moving her family into this period property, Phillippa was keen to embrace traditional cosy cottage vibes with a bohemian edge, and create an inviting and nurturing home for her children.
Having experience in designing and styling her last family home, Philipa knew what she needed to tackle first in order to establish the most important aspects of her home. These were; to make the snug, the living room and dining room comfortable and cosy spaces, for the family’s first winter at the cottage.
For our bohemian feel, we chose fabrics we loved with a Middle Eastern vibe. Making up full length curtains and roman blinds for the living room, hallway and master bedroom. With stone and wooden flooring on the ground floor, it was essential we added some textiles here first, which immediately softened these spaces and kept out the drafts.
For the snug, we took inspiration from her childhood visits to Scotland. As this room is small but rich in original period features, we went all out with a Novia Scotia printed velvet for the door curtain, woollen tartan sofas to flank the ancient exposed brick fireplace and an understated smokey green grey on the walls. Like me, she has an eclectic style, and so designing spaces with impact and a reminiscent context didn’t frighten her. This is an ongoing project, as often is the case. Creating a home isn’t and shouldn’t be a job that is done at once and ‘finished’, it should evolve and it’s important to wait for the right pieces to come along as and when the time is right.
The Guest Bedroom
We opted for Farrow & Ball’s Light Blue on the walls to create a sense of calm in this charming guest bedroom. The House of Hackney curtain fabric delivers the colour and pattern injection, reflecting the cottage garden view outside. We reupholstered the plain cream headboard with subtle sketchy chevron design in pink from Christopher Farr.
In the more recently added sitting room extension it appeared that the previous owners had left it bare and given it very little thought; three windows had Venetian blinds and the walls were a cold white. It didn’t match up to the cosiness and character of the original part of the property and we were keen to create some much needed warmth with textiles and colour. Using accents of soft pinks, blues and greens, we layered up the patterns. We dressed the windows with full length triple pinch pleat curtains in this beautiful Bukhara fabric from Lewis and Wood and added pink velvet sofas and an accent armchair.
The Home Study
The study needed to be a more neutral working space than the other rooms, we chose Slipper Satin for the walls and as the beams had been painted by the original owners, we stripped them right back to reveal their original rustic warmth and texture.
The window treatment had to be cosy and functional, creating a false pelmet for the pinch pleats and embellishing the muted charcoal weave fabric with a golden brush fringe elevated the look.
In the master bedroom, we committed to soft pinks as our main accent, layering delicate pattern and using pretty frills against the rattan headboard for some contrasting texture. We opted for simple ruffle headings on the curtains and chose the darkest stain for the oak curtain poles, providing more depth and contrast against the dainty print of the wallpaper.
Paying homage to the rambling Wisteria which climbs the entire front of the cottage, along with a need for some extravagence, we went all out with Pearl Lowe’s wisteria wallpaper and velvet. Painting the woodwork in Green Smoke pulled out tones in the foliage and the House of Hackney Serpentis mirror.
The Kitchen
The original kitchen was a charmingly rustic mix of well loved oak, brick and large terracotta tiled floor.
Aside from this traditional oaky cottage appeal, it felt dark and at times considerably gloomy. We wanted to retain the cosy cottage feel, but draw natural light in from the large dining room windows and unify this open plan space.
We chose to replace the floor tiles with wide oak boards, creating a softer look, resonating with the abundance of original oak throughout the rest of this period property. The painted shaker cabinetry brightened the space up immediately, we painted the central island with a glossy black, to create some contrast and drama.
Fluted glass wall lights and vintage French frilly glass pendants softened the edges and created a delicate but functional lighting scheme. An antiqued glass splash back added another layer of interest and reflected light from the window opposite and allowed the host to still see her guests when cooking.