WITH ITS RUSTIC CHARACTER AND COSY INTERIOR, KAREN AND ADAM GRIGGS’ FORMER WORKER’S COTTAGE REALLY COMES INTO ITS OWN AT CHRISTMAS
FEATURE AND STYLING HEATHER DIXON PLANS RICHARD HOOKWAY
Living room
To make this room feel bigger and more open, Karen and Adam had the ceiling vaulted and the original beams restored. They were delighted to be able to keep the exposed brick wall after it passed rigorous sound tests.
IN THE MIX
Iron pendant lights bring metal to the rustic textural mix of exposed brick, natural wood flooring and structural beams
Karen Griggs faced a huge learning curve when she and her husband Adam renovated a series of outbuildings at their family home near York. After parting company with their first builder, Karen decided it would be easier to manage the work herself – and what better way to achieve exactly what she wanted than to be as hands on as possible?
Before long she was climbing onto the roof, laying bricks and learning new skills from a team of tradespeople who were happy to share their expertise and make sure everything was done to her exacting standards.
Karen’s main focus was the renovation and extension of a former worker’s cottage, which had previously been a village pub, a post office, an antiques shop and a printing press for choral music. Karen was keen to turn it into holiday accommodation as part of their long-standing dream to renovate a property with lots of character and create a business that would allow her to work from home and be around for their two children.
Through her previous job as a healthcare nurse, Karen understands the positive impact of beautiful surroundings on people’s lives and she set out to create a home full of interesting textures, colourful textiles, pleasing scents and visual delights that would lift the spirits of everyone who stayed there. She has achieved this to wonderful effect by using recycled and reclaimed materials, including old bricks, painted wood, rustic beams and stone flags, along with colourful fabrics from India, quirky wallpapers and paintings, and an truly eclectic mix of furniture and accessories that reveals her eye for a stylishly uns
