It’s been a hard slog over the years especially the past two. We have done so much to renovate our house, and whilst it’s not finished yet, and we have a snagging list as long as your arm, the big jobs are done.

This is probably one of the most challenging renovations we have done. Our house is so small we even ripped out the traditional skirting boards because they take up 3cm and every centimetre counts. RD has replaced them with ply, including doorframes and they look lovely. So I thought I would share our home with you.

We were inspired by our new kitchen (well when it was new back in 2023!) we loved the colour of it. Initially when we did it we introduced blue to the scheme, but as time has gone on our whole, tiny cottage has become predominantly green and pink. Even the ceilings. And, of course, the furniture. The blue has been painted over, including the cupboards.

But I honestly think it is living in this beautiful land that has inspired us to follow nature.

So over the years we have painted, painted, painted. I have to say that right now I am ‘painted’ out. I am off work for six days next week, and I must try and get our mojo back for the final push.

Looking back at our back kitchen, it is so different now. But it has had many mutations until we got to where we are. Not least when we decided to lose our front door, just so our American fridge freezer could fit in the house somewhere. What were we thinking? It didn’t and has lived happily in the garage for the past three years.

Last year was a busy year. New bathroom, for which we were scammed with poor work that had to be put right, costing us a fortune. But, not to dwell on the negative, it has changed from a bathroom full of mould, to a lovely place to shower. Again we painted the walls blue. But the blue made my eau de nil tiles look grey, and the only light in the room is from the north, making it very cold.

So this year we colour drenched the walls, ceiling and door a lovely watermelon pink, turning the tiles back to eau de nil, and making the room much warmer. You can see this clearly in the pictures below.

We also completed our bedroom. Three years after we started it, when we ripped those awful wardrobes back in 2022. We kept the shaped alcove they revealed, painting it pink, the rest of the room green (of course!) and the ceilings to match. We have always loved our bedrooms to feel like a place where you want to spend time, a place of tranquility. I think we’ve achieved that.

Of course sparkling lights are de rigeur.

This year we moved onto our hall. Probably the room I disliked most, because it’s so narrow. It didn’t help that we had a mountain of coats on the coat rack on the wall. Add to that tongue and groove that sat out four inches from the wall, and a radiator attached to the wall that stuck out another two inches no wonder it felt so enclosed.

The new green front door was installed, with a full glass so we could look out across the paddock, to our fairy boundary, and the young cherry and apple trees we planted this year.

A coat rack was purchased. Why didn’t we do that before?! Tongue and groove ripped out, long tall radiator installed, and off we went.

We are panelling the wall, another job on the snagging list, but this room is a good five inches wider. So much so my antique settle is now finally installed. This is the room with a lot of things on the snagging list, but it will come good in the end.

The living room was done in 2024, we’ve come a long way from when it had three doors! But this year I finally painted the shelving green. Furniture was rearranged, a new sofa installed, new flooring (throughout the cottage) and a new rug. A new light is on its way, and it’s reminiscent of a French enamel chandelier, simple, but beautiful.

Our beautiful crystal chandelier will be hung in the summer house as an ornament, she did not suffer the move from France well, and was damaged in places, and rusty in others. So she will hang like a tattered, glamorous old lady, remembering her prime.

Of course there are the vignettes! Throughout the cottage. No home us complete without a vignette.

I love to change my garland each season, so we’ve welcomed Autumn now. We are so pleased with it. We are home.

Moisy