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This family brightened up lockdown by colouring in their house like a rainbow

7 April 2020, 13:23 | Updated: 7 April 2020, 13:32

This family brightened up lockdown by colouring in their house

By Emma Gritt

Rainbows are fast becoming a symbol of hope during the UK lockdown, even the Queen said so! Find out why this mum let her kids loose on their house with a bucket of chalks.

Families across the UK have been encouraging their kids to draw rainbows to stick in the windows of their homes to brighten up their street and locked down neighbours' views.

But the Taylor family took the uplifting trend to extremes when they decided that they were going for the biggest rainbow in Britain.

Mum Fern told Heart Breakfast with Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden that she and partner Marco had spent the whole of Saturday colouring in every brick of their house with coloured chalk.

Speaking via FaceTime, she said: "We started after lunch on Saturday. It only took about six hours."

Fern, Marco and their two daughters stand proudly by their rainbow house. Picture: Fern Taylor

"That doesn't sound very long," remarked Amanda, clearly impressed.

"It is when you start doing it!" Marco replied, adding he was up a ladder for three hours.

The idea came as a way for them to entertain their two young daughters, Arabella, 4, and Matilda, 2, who loved the project.

The Taylor's neighbours also loved the chalky revamp, with neighbours smiling and taking pictures to cheer up their friends, family and social media feeds.

Marco spent three hours up a ladder doing the top bricks and finishing details. Picture: Fern Taylor

The Taylors spent six hours colouring in the bricks of their house. Picture: Fern Taylor

Fern, who sells handmade hair accessories online, added that originally they planned to just colour in half of their house, but decided to carry on and colour in the entire front of their red brick property.

It was definitely worth the effort, it looks brilliant!

On Sunday, the rainbow drawings popping up across the country got the royal seal of approval when the Queen mentioned "rainbows drawn by children" had become the symbol for the coronavirus crisis lockdown.