A DREAM COTTAGE
How an antiques expert furnished her own home.
ANTIQUES and interiors specialist Lynn McKnight never dreamed she would become the proud owner of a 200-year-old Berwickshire cottage.
The pretty pantiled and whitewashed property in Paxton, known as Wayside Cottage, was once two dwellings.
It had already been professionally converted into a single home when it came to Lynn and her husband Peter, 65.
Edinburgh-born Lynn, 62, explained: “We had a much larger house nearby and another couple were desperate to buy it.
“They owned Wayside and made the unusual suggestion that we take it in part-exchange. We were thinking of downsizing anyway and decided to go for it.
“I loved it from the moment I saw it but we refurbished it to suit our own taste.”
Making the most of her professional flair, Lynn – who runs LM Interiors from the Denholm Interiors complex in Hawick – lost no time in remodelling the three-bedroom home with Victorian-style conservatory.
She says: “There was a condemned wood burner in the lounge, so we built a new chimney breast, put in a new fireplace, added a new multi-fuel burner and redecorated. I knew I wanted a focal point.
“I have antique furniture and it needed to look right.”
Lynn decided the walls of her new home should provide a neutral backdrop to her eclectic mix of furniture.
Above the fire breast hangs an 18th Century portrait, while on an adjacent wall an American antique gilt mirror sits above a much-loved mid-19th Century desk.
The TV is cleverly disguised in an antique French cabinet.
The sitting-dining room is the area most used by the McKnights, their cat Socks and dog Jack.
Lynn gleefully admits the inspiration for this room came from a Timmy Fowler black and white headscarf bought on London’s Fulham Road.
“I loved it so much I framed it,” she says proudly. It hangs over the dining table.
Fabrics – like the Malabar check chair and foot stool – are in cream with accents in black.
The striking antler lamp was bought online for £100 and the robust jute rug was
a bargain buy from Ikea at around £80.
The fireplace in this room was also created by Lynn’s husband.
Pete also upgraded the spacious bathroom after replacing the suite last year, transforming it with cladding created with MDF. The upcycled vanity unit was a steal at £50.
In the master bedroom Pete created a half-tester. Mirrors were used above the bedside tables to accentuate the lamp-light.
In the guest bedrooms, period furniture has been given a fresh new lease of life with Annie Sloane chalk paint – a bed was bought for only £55 and upcycled, as was the Edwardian chair purchased for £5.
“I love taking something that is inexpensive and turning it into something amazing,” beams Lynn.
Looking out over a beautifully tended, private garden, courtyard and patio, she is pensive.
Lynn is leaving the home she has loved to move closer to her 82-year-old mum in Kelso.
She says: “This has been a wonderful place to live.
“It is perfect for us and if I could pick it up and take it with us I would.”
Wayside Cottage is being marketed by Hastings Legal for offers over £260,000.