The Oast House
Interior Design, Horsmonden, Kent
THE PROJECT
This was a project very close to my heart - as it is a house familiar to me, set amongst the hob bines and positioned directly across the lane from a farmhouse once owned by my cousins - where I spent time as a child. Anyhow I digress...
The double roundel oast house was already a very happy and colourful family home, when we were invited to help work in the interior design for a major internal update.
The family of five, wanted to update the space with refreshed teen bedrooms, an elegant master suite, a home office and plethora of fresh new bathrooms. Additionally there was a new bootroom to help design and a downstairs cloakroom which we wanted to create a bit of a wow factor in. Plans had already been drawn up by local architects firm, Atelier de Linde - and so we were able to work alongside them to tweak the final room plans to suit our mutual clients' needs best.
In terms of our brief - the Client's were keen to add to ensure the house stayed true to it's English country route - set as it is in the weald of Kent. The palette was broadly set with blues and greens throughout the house, but with surprising pops of red or pink in a few rooms.
We added lots of patterned fabrics to the rooms, with playful geometrics in the kid's bedrooms, but using bold colours to break up the backdrop of warm neutral walls.
The two wow rooms were the master ensuite with a stunning blue double vanity unit, set against a hero wallpaper from Thibaut - the pops of pink were subtly echoed in ticking blinds.
Then the downstairs cloakroom, is a space that hits you with bold colours from the dragon-style wallpaper from Linwood.
One of my favourite pieces in the house is the stunning pendant light - suspended from the middle of the oast cowl. Three angular intersecting squares which contrast the textured plastered walls of the oast. A truly show stopping installation.
Working in the round was not straightforward at times, and we had to work hard to balance the traditional curves of the building with the demands of a busy family. Bespoke built-in cabinetry in the Bootroom hides a number of kit bags. Whilst the five windows that lead the way up from the hallway to the bedrooms required precision planning to add in panels to hide the curve and the mechanics required for the beautiful roman blinds.