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  • A beige living room with pale sofa, wooden coffee table and leafy foliage | Home tour - a new-build apartment in soft, sophisticated tones | These Four Walls blog

    Home tour | A new-build apartment in soft, sophisticated tones

    December 15, 2020December 15, 2020

    In recent months I’ve shared a few inspiring homes that prove new-builds needn’t be cold or soulless, and I have another fantastic example for you today. Set in the new…

  • Simple Christmas table styling with dried foliage and grasses | These Four Walls blog

    Simple Christmas table styling with dried foliage and grasses

    December 11, 2020

    Christmas is going to be a smaller, more intimate affair for many this year, and it certainly will be for us. A couple of very important people will be missing…

  • The Reinvention of Forms by Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen | New finds - December 2020 | These Four Walls blog

    New finds | December 2020

    December 8, 2020

    Is it just me, or has 2020 somehow stood still and flown by at the same time? Anyway, December is here already and I’m going to squeeze in one last…

  • How to make an asymmetrical Christmas wreath | These Four Walls blog

    How to make an asymmetrical Christmas wreath

    December 1, 2020

    Making wreaths is one of my favourite things to do in the run-up to Christmas. There’s something very mindful about getting stuck into seasonal crafts, and surrounding yourself with winter…

  • Adding some festive sparkle with Georg Jensen's 2020 'Christmas Collectibles' | These Four Walls blog

    Adding some festive sparkle with Georg Jensen’s 2020 ‘Christmas Collectibles’

    November 24, 2020November 24, 2020

    [Advertisement – this is a paid partnership with Georg Jensen, but all words and opinions are my own] I generally opt for a pared-back look at Christmas, with lots of…

  • A soft, minimalist beige bedroom: mood board & plans | These Four Walls blog

    A soft, minimalist beige bedroom: mood board & plans

    November 17, 2020January 5, 2021

    Blocking up the door to our ensuite and opening a new one off the landing has not only enabled us to create a proper upstairs bathroom, it’s also given us…

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I always think pears are the prettiest of the autu I always think pears are the prettiest of the autumn fruits, and I love the way they look displayed in this vintage stone bowl. Just don't ask me to put them in a crumble or anything similar - I love cosy season, but I don't have much of a sweet tooth and find cooked desserts and stewed fruits far too stodgy! Any pears I get go into salads, pasta or risotto with cheese. 

#cottagekitchen #cottagekitchendecor #neutralkitchen #autumnishere #autumnhomestyle 

Shaker kitchen | Cottage renovation | Autumn home decor | Autumn kitchen styling | Autumn fruits | Kitchen details | Neutral home decor | Cottage interior | Modern country kitchen
[AD - PR product] A new candle discovery - 'Night' [AD - PR product] A new candle discovery - 'Night' by @koadescentedcandles. It's a deep, lingering blend of dark rose, oud wood, leather and oak that's prefect for this time of year, when the evenings start to draw in. I love the steel vessel too - it fits beautifully into our living room, where I've played on contrast by mixing cool metals with gnarled wood and other natural materials. 

This is just one of my picks of the best scented candles for autumn, which I've updated for 2026 with some new finds alongside old favourites. You can see the full selection on my blog. 

#autumnhome #candleseason #cosyseason #neutralhomedecor #softminimalstyle 

Cottage living room | Neutral living room | Rustic minimalist decor | Cottage renovation | Neutral home | Beige interiors | Autumn styling | Scented candles
I've hung the dried autumn wreath I made last year I've hung the dried autumn wreath I made last year on our front door, and it looks so pretty next to the Bath stone walls.

We also have a visitor on the door - a little moth, which has camouflaged itself perfectly against the paint and has been quite happily sunning itself all day. 

#autumndecorations #autumnhome #autumnwreath #falldecorating #cottagecorestyle 

Cottage renovation | Bath stone cottage | Front door style | Autumn decor | Autum home style | Seasonal styling | Seasonal living | Cottage life
[AD - features some PR products, which are marked] [AD - features some PR products, which are marked] You've seen the kitchen and the dining room, and now it's time to share the living room - the missing link in our newly renovated trio of downstairs rooms.

This room appealed to us the moment we viewed our little cottage, as it has two windows and gets lovely light. But it was also the trickiest space to get right: not only is it a through space, it had also been stripped of most original features, leaving it looking bland and soulless. 

The first thing we did was build a new stud-wall chimney breast and commission a Bath stone fireplace from @christopheremerystone. It gives the room a much-needed focal point using a local material (the same as the house is constructed from, in fact), and we've added a clean-burning bioethanol stove to help create a calm, cosy sanctuary.

Swipe through the photos and captions for more... 

#cottagerenovation #neutrallivingroom #minimalistlivingroon #cottagedecor #softminimalism

Cottage renovation | Neutral living room | Cottage decor | Soft minimalist interiors | Neutral interiors | Neutral decor | Simple interiors | Stone fireplace | Beige living room 

The doors to the dining room and kitchen are in one corner, so we set up an inviting seating zone away from the main traffic area, with the furniture slightly pulled out from the walls and anchored by a large rug. The space by the doors hasn’t gone to waste, as we’ve added a slimline console table (which sat in the hallway in our previous house).

Sadly neither of the sofas that we had in our previous living room were the right size for this one, and the larger of the two wouldn’t even have fitted through the narrow doorway. So, the hunt was on for a new one. I really liked the idea of a linen slipcover design to fit with the rustic-minimalist aesthetic, and IKEA’s ‘HYLTARP’ model proved ideal. It’s long enough for both of us to sprawl out in comfort, and it comes as a self-assembly flatpack so there were no worries about how to get it inside! I also like the fact that the covers are removable, meaning we can take them off to wash them, replace them if they wear out or even change them entirely if we fancy a new look. 

We've
A beautiful September sunset sky snapped from our A beautiful September sunset sky snapped from our front door yesterday evening. I'm starting to sense hints of the seasons changing around me, and it's wonderful after that long sweltering-hot summer! 

#sunsets_captures #thisprettyengland #visitwiltshire #septembermood #cotswolds

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