THE BIG SQUEEZE

Celia Rufey had to downsize her collection when she moved to a modest London cottage, but her home is still awash with character and colour

Downsizing throws up a ra of issues when a spacious house has allowed collecting to blossom and many items hold special memories

Moving house will always be a moment when decision making is unavoidable. Even more so if the move is from a large house to a much smaller one. When Celia Rufey downsized from a !ve-bedroom Victorian house in Devon, where she had lived for 30 years, to a small co" age in London, there was a need to be ruthless. At the heart of the problem was her years of visiting the local market with its vintage and house- clearance stands. ‘ This was in the 1980s and 90s,’ she explains, ‘and every week I’d come back with an item, sometimes two. My daughters used to say: “You’ve been buying again, Mum,” and I’d say, “It only cost £ 1!”’

The imminent move in 2013 presented the di #culty of deciding what to let go. ‘ Before the move, I had a big sale at home. It hurt, but I came to London with the pieces that are useful, special in their design or in the memories they hold.’ The easy part was already knowing her future home very well as Celia part- owned the co" age with her elder daughter and son-in-law. By 2013, it was a tight !t for them and their two children and, when they found somewhere larger nearby,

she knew it was the moment to come back to London.

As a co- owner of the co! age, Celia knew everything that was wrong with it. Although not listed, permission had to be gained to knock down a rickety lean-to behind the kitchen and re-build an enlarged kitchen on the same footprint. Troublesome drains were renewed, a redundant chimney breast was taken down in the kitchen and bedroom above and the bathroom was re"!ed as a shower room.

Celia’s interpretation of co! age style responds to the essential simplicity of buildings like this and she has kept and loves the old boarded #oors, and painted interior walls and woodwork in traditional unbleached white. Covering windows was a more emotional decision for someone with a passion for textiles and a large collection of vintage pieces under her bed. She felt the rooms were too small for curtains so asked her joiner to design folding shu! ers for the four co! age windows based on the design of the single authentic door upstairs.

Space for furniture in the co! age is limited but Celia was determined to bring the large Victorian overmantel mirror from her old si! ing room. ‘ It was a perfect "t for the Devon house and I remember the day a woman I o#en bought small items from rang the doorbell and said she had something I’d like in her van. When she told me it was an overmantel mirror I said I wouldn’t be able to a $ord it and she said I was the only person she knew with a room big enough to take it. There was a bit of damage so it was a $ordable. More of a question was whether we could get it into the co! age but, by taking out the si! ing room window, we slid it in. I love over- scaled pieces in small rooms and the light it re%ects is a bonus.’

Apart from the mirror, all that could come from the Devon house was an Edwardian sofa, two old wing chairs, the bed, three vintage chests of drawers, various side tables and two large trestle tables made by her Devon joiners from %ush doors edged with wood. One is now in the study and the other, beautifully weathered by several years in the garden, is the dining table. If the small tally of furniture indicates co! age simplicity, Celia is "rst to concede that is not the case with the collectables that furnish the kitchenliving room. ‘ I don’t like wall cupboards in kitchens so only have base cupboards and drawers,’ she explains. ‘ Having utensils visible and within reach when cooking makes sense and, for me, graters, measuring

‘The mirror was a perfect !t for the Devon house and I remember the day a woman I o"en bought small items from rang the doorbell and said she had something I’d like’

jugs, colanders and pans have a simple propriety that’s comforting. Every day I enjoy looking at the china and glass on the shelves, remembering where I found a piece or who in the family owned it.’

This row of co! ages was built when the surrounding area was wooded, and windows have a sideways view across gardens with a magni "cent range of trees. ‘ The outlook keeps me in tune with the seasons,’ Celia says, ‘and, as the leaves begin to fall, I’m already thinking about Christmas and starting to sew presents from the hoard of vintage fabrics. Our family decorating tradition is to pick berried ivy, sprays of bay and red rosehips from the garden to add festive detail to pictures. The zinc jug in the kitchen demands a scaled-up arrangement of greenery and I tie bunches of ivy on the handrails up the stairs. The grandchildren love to help decorate the tree with white, silver and clear glass decorations.’

Shelves along the kitchen wall display everyday, vintage and old family china. At Christmas, homeowner Celia frosts a dish of fruits for the festive table on one of her glass cake stands. The chairs are Eames DSR from Vitra.

LEFT This Victorian stained-glass saint hanging in the kitchen window was discovered in an antiques shop by Celia’s brother. RIGHT Polka-dot pottery was made at a number of places in Devon including Babbacombe, Dartmouth and Sandygate. Celia collected pieces in any colour whenever she found them. BELOW An antique German blown-glass decoration nestles among flowers.

Celia bought the Edwardian rocking horse for her daughters and now it is much loved by her grandchildren. The overmantel mirror, found at a salvage yard, reflects the Christmas table.

FROM TOP A mantel to frame the fireplace was designed and made in bleached, cross-sawn oak by Alex Panter of AWP Design. The Christmas tree pays compliments of the season to the cut-out trees by Mo McDermott, a vintage 1970s piece. Beyond is a small workroom where Celia stores the vitreous enamel house number plates she sells through her company, Franco-file; the Royal Doulton fox on the shelves belonged to Celia’s mother and, like the felted moose, gets a Christmas necklet of faux berries. The pudding basin belonged to her grandmother. Silver-plated candlesticks are loved best as they tarnish.

RIGHT A small collection of paintings of interior rooms found at vintage markets hangs on one wall of the study. The old painted chest of drawers contains all the card, ribbon, marbled paper and wrappings used at Christmas. BELOW Celia loose-covered this old wing chair in crazy patchwork using wool pieces stitched section by section onto calico. The Christmas tree is rooted in a pot, ready to grow bigger for future years. Decorations are in clear glass, white and silver.

Presents wrapped in brown paper and blue tissue with hand-stitched felt tags lie on a patchwork bedcover Celia has made for her eldest granddaughter.

This antique overmantel mirror was one large piece Celia was determined to bring from her previous home. It reflects the room, amplifying the impression of space. The Edwardian sofa is upholstered in a black and green horsehair stripe beneath a cover in a woven stripe from Chelsea Textiles.

Black picks out door fittings, engravings and picture frames on the landing without dispelling the seasonal mood. The embroidered pictures are favourites brought from the Devon house.

ABOVE Celia rescued this Victorian bed just before its original paint finish was about to be stripped off. The late 19th-century crazy patchwork coverlet is worked in silks and ribbons. Celia found it in an antiques shop in Honiton and it inspired her to make crazy patchwork Christmas stockings for each of her grandchildren. Window shutters and the garden gate radiator cover were made by her joiner. LEFT Celia and her grandchildren, Eleanor, Sophie, Rebecca and Benjamin. The stairs run up the centre of the cottage.