Exclusive: Martin and Shirlie Kemp reveal major renovation struggle – 'I can't get it right'
Shirlie and Martin Kemp have an army of loyal fans who have been following their renovation journey with their beautiful Victorian home ever since they purchased the property back in 2021.
The former Spandau Ballet musician and his wife of 35 years, who is known for being one-half of pop duo Pepsi & Shirlie, moved into the house to gut it entirely and make it their dream home.
The pair, who are parents to TV star Roman and singer Harley Moon, have more than exceeded their expectations.
Shirlie and Martin have transformed the interiors completely; they've fitted a brand new, pristine white kitchen, gutted the bathrooms, landscaped the garden and then some.
They even previously shared on social media that they achieved in 18 months what they had planned for five years.
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However, as anyone who has renovated a house will understand, the couple have faced hiccups along the way. There have been difficulties with a "derelict" greenhouse that they were forced to get rid of, as an example.
But another sticky spot, Shirlie told HELLO! in a recent exclusive interview, is the dining room that they just can't seem to master.
Shirlie Kemp's candid thoughts on their renovation journey
"Harley is always saying to me, 'Mum you are always doing stuff', but because I'm head of maintenance, I can't help it" Shirlie told HELLO!, adding: "I walk around and think 'that needs doing, this needs doing'."
The 62-year-old continued: "You get to the stage where maintenance overtakes everything else, and so I'm re-decorating my dining room. How long have we been here?" to which Martin sighed humorously in response: "Three years. Three dining rooms."
Shirlie added: "I'm on the third attempt and I can't get it right. We've been here three years so this is the third time decorating the dining room. And we're doing a bit of a change in the kitchen."
Despite struggling with indecision somewhat, Shirlie went on to explain that, as much as it takes a lot of work and time to re-do any room, she embraces all forms of change.
"I love change. I could redecorate the house every year. It reminds me of when you walk past a store like Liberty, Selfridges or Harrods and you look in the shop window and you think, 'Oh, it's changed!' and I've always felt that a bit kind of about decorating."
She added: "Martin's always out in the garden. He's always cleaning like cutting the grass, cutting the hedges. I would change everything."
Despite the ongoing work, Shirlie and Martin are adamant that they've more than achieved their ultimate goal. "We took an old house that was completely run down, and we knocked every single wall and ceiling down that you can imagine and we rebuilt something that would be perfect for us. That is what we have now and what we're doing now is just finishing touches.
"That was always something that we spoke about when we were moving from house to house. We tried new houses and old houses, but we always said we'd love to find something we could do from scratch. And that is what happened, that was the ultimate dream."
The couple were chatting to HELLO! as part of easyJet holidays' new campaign about holidaying and keeping the romantic spark alive.
Martin & Shirlie Kemp partner with easyJet holidays to help parents rekindle their romantic spark, no matter how old the kids are. Visit www.easyjet.com/en/holidays to book your 2024/2025 package holiday at the best value.
