Welcome to my home

Hannah Waring and her husband Nick bought their cottage 10 years ago, when looking for a family home outside London. The property is made up of two one-up one-down worker’s cottages knocked together, and the couple saw its potential immediately. ‘We wanted to create a light-filled home that felt lived in,’ says Hannah.

They went for a top-to-bottom renovation, rejigging the ground floor by moving the kitchen and turning two small rooms into one big living zone. They also added an extension to the kitchen-diner and another to the first floor, creating an en suite. The new kitchen-diner was fitted with a window seat, plus built-in cupboards to maximise space. It’s now the area Hannah uses as her office – she set up her children’s clothing business, Busy Little Things (busylittlethings.co.uk), at the kitchen table.

Next, Hannah began working out how to incorporate the family’s large collection of mid-century-style buys. She started by painting all the walls white. ‘It gave us scope to add colour and texture to the rooms,’ she says. The couple also added classic pieces of furniture that were sympathetic to the look of the cottage, as well as in harmony with their retro things. ‘Everything in our previous flat was mid-century retro, but that trend looks better in smaller doses in the cottage,’ says Hannah. ‘So, when I bought the mesh-front food safe in the living room, it inspired me to add more country-style pieces.’

The living room is the space that will get the most use over Christmas, as the family love to gather around the new wood burner. ‘We discovered the fireplace hidden behind plasterboard,’ says Hannah. ‘I’m looking forward to opening presents in front of it this year.’