a cute little cottage

Border Oak are currently building a very sweet little cottage, on a teeny plot we have owned for a while, in a lovely Herefordshire village called Eardisley.

Now, it has been a bit tricky to build because the site is very small (bearing in mind you need scaffolding, skips, security fencing, storage etc) but thankfully we have been blessed with understanding neighbours and a super organised Border Oak project manager (they are all super organised and skilled of course!) And this little cottage is really growing on me - not just because it looks so pretty, but also because it is a clever house and different to what we usually do nowadays.

It is increasingly uncommon to build a simple full oak framed house at the moment- ie without SIPs, softwood framing, weatherboard or brick - just a green oak frame, pegged and infilled - and I had forgotten how lovely and pure the craft of oak framing could be. Proportionally it is perfect, but the detailing is also timeless which I love.

I have been specifying the interior finishes and generally annoying the project manager, buyer and boys on site with my ideas and requests - but I think it is called client perogative or some such nonsense.

Here are some pics I had used for the 'mood board' to help me put together the look I wanted for the kitchen and bathroom. Not sure if it will look at all like these - in fact I know it won't, but I really find it helps me to distill the visuals and aim for a cohesive look. These photos are from PlainEnglishKitchens, Lightlocations and 1st Option locations

When it is finished in around 8 weeks ( I have made that up but thought it sounded plausible.......) we will hold a few open days and get some pics. Can't wait to pretend it is mine!!

Although the bathroom will be small in the cottage I have ordered the 1930's suite from Baileys, seen below. I chickened out , last minute, from having a roll top bath, so will now have a standard bath with a tongue and groove panel. I am also thinking of having T&G on the plain landing wall, but am concerned it may look a bit fussy with the oak beams - maybe I should go for wall paper instead, to give visual interest without adding another texture?

This wall paper is lovely don't you think? And the arm chair fabric is gorgeous (does anyone know what make it is by the way?), the shabby chic chest of drawers is devine - but the wall mounted TV is .......well, it's not for me.

I would have loved wall cupboards and shelves like this but instead I have to have a boring old extractor hood - does anyone ever use an extractor? Building Regs are such a pain sometimes.

And this final Plain English Kitchen is nothing like the cottage kitchen at all, so is really surplus to requirements here , but it just seems to have such a nice atmosphere (and we do have slightly similar french doors, does that justify using the photo?)