Cornish Charm
Maggie and Mike Black love decorating their period home for the holidays, and enjoying gatherings with family and friends
This period property in Cornwall has an elegant simplicity that’s perfect for festive family gatherings
Maggie Black enjoys every minute of the time she spends choosing and putting up her Christmas decorations. ‘I keep some from year to year – they bring back so many happy memories – but I also like to add a few new ones to be fresh and a little on trend,’ she says. ‘I adore unwrapping my stash of decorations, deciding which ones will make the final cut.’
After more than 30 years in the property, Maggie and her husband Mike have an amicable arrangement: Maggie, a retired nurse, is in charge of the decorating while Mike, a local GP, does the gardening. ‘It works for us,’ says Maggie. ‘I’m never bored – I’m constantly tweaking things. The house is versatile and I have repainted it a lot over the years.’
When the couple bought the 17th-century property, it felt bland and featureless, all its character having been removed or covered over. Maggie undertook much of the renovation work, opening up fireplaces, exposing beams and stripping back layers of paint. ‘I did a lot of the demolition, then called in a builder to build things up again,’ she says. Eventually, Maggie and Mike also fitted a new kitchen and bathroom, but it was while working on the sitting/ dining room that Maggie made her greatest discovery – a wattle and daub wall, concealed below modern plasterwork. ‘I exposed a little bit of it and realised there was something lovely going on,’ she says. ‘I took the plaster off with a pickaxe – and there it was.’
Today, the house’s interior has a touch of the Scandinavian in its emphasis on pale colours and charming simplicity. Maggie’s decorating style is inspired by the building’s unique character. ‘There is so much texture here – stone, slate and wood,’ she explains. ‘This led me to keep the decor as simple as possible. I’m also inspired by the Cornish light, and so I use a lot of blues, greys and whites. My style is mainly vintage, things that I’ve collected over the years, with some modern pieces thrown in.’
The couple take pleasure in welcoming guests to their home. ‘Our daughter Amy lives nearby and brings her daughters Lilly and Isla over regularly,’ says Maggie. ‘ We relish the fact that they use our house so much and keep it alive. We also love having our son Tom to stay. The more the merrier.’ This principle definitely applies at Christmas, when the Blacks enjoy traditions that go back years. Maggie puts the tree up just a few days before Christmas. ‘ We like it to be fresh and not lose that excitement,’ she says. ‘On Christmas Eve we give each other new pyjamas and on Christmas Day we go for a walk. We have turkey and all the trimmings and play board games in the afternoon. This is what I love most about this house: we have so many happy memories here and we are continuing to make them.’
best buy ‘Rather than buying new furniture, I prefer to keep reinventing my old pieces with a change of paint colour, which always gives them a fresh look’