Home Is Where The Art Is

HOME IS

WHERE THE ART IS

Mixing Eastern style and rural country charm, the Victorian woodman’s cottage bought by Tim Redfern and his artist wife Rachel, is a tribute to her natural artistic flare

HOME TRUTHS

LOCATION: West Sussex

THE OWNERS: Rachel Redfern, an artist, and husband Tim Redfern, who live there with their two sons Samuel and Marcus

THE PROPERTY: A one-time woodman’s cottage built in 1860

ROOMS: Front and back hall, kitchen/breakfast room, snug, sitting room/dining room, four bedrooms, two bathrooms and a dressing room

“T his is a magical spot. It is remote, quiet and romantic. You know when summer arrives when the swallows arrive. Hence the name of the valley we overlook, is called Swallows Bottom.” Rachel Redfern leant over her stable kitchen door whilst feeding her chickens pecking their lunch off old flagstones outside the back door.

When Rachel and her husband Tim bought the woodman’s cottage a few years ago they were turning a new page on their life together. Tim had left the navy and Rachel left her job with a city law firm and started an art foundation course

SITTING ROOM The sitting room is relaxed and cosy, perfect to enjoy all the year round with a wood burner and bay that opens onto a terrace with spectacular views

at West Dean. “We had been living in part of a large Gothic house which was elegant and baronial but it never felt like home for us, so we decided to sell and start afresh. This cottage is so different. It is small and cosy with an artistic relaxed ambiance, which as an artist myself, I empathise with. Even so, when we moved in the interior was STYLE TIP Some cushions are like a work of art, a picture that you could hang on a wall, and they are easy to change if you want a fresh new look very dated and there was a lot of work needed to repair and upgrade.”

The couple’s immediate projects were the essentials such as rewiring, plumbing and modernising the kitchen, which was divided into three tiny rooms. The old kitchen was so miniscule that it was like a ship’s galley, with only room for one person to stand

DINING ROOM Lacquered teak Asian furniture in the dining room is contrasted by light cream curtains and duck egg blue china

You cannot help but be inspired by the wonderful countryside, and our boys, Samuel by a stove. Rachel has always and Marcus, love to be invested in freestanding kitchen furniture, so when the outside enjoying their walls dividing the three rooms surroundings were taken down and a new stone floor laid, her island unit, larder and dresser arrived from storage. “They were well loved pieces of furniture that were part of my old kitchen in our last house,” Rachel explained, “I just had to find a local carpenter to make a new sink unit.”

However, merging their bulky dark teak furniture from Asia with the soft pretty country look that Rachel wanted to embrace was their biggest challenge. Rachel recalled, “Tim and I had collected several pieces of Eastern furniture when we were first married and living in Hong Kong. Tim had

STYLE TIP Painting your skirting boards in a tone darker to the walls is a good foil for marks and scuffs made by my boys’ boots and the odd stray rugby ball mark

HALL The hall links the old house on a higher level with the new bedroom extension

KITCHEN The freestanding pieces in the kitchen; a dresser, sink unit, Aga and large island unit reflect Rachel’s rural style

been stationed at the naval base there and he always jokes that I arrived with a backpack stuffed with a long ball gown for naval dances, and eventually left married to a naval officer, heavily pregnant, with a container load of Eastern furniture from Macau, Java and Hong Kong!”

The Eastern furniture fitted beautifully in the grand proportions of their former home at the Gothic mansion, but squeezing it in and amalgamating these bulky pieces needed careful consideration. “In the end we couldn’t accommodate all the pieces, so we sold several of the larger bits and gave some away,” said Rachel.

In the dining room they kept their dark Chinese lacquered teak table and chairs, but Rachel carefully chose cream curtains and pretty duck egg china to soften the overall look. For the sitting room Rachel found some aubergine coloured sofas on an online auction site, which originally came from Harrods, she then followed a geometric theme with jade accessories to compliment the minimalist Eastern look. Against the textured stone and neutral walls Rachel has hung paintings which she has done of the local area and Sussex sailing villages to make a calming contrast.

Their most recent addition to the cottage has been a wooden clad extension which they initially intended to be a new larger kitchen. “But because the kitchen had been used by so many different cooks for over four hundred years, I felt upset about the idea of moving it, it seemed disrespectful,” Rachel

The old kitchen was so miniscule that it was like a ship’s galley, with only room for one person to stand by a stove

SOUTH EAST GARAGEDOORS

Innovative garage door solutions. . . . . .from a local family firm you can trust

Roller Doors

Wood Effect Doors Electric Doors

Sectional Doors

Full installation service • Garage door repairs Electric conversions • Senior citizen discounts

Call us for a free quote 01435 277998 01323 287990

• Heating and Plumbing • Oil Heating Systems and Tanks • Installation, Repair & Maintenance • All Boiler Types & Heating Systems • Renewable Energy & Solar The only call you ever need to make for: Your Local Family Run Business, serving our community for over 35 years. EXPERT & RELIABLE • Heating and Plumbing • Oil Heating Systems and Tanks • Installation, Repair & Maintenance • All Boiler Types & Heating Systems • Renewable Energy & Solar The only call you ever need to make for: EXPERT & RELIABLE • Heating and Plumbing • Oil Heating Systems and Tanks • Installation, Repair & Maintenance • All Boiler Types & Heating Systems • Renewable Energy & Solar The only call you ever need to make for: Your Local Family Run Business, serving our community for over 35 years. EXPERT & RELIABLE • Heating and Plumbing • Oil Heating Systems and Tanks • Installation, Repair & Maintenance • All Boiler Types & Heating Systems • Renewable Energy & Solar The only call you ever need to make for: Your Local Family Run Business, serving EXPERT & RELIABLE • Heating and Plumbing • Oil Heating Systems and Tanks • Installation, Repair & Maintenance • All Boiler Types & Heating Systems • Renewable Energy & Solar The only call you ever need to make for: EXPERT & RELIABLE • Heating and Plumbing • Oil Heating Systems and Tanks • Installation, Repair & Maintenance • All Boiler Types & Heating Systems • Renewable Energy & Solar The only call you ever need to make for: Your Local Family Run Business, serving our community for over 35 years. EXPERT & RELIABLE • Heating and Plumbing • Oil Heating Systems and Tanks • Installation, Repair & Maintenance • All Boiler Types & Heating Systems • Renewable Energy & Solar The only call you ever need to make for: Your Local Family Run Business, serving our community for over 35 years. EXPERT & RELIABLE • Heating and Plumbing • Oil Heating Systems and Tanks • Installation, Repair & Maintenance • All Boiler Types & Heating Systems • Renewable Energy & Solar The only call you ever need to make for: EXPERT & RELIABLE • Heating and Plumbing • Oil Heating Systems and Tanks • Installation, Repair & Maintenance • All Boiler Types & Heating Systems • Renewable Energy & Solar The only call you ever need to make for: Your Local Family Run Business, serving our community for over 35 years. EXPERT & RELIABLE • Heating & Plumbing • Oil Heating Systems & Tanks • Installation, Repair & Maintenance • All Boiler Types & Heating Systems • Renewable Energy & Solar Your Local Family Run Business, serving our community for over 35 years. Your Local Family Run Business, serving 01825 891720 For a FREE quote call: paynes-heating.co.uk | sales@paynes-heating.co.uk Oak Tree Barn, Blackboys East Sussex TN22 5JL 01825 891720 our community for over 35 years. For a FREE quote call: paynes-heating.co.uk | sales@paynes-heating.co.uk Oak Tree Barn, Blackboys East Sussex TN22 5JL 01825 891720 For a FREE quote call: paynes-heating.co.uk | sales@paynes-heating.co.uk Oak Tree Barn, Blackboys East Sussex TN22 5JL 01825 891720 For a FREE quote call: paynes-heating.co.uk | sales@paynes-heating.co.uk Oak Tree Barn, Blackboys East Sussex TN22 5JL 01825 891720 Your Local Family Run Business, serving our community for over 35 years. For a FREE quote call: paynes-heating.co.uk | sales@paynes-heating.co.uk 01825 891720 For a FREE quote call: paynes-heating.co.uk | sales@paynes-heating.co.uk Oak Tree Barn, Blackboys East Sussex TN22 5JL 01825 891720 For a FREE quote call: paynes-heating.co.uk | sales@paynes-heating.co.uk Oak Tree Barn, Blackboys East Sussex TN22 5JL 01825 891720 our community for over 35 years. For a FREE quote call: paynes-heating.co.uk | sales@paynes-heating.co.uk Oak Tree Barn, Blackboys East Sussex TN22 5JL 01825 891720 For a FREE quote call: paynes-heating.co.uk | sales@paynes-heating.co.uk Oak Tree Barn, Blackboys East Sussex TN22 5JL

March 2022 | SUSSEX LIVINGOak Tree Barn, Blackboys East Sussex TN22 5JL 61

explained. So instead of a kitchen they decided to put a new master bedroom, dressing room and study into the new extension plus a new front hall. The extended living area is situated on sloping ground, so the rooms in the extension step down towards the valley, creating some interesting interior roof shapes and different vistas between the various levels.

Rachel exhibits her paintings in Studio Tuesday and two of her pieces were selected for the National Open Art Competition and her most recent artistic adventure has been designing a new range of cushions and other home accessories. “Living in this beautiful area is conducive to artists,” said Rachel. “You cannot help but be inspired by the wonderful countryside, and our boys, Samuel and Marcus, love to be outside enjoying their surroundings at every opportunity. They have experienced sledging on the hill behind the house when it has snowed and making tree houses in the woods during the summer.

Merging their bulky dark teak furniture from Asia with the soft pretty country look that Rachel wanted to embrace was their biggest challenge

“I really enjoy browsing the many local antique shops looking for those finishing touches to the cottage, which is still an ongoing project of course. Even so, the house is full of gorgeous treasures we have picked up on our travels which mark memorable and happy events in our lives, and they give me a great deal of pleasure,” Rachel said with a smile of contentment. l

RachelRedfern.com Photos: Robert Sanderson/Narratives Text & Styling: Maggie Colvin/Narratives

GUEST BEDROOM The guest bedroom is decorated in Rachel’s new range of cushions

MASTER BEDROOM The Colonial look in the master bedroom is complemented by white textured fabrics and brightly coloured raffia baskets that reflect Rachel’s rural style