Dream houses

Drab
Drab loved this activity and spent the weeks before our second activity creating his ideal home using a computer programme. The walls were to be covered in NDubz wallpaper. In our chat he talked us through the house and also designed the grounds it was to be set in.

Drab’s house was located on a private island, accessible by boat. It was connected to a theme park which he ran as a social entrepreneur. If you look closely you can see the private nightclub with women of his choice. He ensured he would have no competition for the girls by drawing Hugh Heffner stranded at the top of the roller coaster!

Jodie
Jodie’s dream house was in Scotland. She wanted to live there with her friend who lived with her in a residential unit and a Scotch terrier dog.

The house was designed with baby safety features in mind. She wanted a baby but didn’t want it to get hurt. She didn’t want the father of the child in the house ‘because he’ll be nasty’. She wanted her friend to support her in bringing up the child.

It was important for Jodie that she had some of her favourite objects with her. She had photographed these as part of the favourite objects activity 6 months before. This included her teddy bear on her bed, a big canvas photo of her previous foster carers.

Liz
Liz wanted to live in a bungalow with three bedrooms. The central feature for Liz was the living room with lots of couches (coloured in). These were for her three kids and their friends to be able to safely and comfortably spend time in the house.

Liz wanted fluffy rugs in each room because of the feel of them on her skin. There would also be Sky TV in each room which would be separately controlled. This is so she doesn’t have to watch the same telly programme as her friend’s dad like at the moment.

Liz would live in the house with her husband, children, horse, dog and the children’s hamsters and rabbits.

Marissa
For Marissa the dream home was all about creating a private space where she felt secure and at home. A key feature was the bed hidden in a wardrobe with optional soundproofing. This was so she could have comforting noise when she needed it but did not have noise forced upon her. It also meant she could have privacy.

Marissa wanted a library for all her books so she wouldn’t have to get rid of them when she had too many. She also wanted a dining area with 16 seats so that she could invite friends around for meals. Something she was unable to do in residential care. Marissa also wanted a secret trap door so she could visit places when she wanted.

Maylak
Maylak found this activity quite hard to do because he was so happy living with his grandmother in kinship care. The house he designed reflected his grandmother’s house with comfy sofas to wrestle his friends on, a plasma TV screen and a garden. The house would smell of vanilla.

The only change he wanted to make was a swimming pool in the garden, a wall in the garden to kick a football against and a king sized bed.

Thomas
Thomas was moving around between residential care and secure accommodation during the project. He yearned to be in neither place but to live at home with his mum. This is reflected in Thomas’ dream place which was his mother’s house. He did not wish to live anywhere else.

He wanted to live in the house with his mother and, depending on his mood, his sister.

The house is decorated with three Samurai swords which he told us about in his first activity. These had been given to him by his grandfather before he had died.

Vincent
Vincent’s dream house was based on the studio flat he was moving in to as part of a new supported living project. He wanted to live there by himself but was pleased there would be friends and support nearby.

The studio was designed around a TV and Xbox with, most importantly a coffee table to put his feet up on when relaxing ‘I think every living room has a coffee table’.

For Vincent the key thing was that it was his own place. It would be a peaceful place where he could have privacy and would be in control over decisions about the flat including who entered it.