SMALL SPACES COTSWOLD COTTAGE
With its ancient honey-coloured stone walls, low ceilings and period charm, this chocolate-box thatched cottage is a quintessential country retreat for Vicky Tilbury
The beams have been painted white to ‘lift’ the ceiling and make the room appear more airy
Flying across the globe and countless overnight hotel stays taught former flight crew member Vicky Tilbury the essentials of creating luxury, home-from-home comforts. ‘In my 15 years flying with British Airways, I learnt there are three keynotes that make agreat stay. The first is agreat shower, the second is afantastic bed and the third is crisp bed linen,’ she laughs. It’s atrifecta she has replicated in her Cotswold cottage, which she bought as aproject when her youngest was on the cusp of leaving home.
Vicky was looking for acountry escape that she and her family could enjoy together, and that could also be rented out to guests. She scoured the internet for months until, in August 2018, she came across a listed thatched cottage for sale in anorth Cotswold village. ‘I fell in love with this quintessential English cottage, which had been well looked after by its previous elderly owner. She had also nurtured a beautiful country garden full of hellebores, roses and anemones. It was idyllic.’
Vicky hired alocal builder and began choosing fixtures and fittings for the cottage. ‘I love a floorplan and have always had great spatial awareness,’ she says, explaining her confident renovation. ‘I’d always dreamt of having an openplan bedroom-bathroom so this was my chance to design the ultimate luxurious country hideaway.’ To elevate the look of the bedroom, Vicky asked her carpenter to create wall panelling, which proved atricky challenge on uneven floors and walls. Then the second bedroom was reconfigured into aspacious luxury en suite. Due to the age of the cottage, there wasn’t the usual void between the floor and ceiling below, so to hide the plumbing, Vicky designed aplatform that raised the roll-top bath and disguised all the pipework below.
Downstairs, the compact kitchen was another challenge. ‘With the help of my favourite kitchen brand, DeVOL, I managed to fit all the essential appliances into this small space, which was amazing,’
Vicky adds. ‘This room has three windows so it’s always bright and airy, despite its size. I love open shelves over floor cabinets and I painted all the original beams white to keep the space light and open.’
Vicky’s preference for upcycled furniture is evident throughout, with quirky items dotted around the cottage –including aFrench pine baker’s bread-proving oven. ‘My favourite feature is the huge ingle
