As soon as you step through the door of this cosy Cornish cottage, it’s evident that the pretty fabrics and cosy interiors inspire its owner.
‘I spent my whole working life at Laura Ashley, setting up displays and shop windows. I really miss working there,’ says Beth Tarling.
The property had been in husband Dan’s family for years and had been well looked after so when he and Beth took it on there was no structural work to attend to. Instead, the couple set about updating the interiors and decided to split one of the bedrooms into two bathrooms, one en suite and one family bathroom.
The old bathroom was then converted into a small bedroom. ‘It sounds simple, but there’s such a lot of work in changing bathrooms and bedrooms around, moving walls and pipes. Dan is a builder and did most of the work himself,’ says Beth.
Kitchen refresh
Dan fitted new wooden painted kitchen doors to the cupboards and removed wall cabinets, upcycling some of them into a dresser-style unit in one corner for a more traditional look.
Beth completed the scene with a small kitchen table, a midcentury stool and a pretty curtain to hide the dishwasher.
A carefully chosen coastal colour scheme subtly weaves through the house. Beth drew inspiration from the coastal setting and has used many shades of blue to reflect the ever-changing seascape, along with the salt-washed greens of the fields and mustardy yellows to evoke the sand.
‘I wanted the house to blend in with the landscape,’ she says.
Open kitchen shelving is used to store and display some of Beth’s vintage crockery, including a fine collection of 1940s Beryl Ware from Woods, which she adds to whenever she sees it in charity shops.
The blue-grey painted open shelves are a good contrast with the green cupboards and crockery.
Dan and Beth added the Rayburn range cooker, which makes the kitchen extra cosy.
Garden room
Open to the kitchen is a bright and airy garden room, one of Beth’s favourite places.
The table was put together by Beth’s father, who added a new top to a Victorian base. The drawers were missing, but the empty gaps provide handy storage for board games. Repurposing is a recurring theme in the home.
There’s an easy-going mix of vintage furniture, charity shop finds and family pieces.
‘I never throw anything away, and I don’t like buying anything new,’ says Beth. ‘Modern furniture always seems to be on a bigger scale. I find older pieces are a better fit for the cottage and they add character.’
Hints of soft greens in the checked curtains, an old Laura Ashley fabric, and wall shelves link up with the kitchen cabinetry and with the garden outside.
The prints on the shelves and to the left of the doorway are by Vernon Ward, whose paintings inspired Beth’s colour choices for the cottage.
Porch
Even the rustic lean-to porch at the back of the house has been given a chintzy makeover, with a tented ceiling in Laura Ashley’s old Hydrangea design and curtains to match.
Antique glass bottles catch the light on a shelf fixed across the window. The back door is painted in green gloss, specially mixed to match a 1940s enamel dish.
Cosy living room
Raspberry pinks and soft reds bring extra warmth to the low-ceilinged country living room, a comfortable retreat on cooler evenings.
The warm colours of old clothbound books, neatly displayed on the bookcase, inspired Beth’s choices for fabrics and accessories.
The sofas, armchair and curtains are old Laura Ashley designs. Beth’s mother has reupholstered many of the home’s armchairs.
Beth is always on the lookout for old boat paintings and local landscapes to hang on the walls.
What matters more to Beth than any colour schemes or furnishings is the effect a home has on those who spend time in it.
‘It’s the feel of a place that’s important to me,’ she explains.
‘When we started renovating here, I had in mind how it felt in Beatrix Potter’s farmhouse, Hilltop, and that’s what I was hoping to achieve by layering colours and textures, and old family heirlooms – all those layers are what make a house feel right.
‘For every room in the house I sew two curtains together to keep the heat in, and the Cornish sea breezes out,’ says Beth.
‘And with patterned fabric on both sides, the curtains look just as pretty from the outside.’
Snug
Beth kept the walls and furnishings light coloured in the snug at the front of the house and decided to leave the beams unpainted to make the most of the natural shades blending in from outdoors.
Main bedroom
Layers of pattern and colour create a homely cottagecore bedroom feel in the main bedroom.
Beth’s mum bought the old oak wardrobe from her local recycling centre shop together with a matching dressing table. The framed Redouté rose prints were from a local antiques shop. The eiderdown belonged to Beth’s aunt.
Guest bedroom
The downstairs guest bedroom is a real flower bower, layered with chintzy prints.
Dan stripped paint from the original fireplace, leaving a chippy paint finish to the mantelpiece to match the antique furnishings.
In pride of place on the bed is a vintage eiderdown that belonged to Beth’s Aunty Freda. The mahogany chest of drawers cost just £50 from an antiques shop.
Hallway
As a creative small hallway idea, the stairway walls are covered in Melrose, an old Laura Ashley fabric.
‘The old plaster was too fragile to take wallpaper, but the pinned fabric works a treat, says Beth.
Bathroom
Dan reconfigured the upstairs layout to squeeze in this cottage bathroom and an en suite.
He repurposed the existing bath and fittings, and made a vanity out of an old bedside cabinet.
The curtains were made from a remnant of 1930s fabric, and Beth placed vintage glass vases where they catch the light from the window.
This feature first appeared in Period Living Magazine. Click here to subscribe.
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