How to inject ‘character’ into a room with seemingly little…
I get many messages on my Instagram feed @thelittlestonecottage from a lot of you guys asking how to create a cosy cottage feel in properties with little original features… So here are my thoughts!
I feel it’s important for me to say that before we started the work, not every room in our cottage had ‘character’ features… over the years previous to us moving in, the cottage had been extended by many owners so only a few of the rooms actually included original features. Yes ok, we’ve done a lot structurally so have been able to add beams in a couple of places- and I know we are lucky being able to do that ourselves, it’s an unusual situation to be in. But I’m keen to show you that you don’t have to go to that extent to make a room have that cosy cottage feel. Just a little time and maybe a little patience!
‘Character’ is used as a broad term, usually when describing a historic property which still includes original features of that time period.. but I actually feel it is a word that can mean many different things depending on what style you are into. It’s personal to your taste, so what I see as character you may not!
Growing up with my dad who has always worked in construction, I loved seeing and hearing about all of the buildings he was working on, along with reading many of his books on architecture (but mainly looking at the pictures!) new and old!
I remain (mostly) traditional in my taste and when it comes to historic buildings, I do love all the original features I can find! Whether it’s exposed stone and original beams as in our cottage, or original decorative cornice and ceiling roses of large, grand homes with the highest of ceilings. If it’s original to the time period and suits the property, I appreciate this with the upmost respect and generally love it. This is where my love of restoration comes from. It’s not enough for me to just find something that looks vaguely similar to the time period… I like to find the real thing, strip it back and restore it. This ‘ respect’ is where my love for masonry restoration comes from, along with the restoration of odd pieces of furniture, lintels & beams etc that we’ve added in to our home along the way. This passion is what drives me and gives me the patience needed to bring these pieces back to life!
But I do know that you don’t have to live in an old property to create this feel. There is so much you can do with styling and texture to create you’re own ‘character’ in your home, no matter the age. I’ll be talking about character in terms of modern rustic, country styling… as that’s what I’m into! But I know of some great accounts that I’ll tag at the end of this post which incorporate ‘character’ into their homes in different ways (boho, Scandi, industrial for example)
Texture:
You can add texture in many different ways. It can come in the form of furniture, which I’ll touch on later, raw materials, but I find the easiest way to add it is through fabrics… So cushions (I’m a self confessed addict!) throws and rugs. I love linen, so am going for this fabric for our blinds and curtains in the cottage too.
But you can use a mixture of fabrics, and there are some gorgeous faux fur or tweed throws which looks fab in country homes. I also have a faux Sheepie in our living room which helps make the stone floor feel a little warmer. I am in the process of looking for a lovely big Berber rug now which will have the same effect too. You can add texture in the kitchen and dining room through small touches such as napkins on a table too, tea towels, anything really. It doesn’t have to be expensive!
Don’t be afraid of mixing textures too. I find this creates a modern rustic feel, rather than everything being too ‘matchy matchy’. Here I have the textures of reclaimed terracotta pots, reclaimed wooden bowl, a wire basket, all against to shiny smooth surface of quartz. The tea towel just softens everything slightly.
I love to layer texture, and use it alongside other little bits such as greenery and florals.
Greenery and Florals:
This is SO important to my style. I love a few fresh flowers in the house, but most of all I love foraging bits of greenery that I can bring back from a walk ( I once had my mum collecting moss covered sticks on a cold winters day walk!) Not only are they free but I love the raw feel of nature being brought into the house. I also take dried flowers ( and weeds!) from the garden and pop them in vases/glass bottles or jam jars. I find this is a cheap alternative to fresh flowers and gives a lovely country feel.
The other thing I’ve added recently is some dried hops. These started off as a nostalgic nod for me, being from Kent and growing up surrounded by hop fields and farms.. but they have turned out to be an important part of my decor, providing SO much texture and a beautiful subtle colour to the otherwise fairly neutral new space. The green works perfectly with our kitchen and I’m so pleased with them. Again – these were relatively cheap (but a pain to put up… I don’t recommend you doing it if you have carpet as the mess is chaotic and the hops leave a yellow stain when they fall) and will probably last around a year before they start dropping and need replacing.
My real love at the moment is the rustic greenery of plants and cuttings in little reclaimed terracotta pots! I find I can dot them around all over the place and (maybe because of the colour and texture of the pots) just automatically creates a country garden feel.
And if your rubbish with plants, then they don’t have to be real! I have many faux florals dotted around which work just as well!
Reclaimed & Vintage Pieces
Now, this is where that patience I mentioned comes in. I’m a huge lover of reclaimed furniture, and you can find some bargains too! I have sourced many reclaimed pieces for our cottage, some of which I’ve upcyled ; our victorian washstand, the farmhouse table along with six chairs, the scaff board shelves. Others I have left as they are; our sliding door, wooden ladders, vintage butchers block (although this did need a little work to restore it) little milking stools and reclaimed boxes. I’m sure as time goes on I will add to this collection!
Anyway my point is, these are character features in themselves. You just need to have the patience to hunt for them in local antique markets and online. All of these things ( apart from the scaff boards which we had laying around from the build) I have spent AGES searching for. Yes, some were more costly than others ( the butchers block obviously being the main outlay here) but the rest of them were absolute bargains ranging from £12! A lovely old piece of furniture can make as much of an impact as an old beam would. And actually, if you don’t have said beam, the piece and it’s character would stand out even more and speak for itself.
I could go on and on… talking more about styling of open shelving among many other things to add to that country look… but I’ll save it for another day. The few things I’ve mentioned here I think are relatively cheap and easy changes you can make without too much hard work.
On another note, I’ll let you into a secret… I sometimes worry that my style can seem a little confused to other people. I like so many different styles you see, and enjoy mixing old with new. I don’t follow trends, and I like to create a space that feels unique to me. I feel my style (if i was to label it) would be somewhere between modern rustic, traditional country, scandi and boho…. Ultimately, we all have our own tastes, and you may not like the suggestions I have spoken about today. Just go with your gut, and enjoy expressing yourself, it’s your home after all…. So don’t worry about whether anyone else likes it!
I’d love to know if this post gives you any ideas, or equally how you’ve gone about injecting character into your home!
Thanks for reading
Emma x
For more inspo, check out @malmo_and_moss for modern rustic/scandi style , @caffeineandcacti for pretty boho character and @daniellelouisedoughty for boho glam on Insta!
THE LITTLE STONE COTTAGE 