SURREY COTTAGE
by Chameleon Interiors
The owners, Sally and Derek, had the house
built just over a year ago after waiting 17
years for the plot to become available.
Located on a private, on a no through road,
the house sits on the site of a bungalow, with
views over a paddock and beyond.
So this is a new build home, built out of
reclaimed materials including old bricks and
reclaimed woods to not only give the house
character but so it sits well in its semi-rural
location. The house builder only embarks on
a couple of projects a year who likes to take
his time to source the materials and build
homes that last. Generally, his houses are a
labour of love and there is always a waiting
list for them.
I was involved right from the building stage
and made a small number of changes
including closing up doorways, for example,
in the hallway which now sees a handy
home office desk area located between the
sitting room and the stairs, and I opened
up areas generally to achieve a better flow
44 - www.refurbandrestore.co.uk
and use of space. The ground floor is now
much more user friendly as the rooms are
more open plan. I tweaked and changed the
kitchen materials too including the worktops,
paintwork, tiling and cupboard handles, so
that they were in keeping with my scheme.
Fired Earth mirror deco tiles were used as
a splash back to give a softer reflection.
Farrow and Ball and Zoffany paints were
used in stronger colours to define the kitchen
units. Ochre handmade bone and chrome
handles upgraded the standard kitchen
specified by the builder. The granite top has
speckles of grey/plum/aqua which reflect my
overall colour scheme.
The owners have down-sized, moving from a
large family home into a smaller space where
they intend to retire and stay for the rest
of their lives. Luckily they were able to sell
their last home with all of the furniture and
chattels enabling me to have a clean slate
and select everything they have in their new
home.