Are you looking to inject timeless English style into a period home on a shoestring? Take inspiration from the Spurling's thrifty ideas used to transform their Period Living award-winning thatched cottage in Wiltshire...
'One day, I’ll own a pretty cottage and it will be in a magazine,’ wrote a teenage Susan in her high school yearbook. ‘I can’t believe it’s actually come true,’ she says today as she looks around the beautiful home she shares with husband Phil, light streaming through the window on a bright and breezy day. ‘I can’t imagine living anywhere else now.’ Yet the journey wasn’t all plain sailing.
Find out how they did it, then browse more real home transformations. Find out how to renovate your home, too.
THE STORY
Owners: Susan Spurling, a veterinary technician, originally from Wisconsin, lives here with husband Phil, a retired audio engineer, and their three cats: Beauty, AP and Ferrell
Property: A thatched cottage dating back to 1720, which originally consisted of two one-up, one-down properties. The house was later extended in the 1940s
What they did: Susan and Phil reconfigured the space and redecorated throughout. They ripped out all the carpets and laid wooden flooring across the ground floor
Having married in 2013, just a year after meeting on Phil’s US business trip, the happy newlyweds decided in 2014 to settle in England, and Susan left behind her 1860s Folk-Victorian farmhouse in Loganville, Wisconsin. ‘I’m a complete Anglophile so was very excited at the thought of living in the UK, but also a little hesitant, especially about leaving the beautiful home I had spent the last 20 years enjoying and evolving,’ she says.
When it came to searching for the perfect property, Susan knew it had to be old, and took the opportunity to hunt out the chocolate-box house of which she’d always dreamed. The couple knew it was going to be hard to find a house to match Susan’s last, and it took over a year of trawling estate agents online to find a shortlist for viewing.
‘It was so difficult to find a period property that retained its original features and matched my four credentials,’ says Susan. ‘I needed a room that I could make into a pantry, a kitchen-diner large enough for my farmhouse table and dresser, a living room with a fireplace and space for floor-to-ceiling bookcases, and outside, I wanted space for a potager, lawn, and greenhouse,’ she explains.
Susan and Phil turned the dining room back into a kitchen as it would have been originally. Luckily the alcove which housed the original range was still there, so the couple fitted it with a classic Aga found on Ebay for that all-important cottage focal point
A passionate antiques collector, Susan had amassed several pieces of furniture over the years that she couldn’t bear to part with, so this too had to be considered. Happily, all their remote research paid off, as when they stepped into their second viewing Susan knew instantly that she’d found the one. Despite being dark, dated and fitted wall to wall with tired carpets, the house was structurally sound and had been rethatched in 2012.
Susan and Phil chose to have wood flooring installed throughout the ground floor from Wood & Beyond. The kitchen table once belonged to Susan’s sister. ‘It had been in her basement ever since she bought her 1900s house 30 years ago, and we think it’s original to the property,’ says Susan
Susan used a scarf from Joules to add a touch of British style to her cottage
The couple moved in during November 2014, but it was a long time before they could put up their feet, as Susan’s furniture took a further seven months to arrive. ‘I felt a bit homesick at first, but once all my things had been shipped across I felt far more settled.’ At least, until it was fitted…
Susan painted one of the kitchen walls in Overtly Olive by Dulux and the rest in Valspar’s Milk and Honey shade. The dresser was an Ebay find and the vintage china was picked up all over the world, from France to Venice, with a good proportion sourced from The Emporium in Hungerford
‘In my old house the ceilings were 10ft tall, so we found a lot of the furniture didn’t fit and we had to shorten a few pieces, which was scary!’ she says. ‘We cut down the legs of the armoires in the pantry and sitting room, but luckily for the kitchen dresser we managed to cut sections out of the floor instead.’
The pantry is Susan’s favourite room. The sink was another lucky Ebay purchase – ‘I was actually looking for porcelain 1940s sink legs for our existing butler’s sink when I came across this French one complete with porcelain stand, which was perfect’
In the meantime, the couple had set to work reconfiguring the space. The previous owners had relocated the kitchen from its original position in the centre of the house and were using it as a dining room, but Susan had other plans. Instead she decided to reinstate the kitchen back into the centre, providing a warm welcome as you walk in, turning the previous kitchen into the dream pantry.
Phil built the pantry shelving, using reclaimed wood from Beechfield Reclamation in Devizes for the bottom counter
Once the furniture had arrived safely, albeit a little modified, Susan could focus on the fun stuff. ‘My home in the US was English country style mixed with 1940s Americana and French vintage,’ she says, ‘oh, and with a touch bohemian flair, too.’
The French mahogany armoire and church pew came from Ebay and the curtains were made by Chess Designs in its Balmoral fabric. For a similar rug, try Oriental Rugs of Bath
She has sought to replicate this style in the country cottage. First came selecting the paint, which proved more problematic than anticipated. ‘My US home was full of light, but these little cottage windows created different shadows, so it was hard to decide on the right colour,’ she explains.
Susan fell in love with the log-burner. For a similar armchair, try Just Armchairs. The Union Jack pillow is from Ballard Designs and was a welcome sight for Phil when he visited Susan’s US home for the first time. The blue plaid throw is from Susie Watson Designs
‘It’s always a good idea to think about height when you have small spaces,’ says Susan. ‘When you can’t go out, go up!’
Susan Spurling
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Faced with rooms smaller than she was used to, complete with all their quirks and awkward angles, Susan was forced to think creatively when it came to storage, opting for bespoke floor-to-ceiling shelving, Sheila Maids, pot rails and plenty of rustic wicker baskets in order to make the most of space and light. ‘It’s always a good idea to think about height when you have small spaces,’ says Susan. ‘When you can’t go out, go up!’
Open shelving also makes a brilliant place to store her wealth of antiques. ‘I never miss a boot sale,’ she says. Indeed, everywhere you turn shelves are brimming with vintage finds, cherished books and old china.
Susan selected Sunny Bordeaux by Valspar for the sitting room to give a cosy cottage feel. The floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, built and installed by Phil, create ample storage space and contribute to the cosy reading room look. The sofa was bought in an antiques shop in Devizes with all original upholstery
Susan’s latest buy, a reclaimed freestanding bath, is next to install, but besides that, it’s time to relax and make the most of their new life together in the English countryside. ‘I will miss the snowy Wisconsin winters, and will always prefer fries to chips, but those minor details aside, England is wonderful and now my forever home!’
Susan papered the bedroom walls in Susie Watson’s Shalini Rose design. The antique French bed came from Ebay and Susan and Phil constructed the canopy themselves. ‘They are easy to make and are a great way to add wow factor. All you need is a wood frame, fabric of your choice, a staple gun and a little patience,’ says Susan. The antique French chair is from Crowman Antiques in Devizes and the print on the wall is of Modigliani’s Marie, Daughter of the People. The ticking quilt is also from Susie Watson Designs
Behind the house is a pretty patio area big enough to fit a large garden table and host alfresco tea parties
Susan and Phil refreshed the exterior of their 18th-century cottage with a lick of paint, choosing to pick out the doors and window frames in a custom colour mixed from a swatch of Zoffany paint, now discontinued.