Cottages

So – you’ve either bought, inherited, begged, borrowed (or stolen) the idyllic, best-of-both-worlds urban cottage we all dream of living in. But now you have your hands on it, how should you treat the interiors?

Available to rent through Sand & Stone Escapes, Well Cottage combines the best of charming country decoration with a modern touch

Decorator Victoria von Westenholz, working with her longtime friend Xenia Buckhurst, has infused the interiors of the cottage where Xenia lives with warmth and a welcoming atmosphere

This idyllic cottage in Oxfordshire was looking rather tired until a trio of creatives - designer Sarah Delaney, architects Barnaby Gunning and garden designer Butter Wakefield - gave it a characterful update, both inside and out

When interior designer Harriet Anstruther took possession of her run-down Sussex farmhouse, she put her eclectic mark on it, while keeping its original features...

When she had to make her new cottage comfortable and liveable in the period before a full renovation, interior designer Katharine Paravicini made some clever decisions about where to splurge and where to rein in the budget

Interior designer Sean Symington has created a colourful refuge for his client in this 17th-century Cotswold cottage, brimming with pretty fabrics and a fresh look

Tasked with reinventing this cottage on the Bradford Estate by its owners, Viscount and Viscountess Newport, Emma Ainscough has created something magical - and the best bit? You can rent it out for holidays 

The interior designer's rented cottage in Oxfordshire is the most charmingly informal of his houses, a weekend getaway filled with his own creative work and an array of enviable antique market finds

Having found and bought this 17th-century Cotswold cottage in the space of a week, former Sotheby’s specialist James Mackie has created a charming art-filled home that reflects the interior-design skills he is now capitalising on

Gallerist Tobias Vernon’s cottage in Somerset is a study in juxtaposition, with white walls throughout providing a background for his creative arrangements of art and eclectic pieces

Tasked with decorating a nineteenth-century stone cottage in Pembrokeshire, John McCall made use of an unusually creative method to conceive its understated and eclectic look.

The designers Benedict Foley and Daniel Slowik have taken a delightful cottage on the border and Suffolk and Essex and created a charming interior based around their shared taste in collecting, their cheerful acceptance of the house’s imperfections, and an irrepressible sense of humour

In the midst of the pandemic the American-British writer Jo Rodgers and her family had to leave their London home, forcing a decision that many of us have been weighing up since Covid hit - stay in town, or start over in the country? In the conclusion of her monthly column, Jo’s family prepares to go back to London full time, and she takes a last look at her countryside home

A 19th-century former whaler’s cottage in North Sydney has been transformed by Australian interior designer Lisa Burdus into a vibrant, comfortable home with a nod to classic English country style

The textile designer Molly Mahon, known for her brightly patterned hand-block-printed fabrics, has created a welcoming family home in her Sussex cottage

Interior designer Flora Soames found solace – and the focus to design her first fabric collection – in decorating this former gamekeeper’s woodland cottage and filling it with her most treasured possessions

Designer Pamela Shamshiri took inspiration from Wes Anderson films when dreaming up the interiors for this 1906 family retreat

The owner of this Oxfordshire cottage was determined to stay true to its roots, and, with the help of her designer, has created a traditional interior that incorporates and complements her collection of antiques

Interior designer Meta Coleman has brought fresh life to a 19th-century cottage in a small Utah town, respecting its absorbing history while making it work for its new owners