BARN CONVERSION
Painting over acres of wood in her beloved black was key to Keelie turning an unloved barn conversion into a welcoming home
PAINT IT BLACK
‘The sweep of stairs was too much wood for me, so I painted them in Farrow & Ball’s Off Black’
COME ON IN!
ABOUT ME I’m Keelie Stafford-Smith, 45, an interior designer, owner of @vertnoirinteriors, and I live here with my husband, Matthew, 48, a sales director, and children Herbie, 12, and Nellie, eight.
MY HOME A three-storey barn in Mobberley, Cheshire, which we bought in May 2016.
WHEN WE MOVED IN The decor was dated, with thick carpets everywhere and far too much wood.
AND NOW Plenty of black paint, green furnishings and carefully chosen vintage items have brought colour and character to every room.
STYLE TIP Think about matching your bar stools to your kitchen cupboards using the same metal.
IDEA TO STEAL
‘Find a large rug which has all the colours of the room in it to create a focal point ’
GOLD HIGHLIGHTS
‘The floor-to-ceiling windows let in lots of light and the green velvet sofas from Made add a blast of colour and texture. They go well with the gold coffee tables, which were a vintage find’
When we decided to move back to the north of England seven years ago, after many years living in period properties in London, I had no idea that I was going to fall for a barn conversion,’ says Keelie.
‘We’d renovated several properties and our last house was an Edwardian semi in Ealing. We’re both from Cheshire and once the kids weren’t tiny any more, we felt it was time to move back home and give them the childhood we’d had, with family around and plenty of space.
First steps
I gave up a full-time position as a homewares buyer to launch myself as an interior designer and my husband also changed his job so we could make the move. We wanted a semi-rural area, and we identified the villages near Knutsford as a possibility. There wasn’t a lot of choice on the market, and we only viewed around 10 properties, but the barn stood out because of the space and possibilities it offered. I wanted somewhere we could put our own stamp on. Some of the places had only been recently done up, and it would have been criminal to rip out new kitchens and bathrooms.
Identifying the one
The barn, at 4,000sq ft, was more than double the space we’d had in London, and I could see beyond the country style of the property, with mahogany and pine everywhere and thick carpets. It was unloved, but the basic structure was sound, and as soon as I got through the door, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it – Iwas making signs to my husband over the head of the estate agent! The house shares a courtyard with a Grade I listed building, but at the back it looks out over open
