Only Way Is Essex celebrity Mark Wright has shared an update on the £3.5m renovation of the Essex mansion he shares with his wife Michelle Keegan.
The reality TV star, 36, and the Coronation Street actor, 36, began an ambitious project to build their dream home from scratch over a year ago.
Wright has been keeping his fans updated on his journey via the couple’s Instagram account, so take the tour with us below.
They bought the Essex property in October 2019 for £1.3 million and moved in last September after adding a self build to the plot.
‘Ibiza’ inspired white-tiled swimming pool
The couple have recently put the finishing touches to a large outdoor swimming pool idea, accessed from a palatial stone stairway that connects the area to the main house.
Wright said: “The reason why we have done a big deep top step is because it's almost like a little kids pool.
“Dogs, the kids can paddle around in it and we can sit on top of here... Love the design."
‘Cappuccino style’ marble kitchen worktop
The property also features a ‘unique’ marble kitchen island with an induction hub with a story behind it. Mark wrote: “We saw it on a display kitchen in a store in Mayfair, London, that I was filming in.
“We loved it that much that we searched high and low to find the same one. We saw sample after sample and could never get close to the unique different textures this one had.
“We had to take this one from display otherwise we could never replicate it. So in the end I got my boys to help me, we hired a van drove to London and bought this one off the company.”
Wright, who is also a footballer, also showed off his dining room, which features marble table tops and gold inlays.
Large his/her dressing room and wash basins
The Instagram account also features a video of the transformation of a bare concrete room to a vast dressing room that adjoins the master bedroom.
It features wall-to-wall storage, tacks for shoes and mirrors for checking out if you’ve achieved the look you are going for. Nice for those who can afford this bathroom renovation cost.
Followers went crazy for the large dressing room, with one social media minion commenting: “Wow wow wow….now this is the DREAM.”
The couple called it a "a dream for us brought to life" and they also shared a picture of their Mitres porcelain washbasins and shared a story about how they settled on the design: “Basically you choose a massive porcelain slab from a WIDE range of options they have and they make basins tops, any colour, any pattern, any shape, depth and size.
“It’s made to look like a big marble work top but with porcelain which is more durable and more hard wearing.”
Cinema room with large scatter cushion sofa
In the mansion’s living room the Wrights have been creating a home cinema with a ‘C’ shaped 180-degree sofa, complete with scatter cushions and a large wall-mounted TV.
The home has many contemporary features throughout, including ribbed vases, stone sculptures and twists of gold in both furniture and artworks.
Wright explained: "We wanted to use a company that could supply the majority of stuff, allowing us to get everything through the same company for ease reasons.
@olivias.uk had everything and more, moreover, totally to our taste."
Bedroom with hidden TV lift
Wright described he didn’t want to ruin the view in the bedroom by blocking it with a television, so the couple installed a mechanism under the bed that allowed the screen to be stored in the structure of the bed.
At the push of a button, the flat screen slides vertically out and then tilts to rise horizontally.
“One of our favourite things about our house is the view from our bedroom,” a post read.
The couple also stated: “Wasn’t going to block that with a tv…. But we need a tv in our bedroom…. Soooo Simon @clarkeinfinity came up with this fantastic idea.”
Renovated gym is Mark’s favourite room
The TV sports pundit, who played for Crawley Town FC, was delighted when his gym was completed.
It features a full suite of weights and state-of-the-art exercise equipment.
He wrote: “Absolutely buzzing to have the gym completed!! The arrival of the equipment today has made us very happy!!
“We have no excuse getting out of a workout from now on.”
