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  • A stay at stylish Cornwall B&B The Sandy Duck – plus top tips for Falmouth, the Roseland Peninsula & around

    A stay at stylish Cornwall B&B The Sandy Duck – plus top tips for Falmouth, the Roseland Peninsula & around

    October 17, 2023February 3, 2026

    Boutique Cornwall B&B The Sandy Duck makes a wonderful base for exploring buzzing Falmouth and the beautiful Roseland Peninsula…

  • ‘The House’ – a muted, minimalist retreat from Ask og Eng

    ‘The House’ – a muted, minimalist retreat from Ask og Eng

    October 9, 2023February 3, 2026

    A look around a beautiful Norwegian home that combines muted, minimalist decor with warm earthy tones – and you can stay in it!

  • 6 stylish places to stay in Comporta, Portugal

    6 stylish places to stay in Comporta, Portugal

    September 12, 2023September 2, 2026

    The best boutique hotels, holiday rentals, B&Bs and guesthouses in the beautiful beachside village, salt marshes and sand dunes of Comporta, Portugal…

  • Villa Vipp: Danish design meets the Mediterranean vernacular

    Villa Vipp: Danish design meets the Mediterranean vernacular

    August 7, 2023February 17, 2026

    Set near the hilltop town of Ostuni in Puglia, the latest addition to Danish brand Vipp’s collection of unique guest accommodation blends Nordic minimalism with rustic Italian charm…

  • 8 stylish places to stay in Portugal’s Alentejo region

    8 stylish places to stay in Portugal’s Alentejo region

    July 26, 2023February 9, 2026

    The best Alentejo hotels, B&Bs, guesthouses and holiday rentals, all with minimalist design and beautiful settings…

  • 8 stylish places to stay in the eastern Algarve, Portugal

    8 stylish places to stay in the eastern Algarve, Portugal

    July 18, 2023February 17, 2026

    The best boutique hotels, B&Bs, holiday villas and apartment rentals for fans of minimalist design in Portugal’s beautiful eastern Algarve…

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Some moody flower photos, taken at @gchalfield (al Some moody flower photos, taken at @gchalfield (always one of my favourite National Trust places) last weekend. We're gradually gathering inspiration for our little cottage garden, and slightly wild-looking white blooms will definitely feature (these are some of my favourites - climbing roses, Japanese anemones, guara). It's a next-year project though, as replacing our leaking bathroom and fixing our broken drain will have to take priority. #gardeninspiration #cottagegardenflowers #flowerphotography #moodyflowers #naturephotography
Some stills of our beautiful new kitchen with time Some stills of our beautiful new kitchen with timeless slim-framed Shaker units and oak interiors from @nordiskakok. The room isn't very big (3.4 x 3.2m), but it is roughly square - a big change from the narrow galley-style kitchens we've had in the past. We've kept the layout largely the same as it was, partly because it makes sense and partly because it meant we didn't have to spend money moving services around and could instead focus our budget on the units themselves. We did get rid of the upper wall-hung cabinets though, replacing them with a long open shelf that makes the space feel much larger and airier, and hid our boiler inside a tall worktop-mounted cupboard. On the other side of the room, we replaced a huge radiator with a smaller one, making space for an integrated fridge-freezer and a full-height cupboard with pocket doors. The latter is perhaps my favourite feature in the whole kitchen, as the doors slide back into the frame and don't stick out into the room. This gives us valuable prep and storage space that we can open up or hide away as needed, with a fully usable section of worktop inside. The pocket doors also freed up enough floor space in the centre of the room for a small freestanding island unit. I liked the idea of something rustic made from gnarled wood, to reflect the countryside setting and provide an element of contrast with the smooth units and worktops. It took a lot of internet searching, but eventually I found a salvaged prep table that’s exactly the right size. We’re planning to add a couple of stools where we can sit down with a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, but we haven’t found the right ones yet. #shakerkitchen #shakerkök #cottagerenovation #cottagekitchen #moderncountrykitchen Shaker kitchen | Cottage renovation | Neutral kitchen | Minimalist interiors | Cottage kitchen | Pocket doors | Minimalist kitchen | Freestanding island unit | Kitchen renovation | Rustic minimalism
Pics from a wonderful day out in Shaftesbury in Do Pics from a wonderful day out in Shaftesbury in Dorset, and a beautiful drive down through Cranborne Chase to get there. We had a wander down the famous Gold Hill, explored the ruins of Shaftesbury Abbey, had a delicious pub lunch and accidentally bought three candles in @thebotanicalcandleco. See if you can spot me in one of the photos... #thisprettyengland #visitdorset #shaftesbury #visitengland #dorsetlandscape
Here it is: our finished kitchen! The kitchen we Here it is: our finished kitchen! The kitchen we inherited when we bought the house was tatty and dated, with broken appliances, ripped lino, chipped laminate worktops and cracked unit fronts (some of them literally looked like they'd been kicked). Now, it's a calm yet cosy room that channels the soft, rustic-minimalist mood that we're gradually adding throughout our little cottage. We've used timeless slim-framed Shaker units from @nordiskakok, which we've paired with white-pigmented oak interiors, quartz worktops and splashbacks with subtle veining, a long open shelf and a freestanding island unit made from salvaged wood. I'll share more details in a future post, but here are some before-and-after photos showing how the space has changed. We put most of our renovation budget into it, which means some other projects will have to wait, but we now have the kitchen we've always dreamed of and we couldn't be happier with it. #cottagekitchen #shakerkitchen #minimalistkitchen #cottagerenovation neutralhomedecor Shaker kitchen | Cottage kitchen | Minimalist interiors | Cottage renovation | Neutral kitchen | Soft minimalist interiors | Rustic minimalism | Neutral home decor | Freestanding island unit | Open kitchen shelves
[AD - PR products] Summer light falling across the [AD - PR products] Summer light falling across the dining room, our oak @quickstepfloors flooring and our lovely Carl Hansen Wishbone chairs from @hollowaysofludlow. I've been working down here for the past few weeks as it stays cooler than the office upstairs, and the chairs really are comfy enough to sit on for hours at a time. Bring on long, cosy meals and board games in here once the nights start drawing in! #neutralhomedecor #scandinaviandecor #minimalinterior #minimalistdiningroom #cottagerenovation

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