I worked on a modern family house, built on the land of an old farmhouse. It is surrounded by stunning open countryside and set within a 2.2 acre garden plot. The house was lacking in character despite being called a 'farmhouse.' So the clients, who had recently moved in, wanted to start off by transforming their conservatory, living room and family bathroom into rooms which would show lots of personality. They like a rustic style and wanted the house to be a sanctuary - a place to relax, switch off from work and enjoy time together as a young family. A big part of the brief was to tackle the layout of their living room. It is a large, rectangular space and they needed help figuring out the best layout for the furniture, working around a central fireplace and a couple of awkwardly placed double doors. For the design, I took inspiration from the stunning surroundings. I worked with greens and blues and natural materials to come up with a scheme that would reflect the immediate exterior and exude a soothing feel. To tackle the living room layout I created three zones within the space, based on how the family spend time in the room. A reading area, a social space and a TV zone used the whole room to its maximum. I created a design concept for all rooms. This consisted of the colour scheme, materials, patterns and textures which would form the basis of the scheme. A 2D floor plan was also drawn up to tackle the room layouts and help us agree what furniture was required. At sourcing stage, I compiled a list of furniture, fixtures and accessories required to realise the design vision. I sourced everything, from the furniture, new carpet for the living room, lighting, bespoke blinds and curtains, new radiators, down to the cushions, rugs and a few small accessories. I designed bespoke shelving units for the living room and created 3D CAD visuals for each room to help my clients to visualise the spaces. I provided shopping lists of items and samples of all finishes. I passed on a number of trade discounts for some of the bigger pieces of furniture and the bathroom items, including 15% off the sofas.

Nestled in the midst of the Cotswolds, this listed former rectory required a sensitive orangery design to complement the features of this heritage property and to successfully obtain the necessary planning consents. Simon Phipps, one of David Salisbury’s most experienced designers, has extensive experience of designing bespoke orangeries and garden rooms for these types of period buildings and was well placed to undertake this design brief. To provide some wider context, this Grade II* listed farmhouse is located within the Broadwell Conservation Area and the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The host building was a three storey detached property of lime stone construction with a slate roof. The proposed orangery aimed to conserve the house as a family home for modern living, whilst preserving the ‘significance of the heritage asset.’ David Salisbury undertook and successfully obtained full planning and listed building consents for this project, as part of our comprehensive planning service. The farmhouse featured a more recent extension which housed an upgraded new kitchen, which was also renovated as part of the project. Although the orangery attaches solely to the more recent extension, it had to remain in keeping and subservient to the original listed property. The simple but classic design, with slim fascia and slim glazing pattern, added a bright reception room directly off the new kitchen. Two windows were blocked in as part of the works, but with the doors to the kitchen removed to create a permanent opening and with the glass lantern positioned directly above the opening with no rear ceiling, there is a dramatic increase in natural light into the new kitchen. Wide French doors on two elevations provide an ideal link with the gardens and entertaining area to the side. The footprint of the new extension measures approximately 6.2m wide by 4.2m deep, providing 26 square metres of additional luxurious living space, rounded off in our contemporary Mendip Grey paint finish. The before and after photos below help to illustrate just how the rear of this period property has been transformed, with the new orangery creating an exquisite link between the house and garden. This bespoke orangery has more than fulfilled the original design brief, providing an extension that preserves the fabric and significance of the owner’s lovely listed home whilst also conserving the property as a family home for future generations. Cotswolds based Cid Carr Interior Design, who specialise in the subtle transformation of heritage buildings for modern living, designed the interior space and acted as project liaison.

The mission: turn an unused back patio into a space where mom and dad and kids can all play and enjoy being together. Dad is an avid video gamer, mom and dad love to play board games with friends and family, and the kids love to draw and play. After the patio received a new enclosure and ceiling with recessed LED lights, my solution was to divide this long space into two zones, one for adults and one for kids, but unified with a sky blue and soothing green color palette and coordinating rugs. To the right we have a comfortable sofa with poufs gathered around a specialty cocktail table that turns into a gaming table featuring a recessed well which corrals boards, game pieces, and dice (and a handy grooved lip for propping up game cards), and also has a hidden pop-up monitor that connects to game consoles or streams films/television. I designed a shelving system to wrap around the back of a brick fireplace that includes narrow upper shelving to store board games, and plenty of other spots for fun things like working robotic models of R2D2 and BB8! Over in the kids’ zone, a handy storage system with blue doors, a modular play table in a dark blue grey, and a sweet little tee pee lined with fur throws for playing, hiding, or napping gives this half of the room an organized way for kids to express themselves. Magnetic art holders on the wall display an ever-changing gallery of finger paintings and school crafts. This back patio is now a fun room sunroom where the whole family can play!

Island Millwork Design

Dario Brillante Fotografia