{"id":18128,"date":"2023-01-07T09:30:05","date_gmt":"2023-01-07T08:30:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homesandantiques.com\/?p=38620"},"modified":"2023-01-07T10:36:40","modified_gmt":"2023-01-07T09:36:40","slug":"a-rustic-cottage-renovation","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/rss_feed\/a-rustic-cottage-renovation\/","title":{"rendered":"A rustic cottage renovation"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Christianne Raymer\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Saturday, 07 January 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

Claire McFadyen and her husband Jamie weren\u2019t looking to move, and wouldn\u2019t have ended up in this now-beautiful cottage had it not been for a chance find of her father\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u2018We were living not far away in a house that was all finished, so we were very settled,\u2019 Claire recalls. \u2018But my father found this house and emailed me the details, saying it was a real belter.\u2019<\/p>\n

When she went to view the property, Claire was reminded of things she\u2019d read about in childhood books and she could see that, with a bit of work, it could be magical. \u2018We also do like a project, which helped,\u2019 she explains.<\/p>\n

Bought in January 2017, the cottage, which was next to the old kennels of a country estate<\/a>, was in a state of total disrepair and not suitable to live in straightaway. For the first four months, Claire and Jamie lived with her parents while they sorted the initial renovation work.<\/p>\n

\u2018Like most people, we had a budget, but it was really small,\u2019 says Claire. \u2018I remember when the first quote came back, just repointing the chimneys took up almost all of it. We realised it wasn\u2019t going to work, so we decided we had to take on more ourselves.\u2019<\/p>\n

You might also like<\/strong> inside an 18th-century gamekeeper\u2019s cottage<\/a><\/p>\n

Thankfully, Claire\u2019s husband Jamie was able to take on a large chunk of the labour. \u2018We just had to do a lot of the work ourselves to make it all add up. I don\u2019t think Jamie actually slept for the first four months of owning the house, as he was juggling work and renovation commitments.\u2019<\/p>\n

Work on the house began with removing unnecessary chimney breasts and loose brickwork, followed by completely rewiring, replumbing and replastering the cottage.<\/p>\n

\u2018We had a couple of near-disaster moments,\u2019 recalls Claire. The boiler broke down the day after they completed the sale, and the electrician was then snowed-in by an unexpected snowfall.<\/p>\n

Once the really messy and disruptive parts of the refurbishment were finished, the couple were able to move onto the more creative side of the process \u2013 choosing the decor.<\/p>\n

\u2018I didn\u2019t want the house to feel gloomy, which it could easily have done due to its architectural size and proportions, so I chose to use the same light neutral colours<\/a> throughout to keep the look cohesive,\u2019 says Claire.<\/p>\n

You might also like\u00a0<\/strong>a colourful Cotswolds cottage<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018As a contrast, though, I wanted the girls\u2019 playroom to be all snug and cosy, so I went for a darker colour to accentuate this feeling and repeated the idea in the conservatory dining room, where the darker colour counters all the glass.\u2019<\/p>\n

Claire describes her home style as rustic country, pointing out that the soft white paint shades act as the perfect backdrop for their furniture and fittings.<\/p>\n

\u2018I have lots of vintage<\/a> pieces that could be termed antiques<\/a>, but they don\u2019t feel too old-fashioned,\u2019 says Claire. \u2018Over time I\u2019ve grown more confident about how I mix these interior pieces with different styles and colours.\u2019<\/p>\n