Periwinkle Cottage

Their English Country Cottages

I fell in love with the quaint of it

Lisa, her husband and their Cocker Spaniel Ruby moved into this dreamy cottage 20 years ago (so that’s why these roses are so stunning). They were searching for the holy grail of a character cottage in a village location so when the estate agents telephoned to say they had a new cottage just come onto the market, they decided that very evening to carry out a secret drive-by view before even looking at the details of the property. Needless to say Lisa fell immediately in love with its gorgeously sweet exterior, falling for “the quaint of it”!

The cottage sported a 1970’s kitchen – which Lisa removed as quickly as possible and replaced with a free standing kitchen which Lisa freely admits “It isn’t always practical but pretty comes before practical for me!

The cottage was built in the 1700’s and was part of two farmers cottages – it is stuffed with textbook cottage features: uneven floors (tick), beams (tick, tick) and full of history. The previous owners spent a long time researching the previous occupants, discovering that many had been buried in the village church graveyeard. This is probably due to the cottage’s very rural location as well as a very important community feel at the heart of the village.

The above is an old photo of one of the previous owners from about 1800 – hang on – look at the roses- not 20 years of work…200 years!!! The gorgeous prize winning sweetpeas featured in this photo still reappear every year, this beautiful lady would be grinning even more to know that her sweetpeas are still bringing so much beauty 200 years into the future.

Lisa adores pastel colours and the cottage is decorated in ice cream shades throughout. Her love for original chippy vintage painted furniture matches this beautiful little cottage so well. “It is a big part of the cottage along with other pastel vintage treasures sourced over the years. I love handmade creations which is also a theme that runs throughout the cottage. I think its because I hate mass produced items”.

Rachel Ashwell and Christina Strutt are two of Lisa’s favourite interiors designers. Their influence is in glorious abundance in this cottage, florals riot over fabrics and eiderdowns, pastels harmonise in chippy furniture and a feeling of quiet vintage fills the cottage.

Country Cottage Necessities in this cottage include a pretty front door (yup) with rambling roses (also yup),  an Aga which is the beating heart of the kitchen (oh yes), a cosy log burner (yup) and “Beams and more beams oh and wonky walls”!

There has been so much time and effort and thought poured into this pretty pastel cottage. It feels as if one could quietly close the door, open the windows, sink into a squishy chair and breathe in the scent of roses and sweetpeas outside whilst listening to the calming sound of a clock ticking and a feeling of history embracing you. Lisa’s dream quintessential English cottage would have “a big cottage front garden with a gate leading to a cobbled path with old stables and not forgetting a Peter Rabbit garden !”. With the addition of her gorgeous garden room and sweetest of beach huts, I don’t think she needs to dream of Peter Rabbit gardens although it would fit perfectly with the nostalgic and vintage atmosphere in this beautiful shabby chic cottage.

To indulge in more glorious romantic vintage nostalgia, head to Lisa’s beautiful Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/periwinklecottage/

Happy Valentine’s Day x