{"id":17873,"date":"2022-12-25T12:00:14","date_gmt":"2022-12-25T11:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homesandantiques.com\/?p=38371"},"modified":"2022-12-25T13:36:38","modified_gmt":"2022-12-25T12:36:38","slug":"a-17th-century-cottage-in-kent","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/rss_feed\/a-17th-century-cottage-in-kent\/","title":{"rendered":"A 17th-century cottage in Kent"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Rosanna Morris\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Sunday, 25 December 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Roni Lang has been amassing curious and interesting things for over 30 years, and she continues to add to her impressive collection. \u2018I\u2019m a bit of a hoarder,\u2019 she confesses. \u2018I go into every charity shop I see. If I walk past something I like, it will haunt me for years if I don\u2019t go back and get it.\u2019<\/p>\n

Roni is sitting on the sofa in the cosy living room of her 17th-century Kent cottage. The woodburning stove<\/a> is alight, and above the cavernous fireplace hang a couple of dozen silhouettes. \u2018I bought another one yesterday for \u00a32. I can\u2019t resist things if they call to me,\u2019 she says. Paintings, drawings, jewellery, textiles, miniatures \u2013 if something excites Roni, and if she can afford it, she will always buy it. \u2018But they have to be right,\u2019 she adds.<\/p>\n

And because she has been collecting this way for over 30 years, it means every wall, shelf and nook of her home is adorned with something of interest \u2013 vintage<\/a> coffee pots brighten a corner of the kitchen and a collection of beaded purses hangs from the painted beams in the bathroom.<\/p>\n

The house is furnished with strong-lined pieces bought at markets and antiques shops<\/a>, such as the unusual coffee table in the living room, which came from a junk shop in Rochester. \u2018It cost \u00a365 and is my best ever find,\u2019 says Roni. \u2018Though my pride of joy is a 1935 Utility chest of drawers in my bedroom, which I bought at Greenwich market 30 odd years ago. I\u2019ve had the 1930s cupboard in the sitting room for 35 years.\u2019<\/p>\n

The pi\u00e8ce de r\u00e9sistance of Roni\u2019s hoarding, however, has to be the old Victorian dresser top in the dining room. \u2018I call it my cabinet of curiosities,\u2019 she says. Filled with pictures, books and mementos, it is a museum in miniature, the most striking collection being a number of antique globes<\/a> de mari\u00e9es, decorative arrangements displayed under glass domes that were created as souvenirs to celebrate weddings.<\/p>\n

Roni, who runs a business transforming vintage and antique textiles<\/a> into new pieces of clothing, has been inspired to decorate her own domes to mark special occasions for herself and for friends.<\/p>\n

The cottage was in good structural condition when Roni and her husband bought it eight years ago, which was fortunate, as its Grade II listing<\/a> meant they weren\u2019t able to make many alterations. Roni refreshed the decor with new paint in various shades of pale grey and warm white in all of the rooms.<\/p>\n

She updated the characterful kitchen, which included the jolly green AGA, with a similarly light touch, reviving the cabinets with a coat of Little Greene\u2019s Portland Stone paint. Similarly, in the bathroom, she merely took up the carpet and painted the tiles white. This make-do-and-mend approach is evident throughout the house and it stems from Roni\u2019s work as a fashion designer.<\/p>\n

A self-confessed customising queen, her label, Mrs Lang, is well known for its one-off and bespoke garments, all of which are made from reclaimed, antique and vintage fabrics. At home, the same creativity continues with cushions fashioned from vintage textiles and, at Christmas, decorations made from foliage she gathers in the fields around the house.<\/p>\n

Roni loves mixing furniture and artwork of different styles and periods as the master bedroom confirms: her beloved Utility chest looks marvellous in the company of a mirrored deco chest of drawers and an ornate French armchair; and a huge Japanese fan is a striking focal point above the bed. \u2018I love the Georgian period and the 1930s,\u2019 she says. \u2018I\u2019m a sucker for chinoiserie and I do like a bit of gold. There\u2019s something about a house of this era that works with so many historic ages and styles.\u2019<\/p>\n

Roni\u2019s collecting shows no signs of abating \u2013 her appreciation for art and antiques clearly gives her great joy. \u2018I rarely buy anything of value; whether it costs 5p or \u00a3500, what\u2019s important to me is that I love it.\u2019<\/p>\n