the sweetest place to stay in england

What better way to visit England than in a sweet little cottage in the heart of a chocolate box village, surrounded by beautiful Sussex countryside; gardens to visit; pubs and restaurants to dine at and within easy reach of London if you want to visit a museum or shop.

This pretty cottage has been renovated in signature style by my sister, Nicola, and it provides a delicious retreat for two.  Warm, comfortable and of course stunning.  The cottage, known as Number 22, is furnished with beautiful antique furniture and paintings. 

Upstairs there is a lovely bedroom and bright fresh bathroom, I love this soft blue palette.

Downstairs there is a touch of pink and soft red in the kitchen and sitting room where

a log burning stove keeps the cottage warm and welcoming even in the winter.

and in the spring and summer the pretty garden provides an extra place for

 sitting quietly before walking down the road for supper at the excellent local pub.

If you are interested in renting Number 22, you can find all the details right here

a beautiful home

I'm in a fr-e-e-e-zing cold England for a few days this week, visiting with family and doing some Christmas shopping with my mum.    One of my sisters conjured up a wonderful surprise for me and provided me with today's post.

I have to tell you that my sister Nicola is an über-talented interior designer, working in the south east of England.  Later this week I'll show you the sweetest cottage that she has just finished, but today she invited  me to tag along to see a client who graciously allowed me to let me take pictures.

The grounds of the house are stunning, planted carefully to provide year-round interest and give real structure to what is a very large area.  Pieces of modern sculpture are used to compliment   the landscape design and the architecture of the house and outbuildings.

If it all looks this good early december, just imagine how wonderful the garden must be in June!!

isn't this tree house to die for?!  - just imagine the tea parties that could be held up here!

A part of the house is Tudor,  dating back to the 15th century.   It has been extended several times through the years but always in keeping with the original architecture.

Indoors it was important not not be overwhelmed by the history and size of the house and create a comfortable setting for everyday living.

Nicola had fun creating this family cinema room - and so did the upholsterer who had to follow her specs on the plaid sofa! :)

The pictures speak for themselves, but the lasting memory of this home for me will be the relaxed and welcoming atmosphere, a real family home.  This is surely what a really good interior designer working with   discerning clients is meant to achieve; effortless ease and elegance.

before and afters in our guest cottage

You may remember that a while back I asked your opinion on window treatment for the eaves bedroom in our guest cottage.  I thought you might like to see progress so far.

I worked out a simple method of fixing a crown for draped curtains behind the bed head.  I have been experimenting with linen drapes, lined with antique embroidered voile.  This is a good start, but at 28" each,  the drapes are nowhere near wide enough.  I'll be needing at least twice that width to give a proper fullness.

Here is the before shot!

There has been good progress redecorating the kitchen as well, calming down colours and freshening up.  It doesn't always need a total makeover to make a room feel welcoming.

and the before shot, not sure how I stuck with these colours for so long!

There'll be more to come, next stop will be the sitting room.
  I'm currently upholstering this baby!

watch this space ...

draped bedheads and pointed windows

I'm thinking hard about draped and upholstered bedheads here, as I want to do a little redecorating in our guest cottage before the start of the new season.  Loving some of these but I wondered  ....  Could you help with some ideas please?

Here is my problem.  The upstairs bedroom in the cottage is in the roof of the house and therefore has a pointed ceiling, with wooden beams showing.  This makes for a charming room that everyone adores, but leaves me with a difficult wall to treat.  Here is a very unflattering and rather ancient picture,  the room has been improved (alot!) since this shot was taken.  I chose the photo because you see the structure of the room so well.

So I'm thinking that I have this natural point above the bed, so why not dress 

it up and treat it like a real draped bed crown?

could I fit a crown like this around the beam structure?  probably not!  but I'd love to try!

Not wild about this one with so much going on above the bed, but just 

looking at different ways to drape fabric.

But then, my problem is more complicated that that - what do I do with the windows? 

I could pretend they are not there and hide them behind a more square drape.

but that would be tricky because the ceiling is pointed not square.

I turned to Jaques Grange, and noticed that he found deer antlers above the bed and a tiger at the foot of the bed to be the best solution, but I don't think I dare go down that road, sorry Jaques!

So I come full circle and look again at upholstered bedheads, in beautiful colours, 

either following the natural pointed contours of the wall, or the horzontal line of the window.

I'm sure that many of you have thought this one through allready, any ideas most welcome!!

PS.  As your helpful comments start coming in, I realise I should say that this is one end of a long rectangular room, and there are two other windows, one in the centre and one the other end.  Thank you so much for helping me think this through, it really is interesting to see everyone's take.

photo credits here