A woman excited to transform her new property into her dream home was forced to put plans on hold after making a devastating discovery. Sophie Collins, 29, from Hampshire, United Kingdom, bought an apartment earlier this year. She described it as a "completely blank canvas," which was ideal to her as she planned to transform it completely into her "quirky" style.
"My style is very colorful and maximalist," she said, adding that she was looking forward to doing up the entire apartment in her style. "That's why I bought it—I loved the architecture and structure of the property, and I loved that it was a blank canvas, because I had so many ideas." But, after moving in late April, and getting to work to make the space her dream home, she "started to feel unwell pretty quickly." She said: "By the start of May I started having the symptoms. As soon as I moved in I started decorating—stripping paint off walls and sanding—and I thought I had just run myself into the ground and was a bit ill.
"I was going to work every day and then coming home and doing the apartment up. It didn't occur to me that it could have been mold exposure." Collins had extreme fatigue, developed a chronic cough, headaches and sinus pressure, had a stuffy nose and was sneezing. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), exposure to moldy environments can cause a stuffy nose, sore throat, coughing, burning eyes or skin rash.
Collins had read about mold exposure previously, and told Newsweek it was "always in the back of my head," but she had checked the house and "couldn't see a lot of mold" in the property. She spotted some mold by the windows and on blinds, but feared that perhaps other mold had been painted over before she moved in. However, she only got confirmation after calling mold specialists.
"I lived with it for about three or four weeks, then contacted the mold specialists by the end of May. They came out about two weeks later," she recalled. A report found the moisture and humidity levels in the apartment were extremely high, making it an ideal breeding ground for mold—and she called the results "validating." "I hadn't made it up in my head, and it was in fact causing me some health concerns." Her home was treated for mold, and Collins said her symptoms have disappeared and she hasn't "been ill since the treatment was done." Unfortunately, it means her redecoration has been paused—as she has to wait a full year from when the treatment was done as any painting or wallpaper could affect it.
So far, she had only managed to decorate the entryway and hallway, and part of the living room—and her next project is her bedroom. On August 25, Collins shared her story to her TikTok account @its_sophies_place, where she announced she will be able to continue decorating "287 days from today." "I've always had an interest in interior design," she said, explaining she is "passionate about making my space really homely and cozy." She is now looking forward to being "able to express myself fully" once the year-long warranty on the anti-mold treatment expires. For now, Collins is focusing on making her apartment feel like home using furniture and smaller projects—and still planning her dream home once she's able to wallpaper and paint again.
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