A small home doesn't mean you can't be bold!

By using the ‘less-is-more’ rule as her guide, Kim Low made some big design statements that work well in her tiny cottage.

Having moved from London to Cranleigh in Surrey some 20 years previously, Kim Low was understandably fond of the town where she had brought up her family. So when she was looking to downsize, she was keen to stay in the vicinity, especially as her two grown-up daughters and two grandchildren were still living in that neck of the woods.

The cottage she chose certainly didn’t look promising at first. The run-down property had once been a railway inn and, on paper, it appeared to need a lot of work as it dated back to 1567, with later Victorian additions. Although it wasn’t listed, it was a building of special historical interest, which really appealed to Kim. ‘I realised that the key to making it work would be to harmonise the different eras somehow,’ she explains. ‘The two cottages on either side of the one I was looking at had been modernised, but this one had plenty of its original features and some gorgeous old timber beams.’

Newly single Kim was no stranger to the challenges of living in an old property, having previously renovated a 15th-century house, and with her children grown up and out of the house, she wanted to find a home that was just right for the next phase of her life.