The Old Hall Cottage

Their English Country Cottages

I loved the symmetry of the property with the large entrance vestibule in the middle. It was just as I had drawn houses as a child.

Tanya Muller

Tanya – a senior University lecturer in Childhood Studies and Special Educational Needs lives in this beautiful cottage with her husband ( an RHS qualified gardener), their teenage son, dogs Fergus (a cockapoo) Charlie (A King Charles spaniel) and Daisy ( a jackahuahua that live with her parents in the annexe) as well as six runner ducks- Dexter, Dolly and Delilah and their ducklings, Catkins, Willow and Whisp.

Front door painted in the beautiful Mizzle by Farrow and Ball

The family bought this beautiful cottage six years ago. They fell in love with the main property but it also had an old brick built flat roofed, bomb shelter in the garden that they hoped to convert into an annexe for Tanya’s parents.

The family had always loved the area having visited many times over the years. Tanya fell in love with the symmetry of the property with the large entrance vestibule in the middle.: “It was just as I had drawn houses as a child”. Another deciding factor was the fact that it was part of an old school which obviously appealed to Tanya, she loved “the thought that children would have enjoyed happy times here. Many people that I have met in the village, still have fond memories of their time at the school”.

Having recently undertaken a floristry course Tanya would like to be a floral designer and loves creating beautiful floral displays , Candlesticks from Country Interiors and mirror from the lovely Liz Morris Decorative Interiors

The cottage was once the hall part of the old village school and was converted in the 1980’s. It borders Kent and East Sussex, mid-way between the lovely Town of Tenterden, which is renown for small independent retailers and the coastal towns of Rye and Winchelsea. Rye is also known for plenty of quirky shops and antique shops, Tanya loves popping into the wonderful @cosydotcompany.

Even the kitchen is an elegant white and bright space. Tanya and her husband painted the kitchen units white and took out a world of fitted cupboards to have beautiful free standing antique French pieces of furniture in the room instead.

Having moved in, the family’s first job was to convert the bomb shelter into a two-bedroom, two-bathroom annexe, with Kentish white traditional style weather boarding and a pitched tiled roof. They added a more decorative barge board to the front porch and Tanya’s husband drew upon his professional skills to develop the garden to include deep borders filled with cottage garden perennials. Tanya spent one of her Easter breaks breaking up huge swathes of tarmac with a jack hammer and discovered the original school playground under the existing garden!

The stunningly elegant sitting room with natural stone wall set beautifully against more sophisticated French furniture. Tanya’s favourite piece is the large vintage mirror in her sitting room that she purchased from @sallydunseath The Old Flight House

Tanya’s love of bright, white interiors combined with pastel and muted colours shines through in every beautiful room.

I am very inspired by French Vintage style, in addition to the light wooden cladding of Scandinavian interiors.

Janet Parrella Vandenberg’s style and home along with Janet’s White and Faded website and instagram account and the amazing designer Atlanta Bartlett https://www.instagram.com/atlantabartlett/are both huge inspirations for Tanya’s home.

The design for this beautiful home has happened very organically, as with so many renovations, each stage has been designed and completed when the finances were available. Tanya claims that there is still a lot of work to do but each room has been so carefully curated and filled selectively with beautiful pieces that there is a strong sense of a timelessly beautiful, layered home. Each room is elegant and inviting, there is no sense of clinical or cold even though the palette is white and bright. Natural materials like the stone wall and the old wooden furniture soften the white and create a feeling of calm.

Tanya’s Country Cottage Necessity would be:

A house filled with cottage garden flowers!

She loves bright, white interiors combined with pastel and muted colours.

I am very inspired by French Vintage style, in addition to the light wooden cladding of Scandinavian interiors. I would love to have more of this in our home

Cupboard from Mark Maynard

Mirrors from The Old Flighthouse

A Bedroom for the sweetest and most serene of sleeps. Chandelier from Pearly Hill

Tanya’s favourite interiors books include: “Beauty Restored” by Janet Parrella -Vandenberg, “At home with White” by Atlanta Bartlett and “My Floral Affair” by Rachel Ashwell. The influence of each of these incredible designers can be seen subtly woven through every room in this cottage. Their love of faded beauty, white room schemes with the addition of natural materials to soften each room and gentle hints of pinks and blues to lift each room.

Fergus and Charlie experiencing the five star bathroom treatment!

Tanya’s describes her dream home as “A cross between the gorgeous home of Samantha @cowparsley_and foxgloves (gorgeously rustic, filled with flowers, light and bright, inviting and relaxed) and Mel’s home @frenchcountryliving (stunning beams, neutral décor and beautiful antiques!)”. These descriptions can also be used to describe Tanya’s incredible home: simply walking through the front door would allow the shoulders to drop, the eyes to roam gently around the faded beauty of the French antique furniture and the heart to be lifted with the beautifully arranged cottage garden flowers. A truly dreamy home.

For more stunning interiors head to Tanya’s Instagram page

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