Katie Ellen Rhodes and Gabe Oliver’s shared love of the great outdoors is reflected in their welcoming home, decorated with natural materials and weathered finishes
Their home on the edge of the Peak District could not be in a more perfect location for Katie Ellen Rhodes and Gabe Oliver. Gabe’s life revolves around climbing, and both are active hikers and trail runners, so having the moors just 10 minutes away is an absolute gift.
‘Gabe had already found the house when we started dating, but it looked nothing like this,’ explains Katie. The former workers’ cottage was largely untouched, with some of the original plaster intact and a rugged flagstone floor that ran through the kitchen down to the cellar.
‘I absolutely love that floor and as soon as I saw the open fireplace and stone surround I knew that it needed a wood-burner,’ says Katie.
Luckily, they shared the same vision and set about bringing warmth to the house. There is a love of raw, honest materials and layered textures in fabric, wood and old metal, while an eclectic mix of old tools and trinkets decorates every room. ‘A lot of the materials, colours and textures reflect the countryside,’ explains Katie. ‘I’m a teacher and days can be quite crazy, so it is nice to come home to a relaxed space where I can switch off.’
One of the biggest transformations in the house is the kitchen, which the couple completed over lockdown on the tiniest of budgets. ‘The cabinets were in good order but we replaced the worktops and put up open shelving,’ says Katie. ‘We ordered a big old bit of worktop that we cut, fitted, sanded and oiled ourselves and Gabe built extra bits onto the cabinets to make better use of the space and to make it look more balanced.’ Art teacher Katie often mixes her own paint colours and in the kitchen, painted the cupboards, tiles and the oven. ‘It’s made a huge difference. What used to be black and cream now has a unified colour scheme.’
Throughout the house, they have stripped surfaces back to the bare wood. They are lucky to have inherited quality wooden doors and good floorboards upstairs. ‘It is an old house and the walls already have some texture but I’ve added to that with textured paints, mixing colours to get the shade I wanted,’ says Katie. Textiles, rugs and accessories are piled on, with plants and w
