Do it yourself; The DIY Cottage renovation

As an independent designer, I'm lucky to have a fair amount creative freedom when it comes to where I source my furnishings and I often push the limit on this and buy from auctions, small cottage businesses and independent suppliers just to create something unique.

This is especially true when creating something for myself and my family. I love to re-use anything I can, to save on resources, both financially and ecologically. I've been working on my house these last few months, stripping stained, peeling wall paper that had been stuck on old-plaster walls for around 30 years. I've been painting kitchen cabinets, floorboards, doors and furniture and roping in some very useful family members for the more skilled work of tiling, and plastering.

These 'before' pictures were the state our home on moving-in day. When most people pop champagne corks and toast to their new, hopefully empty, hopefully cleaned home, this time last year we were clearing out rubbish, furniture and dirt that had been left behind. It was so bad that it was a few nights before I plucked up the courage to move in....

Yes, those are towels on an airer in the bathroom and no, none of this belonged to us. Half our belongings were still in the lorry having been driven away to unpack after the weekend and half had been neatly stacked in the living room.

So it was with great effort and a hearty sense of achievement that the cottage was pulled together in just under 12 months to a respectable enough standard to holiday let. There are still some jobs to do and some pictures to put up and some beams to paint and some guttering to fix and some windows to top-coat etc etc etc...............but I am delighted with the results so far.