours and gold ornamentation. This house has seen the growth of me as a designer and as a person, and acts as a portfolio for my work. Ufurnish Awards 2026 In partnership with Metro, the ufurnish.com Home Awards 2026 showcase the homeowners, influencers, innovators, retailers and manufacturers transforming living spaces across the UK. Documenting his DIY journey online won Daniel the accolade for Best Interior Instagram at the 2025 Ufurnish Home Awards. Read more about the finalists on the Ufurnish website. You have a very distinctive style — how do people usually react? Visitors are usually complimentary. There’s a lot to take in, so people are constantly noticing new things as they look around. Online comments can be a lot less complimentary. Turns out that enjoying my own home is highly offensive to some people, but part of me is fueled by it, to see how many boring people I can irritate by letting loose with my design and DIY. Good for you! The cartoon room is amazing, how did you create it? The cartoon room was a boredom project gone wild back in 2020. With lockdown and limited resources, I used a 10-litre tub of brilliant white and black acrylic paint. I spent three days painting the black lines everywhere, and then a whole afternoon painting myself for my Instagram post. I filmed a stop motion of myself turning black and white, painting a small section at a time and taking photos with a timer. What’s your favourite room and why? The music room. It’s dark but calming, and having a living space with no TV is unusual, but I love it. I play the piano and accordion, which I find is a great way to switch off when I’m overwhelmed, and I have other instruments on the walls and a huge glass parrot chandelier that I’m obsessed with. The music room doesn’t have a TV inside, which he says helps when he’s overwhelmed (Picture: Martin Pope) Do you have any DIY bits that have gone wrong that you’ve learnt from? The cartoon room and red room are next to each other, and both had built-in wardrobes at the time. When removing them, I discovered there was actually no wall between them, and half of the ceiling fell down. I took it all down and kept the vaulted ceiling without removing the joists, so there was no structural work to do. My motto is, if in doubt, rip it out (or paint over it). What’s your favourite piece of furniture in the house? My green Chesterfield porter’s chair in the green bedroom. The paint may have changed in that room three times, but it’s always been designed around that chair! Daniel lives here with his two cats, Tallulah and Lord Mittens (Picture: Martin Pope) Do you have plans to change the property? Not much! There’s a false ceiling in the kitchen I’d like to remove, and it would be fun to convert the attic, but I don’t need the extra space. Are there any problems with the property that you have to deal with? Just some sketchy electrical work from the previous owners, and the usual restoration that comes with old properties: replacing the roof one section at a time, upgrading the boiler and replacing rotting joists/floors. What do you want people to know about buying a home? Think about what you actually want and what you could live without in a home to make your life happy. Do you want something because you feel like you should, or do you actually want it? I moved to a town without much nightlife, and it’s a bit out of the way, but I don’t really go out much, so I’d much rather have a nice home in a less ideal place personally. What are your plans for the future, in terms of housing? Do you plan to stay here long-term? I’ve just purchased a renovation project in northern Italy, an absolute bargain with amazing potential that’s going to be my project for several years to come. Shall we take a look around? Daniel moved to the area in 2017 (Picture: Martin Pope) and has been transforming his home ever since. (Picture: Martin Pope) Tipple, anyone? (Picture: Martin Pope) He’s now grown his online audience to more than 1.5 million (Picture: Martin Pope) Daniel moved to Wisbech for the ‘architecture and history’ (Picture: Martin Pope) Fancy a film night? (Picture: Martin Pope) The cartoon room in all its glory (Picture: Martin Pope) He placed a deposit of £12,000 on the house (Picture: Martin Pope) He pays around £1,500 per month for his mortgage and bills (Picture: Martin Pope) He rented a cheap room at a friend’s house to save money (Picture: Martin Pope) He wanted the security of being able to customise his home (Picture: Martin Pope) He hadn’t heard of Wisbech when he came across this home (Picture: Martin Pope) At the time, it was more than an hour away but he took a chance (Picture: Martin Pope) Is that a gold octopus we spy? (Picture: Martin Pope) Spot the skull (Picture: Martin Pope) Why hello there (Picture: Martin Pope) He’s decorated every room at least twice since moving in (Picture: Martin Pope) …which has allowed him to develop his sense of style (Picture: Martin Pope) It’s also helped him to learn new renovation skills (Picture: Martin Pope) …so he’s leaned into the gothic Victorian style (Picture: Martin Pope) Chop chop (Picture: Martin Pope) He’s drawn on rich, deep colours and gold ornamentation (Picture: Martin Pope) This home is the first he ever bought (Picture: Martin Pope) He describes the home as a ‘portfolio’ for his work (Picture: Martin Pope) Mirror mirror (Picture: Martin Pope) He uses the five bedrooms as an office, an art studio, and a cinema room (Picture: Martin Pope) He’d like to remove the false ceiling inside the kitchen in the future (Picture: Martin Pope) We’re enjoying the library aesthetic going on in here (Picture: Martin Pope) Shall we take a look upstairs? (Picture: Martin Pope) Daniel urges others to think about what they actually want from a home before they buy (Picture: Martin Pope) He moved to a town without much nightlife, but he doesn’t mind (Picture: Martin Pope) He says he’d rather have a ‘nice home in a less ideal place’ (Picture: Martin Pope) This chair is his favourite piece of furniture inside the house (Picture: Martin Pope) He’s just bought a new renovation project in northern Italy (Picture: Martin Pope) …which he describes as an ‘absolute bargain with amazing potential’ (Picture: Martin Pope) Daniel took home Best Interior Instagram at the 2025 Ufurnish Awards (Picture: Martin Pope) It’s like being in a different era inside here (Picture: Martin Pope) Even the garden feels slightly Victorian (Picture: Martin Pope) …and there’s a reading nook, too (Picture: Martin Pope) This article was first published on February 14, 2026 and has since been updated. Do you have a story you’d like to share? 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