"We've Given It Our Own Stamp!"

Painting over acres of wood in her beloved black was key to Keelie turning an unloved barn conversion into a welcoming home

- By Stephanie Smith

When we decided to move back to the north of England seven years ago, after many years living in period properties in London, I had no idea that I was going to fall for a barn conversion,’ says Keelie.

‘We’d renovated several properties and our last house was an Edwardian semi in Ealing. We’re both from Cheshire and once the kids weren’t tiny any more, we felt it was time to move back home and give them the childhood we’d had, with family around and plenty of space.

First steps

I gave up a full-time position as a homewares buyer to launch myself as an interior designer and my husband also changed his job so we could make the move. We wanted a semi-rural area, and we identified the villages near Knutsford as a possibility. There wasn’t a lot of choice on the market, and we only viewed around 10 properties, but the barn stood out because of the space and possibilities it offered. I wanted somewhere we could put our own stamp on. Some of the places had only been recently done up, and it would have been criminal to rip out new kitchens and bathrooms.

Identifying the one