A Country Escape

James Brett wanted his cottage to feel like a magical hideaway when he was home from his work as a globe-trotting geologist

- By Alison Gibb. Photographs by Susie Lowe

The kitchen is beautifully laid out so James can enjoy the views while cooking at the peninsula. Studio Dean added scorched reclaimed wooden doors to the Ikea cabinetry for an industrial edge.

Kitchen carcasses, Ikea. Worktops, Dekton Trillium. Sink, Franke. Walls painted in Collingwood and stonework in Regent Green, Benjamin Moore. Cerdisa floor tiles, Dordini Tiles

James Brett was brought up near the cottage where he now lives, on the beautiful Northumberland coast. His parents still live in the village, and once he graduated and became established in his career, which involves a lot of international travel, he realised he wanted a base near home. His mother had worked with interior designer Cathy Dean, of Studio Dean, on some projects and introduced James to her.

‘I’d bought a dated cottage and wanted to revamp it into something a bit more unique’ he explains. ‘It was pine lined with lowered ceilings and lino on the floors. An architect had come up with a solution that gave me the three bedrooms I wanted, but it didn’t quite work for me; it was filled with lots of corridors and very little storage. I wanted the house to flow better, and when I met Cathy, her ideas sounded as if they had a lot more potential, so I was delighted to engage her.’

Cathy came up with a simple solution – adding a porch and extending the kitchen. ‘Immediately I could see the benefit of having somewhere you could take off muddy boots and store coats,’ says James. ‘We rearranged the parking outside so that you enter the house through a welcoming porch and step into the dining area of the kitchen. The extension includes a wall of glass that leads out onto a raised patio and the views, which you can enjoy inside while cooking or from the new outside balcony, are stunning.’