a rEal rusTIC dElIghT
Family have transformed run-down cottage.
CANDLEMAKER Kerry Bell and husband Tom have a right to wax lyrical about their four-bedroom home.
The couple had just had their first baby when they laid eyes on the tired, garishly decorated former Midlothian Council property.
But they were undaunted. The semi-detached C-listed stone cottage, which dates back to 1752, is set in the picture-postcard village of Temple, near Edinburgh.
The couple knew that with a little vision and restructuring, it could become a lovely family home.
Kerry, who runs candle making and fragrance workshops from her home, is tackling the project in three stages – with one more to go.
She says: “It had been a council property for years but had been unimproved by its previous owners.
“The décor was a garish blue and yellow and the living room and kitchen were tiny.
“We only redecorated initially.”
The house was habitable so the couple, who have three children, decided to take their time over the more onerous structural changes.
A few years later they removed a wall to enlarge the reception areas.
They also renewed the bathroom and laid, painted and deliberately distressed, wooden flooring, as well as carpeting the bedrooms.
Kerry explains: “The living room was tiny. We know that, as was typical in the Georgian period, the formal public rooms were upstairs.
“The room that is now our bedroom had been a drawing room as it has a beautiful fireplace, with elegant
windows overlooking the garden.
“The downstairs rooms had been the kitchen and servants’ quarters, so we enlarged the front room and added a wood-burning stove. It is still quite small for a living room but we do have a playroom as well.
“We doubled the size of the kitchen by knocking down a wall and then lined it with tongue and groove panelling.”
Once the renovations were complete Tom was happy to leave the décor to Kerry, a trained interior designer.
She smiles: “I have stuck to natural textures such as wood and linen, exposing the stone whenever I could. And I selected muted greys, olives and taupes.” The result is rustic and peaceful reflecting the tranquillity of the village setting.
In the lounge Kerry exposed the stone on the chimneybreast with the remaining walls panelled and painted. Two overturned crates serve as a quirky coffee table solution, while the sofas are protected from the knocks and bumps of family life by mohair and wool throws from Bronte.
In the hallway exposed brick adds further texture.
The simple cream kitchen is from Howdens, while two wooden dressers give additional storage.
Kerry plans further changes, when the children are older.
She says: “I designed this house to be lived in, it’s not a show home.
“I’m delaying phase three, complete with extravagant designer details, for a few years.”
For more, see cantocandle.com