This project began with a couple downsizing into a cottage that had plenty of character, wonky walls, low beams, and a layout that had grown over the years. Our clients had a lifetime of furniture and treasured pieces they wanted to bring with them, so the brief was never about starting fresh. It was about finding those pieces a proper home and letting the cottage's imperfections stay exactly as they were.
The kitchen is the heart of the home, an L-shaped layout with an oak table that extends out whenever the family comes to visit. Light pours in from both the front and back, keeping the room feeling open even with its low ceilings. We visited the stone merchants together to choose the granite for the worktop and splashback and had the timber cabinetry painted in a soft warm neutral that lets the grain of the wood show through. Our clients work in the fabric industry, and their eye for pattern and weave really shine throughout the home.
Travelling upstairs and a herringbone stair runner in warm brown tones brings texture into the hallway, sitting alongside an antique chest of drawers that's been in the family for years, a lovely first taste of the personality running through the rest of the home.
The main bedroom makes the most of its height and light, with windows front and back filling the room. We chose a subtle toile wallpaper with a small woodland repeat to echo the view, paired with a headboard in rich maroon and cream, and ikat lampshades either side that pick up the warm ochre tones running through the space. Storage was maximised with fitted wardrobes finished in a solid painted colour, to sit softly within the space.
Back downstairs, the sitting room is all about the fireplace, where the original stone lintel stayed exactly where it was, with the plaster feathered into the stone, sat above a wood burner set into the old stone opening. We designed the in-frame bookshelves within the alcoves and filled them with more of the couple's own treasures, small antique boxes and keepsakes collected over the years.
Together, these rooms create a home that feels like it has always belonged to this couple, built around a lifetime of pieces rather than a blank canvas.