Welcome to our little kitchen, the last in the series of our little Cotswolds cottage. We are leaving here in less than two weeks – off for adventures new, and a place to call home for a long time.
The kitchen is what really sold me on the house. The cooker to be precise. Even though it’s not gas I was quickly seduced by the prospect of a double oven and five elements. The fridge and pantry are quietly tucked away in a cupboard leaving the kitchen as one great big space for cooking and eating.
And because we couldn’t fit our dresser up the stairs it has become the kitchen dresser – and my fabric cupboard has become the props cupboard. The house only came with a few kitchen cupboards and nothing on one side of the cooker, so we bought some £35 IKEA Bekvam trolleys – which fitted perfectly, save a few millimetres we had to shave off.
The oak and elm table has come into its own here – creating a central kitchen island for dough kneading, shopping sorting and strawberry hulling. Like the rest of the house it’s not big, and even less big once we crammed all our furniture into it – but I’ve spent most of my time in here, whiling away my afternoons writing recipes on my laptop, watching the seasons change, and taking my daily Instagram of the view from the kitchen window.
The old Irish dining table has been my photo studio, a white IKEA table surface placed on it, leant up against the dresser with a white background rolled down from the top drawer, white roller blinds pulled down to block the light.
I painted the old sewing cupboard, which is now the props cupboard, Farrow and Ball light blue. I’ve only done one coat because I think the colour may need to change when we move, and I also sanded it back to reveal some of the wood again – it all looked a bit too perfect painted all nicely. The mid-century cocktail cabinet has also seen a coat of Farrow and Ball Railings. Very dark and I love it! It took weeks and weeks to dry and the door stuck a few times – I really had to sand it right back for the door to close properly as it’s obviously been well engineered.
I will miss the little kitchen. Well, I will miss the newness of it all, and the lovely cooker, and the view.
But I am excited to be moving to a huge, rustic, slightly cobbled-together kitchen, with a little room next to it where I will have my workspace. A little corner where I can watch the children while they play in the magic 1930s garden, with rhododendrons and tall oak tress. A bluebell wood in Spring. A little place where I am only a few steps from an expanse of herbs right by the back door. A lovely space where our new life will begin!
I do hope you’ve enjoyed the little interiors series from our cottage in The Cotswolds. And I hope you’ll join me for the next Chapter – a new house to make beautiful in East Sussex.
For where to buy see end of post.
Where to buy
Kilner Jars from Lakeland
Orla Kiely ceramic jars from Heals
Bags all made by me (circa 2007)
Pottery by Campbell Hegan
Paintings by Ande Barrett-Hegan and P. Lincoln
Persian carpets eBay
Flowers picked from local hedgerows
Pink bread bin by Nigella Lawson from eBay
Scissors from Cloth House
Fresh produce from Daylesford Organic Farm shop, Kingham
Falcon enamelware from Daylesford
Alan Silverwood stainless steel bakeware from The Crock, Stow-on-the-Wold
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