A joyful cottage in Tetbury with a whimsical colour palette

Chris Wakefield

Defining what our personal taste is can be a hard task, and it isn't so easy to package neatly into a box; some days we might be in the mood for flouncy florals and cosy interiors, while on others, a pared-back modern feel can be more appealing. This is precisely the case for the owner of this joyfully pretty cottage on the Chipping Steps in Tetbury, who lives in a contemporary London house during the week, but wanted a whole different world for her weekend retreat. To that end she called in Canadian-born, Bath-based designer Sean Symington, who set about creating the perfect modern cottage interior.

The house itself was in good condition structurally, and not much building work was needed, but a major cosmetic facelift was called for. Sean pulls no punches in describing its condition: “It was really tired, with a rank carpet and some nasty parts that needed love. But the kitchen was in good form so we didn’t want to rip that out, and as this isn’t her main house, she didn’t want to spend too much money gutting things.” So the kitchen stayed, but was given a fresh look. “I added a built-in bench to make the most use of space and we painted the existing cabinets in ‘Red Earth’ by Farrow & Ball, removed the tiles and added some lovely panelling as well as a new worktop and new sink.”

A downstairs bathroom was also less than delightful. In fact, Sean describes it as “awful, with carpet in,” so he set about adding a new Pepto Bismol-toned rolltop cast iron bath (painted in an archive Farrow & Ball tone called ‘Fruit Fool’), sage green tongue-and-groove panelling and Ottoline wallpaper that picks up on both colours. Upstairs, the bathroom was transformed into a wet room with a more neutral palette and a few splashes of green and pink in the tiles, mirror and skirted sink fabric.

“Everything started from the fabric,” says Sean of the process, and he's used plenty of it throughout. “Because the ceilings are so low, we knew all the walls would be ‘School House White’ from skirting board to ceiling – they’re so angled and higgledy piggledy and it would feel oppressive to have any colour on them. When it came to patterned fabrics, our client was happy to be adventurous with colour in this house as she’s not there all the time.” This has translated to GP & J Baker's ‘Magnolia’ on cushions in the sitting room, Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler's ‘Squiggle Moss’ in the kitchen, ‘Saranda Flower Embroidery’ by Schumacher UK in the twin room and ‘Pollen Trail’, also by GP & J Baker, in the bedroom, alongside touches of gingham and bright block colours. It's all been cleverly executed by Sean, who explains that “all the colours that repeat across the house have their origin in the ‘Magnolia’ fabric,” which creates a strong thread throughout the interiors.