Vintage charm, modern love | Daily Mail Online

It took six years for designer Amy Hemmings-Batt to restore this Victorian cottage in Somerset. She tells Charlotte Page how she brought it up to date without losing its old-world soul

To display decorative plates Amy made a shelf using reclaimed wood and steel brackets. The walls are painted in Potted Shrimp, £52 for 2.5 litres, farrow-ball.com. Rug, £130, johnlewis.com. Cabbage plates and blue vase from @vintagevillagesomerset. Pink pot, Anissa Kermiche, libertylondon.com. Amy wears dress, £295, Coco & Wolf x ahbatelier.com

photographs: Rachael Smith

What do you do when you sell your London home within a week of putting it on the market? If you’re anything like Amy Hemmings-Batt, founder of luxury bedding and lifestyle brand Coco & Wolf, you panic-buy a Victorian cottage in Somerset, setting you on a six-year journey of renovations.

‘The cottage had been modernised to a high spec – 50 years ago,’ explains Amy, who moved into the property with her husband Harry and their children, Lady Coco, nine, and Wolf, seven. ‘So it badly needed cosmetic changes – and structural alterations, too, as it didn’t have any foundations.’

She wasn’t fazed, though. ‘If you buy an old house, you buy it in the knowledge that it’s been standing for so long that it’s likely to carry on standing. I love old houses with charm,’ she adds.

The family cat Bang Bang stretches in the kitchen’s dining area, which was extended during the renovations. The dining table was an heirloom made in the 50s and chairs are vintage Ercol. For similar try vinterior.co. Shell bowl, £38, anthropologie.com

The family cat Bang Bang stretches in the kitchen’s dining area, which was extended during the renovations. The dining table was an heirloom made in the 50s and chairs are vintage Ercol. For similar try vinterior.co. Shell bowl, £38, anthropologie.com

Although the family lived in the property for two years before the renovations started, they immediately refurbished the sitting room. ‘Having somewhere to relax at the end of the day was really important to us,’ says Amy. The room’s original flagstones are key to its charm and with its now navy walls, plump green velvet sofa and Amy’s antique finds, it’s the cosiest room in the cottage.

When her mother’s succulents and cacti have babies they’re passed on to Amy who stores them in old candle holders and Bridget Hemmings ceramic pots. Doll scented candle, £120, libertylondon.com

When her mother’s succulents and cacti have babies they’re passed on to Amy who stores them in old candle holders and Bridget Hemmings ceramic pots. Doll scented candle, £120, libertylondon.com

Next on the do-to list was updating the landing’s peach walls and carpet, which, once removed, revealed bows inlaid around the edges of the original flooring. ‘We loved the quirks that came with the house, but the interior needed to be loved again and we felt as if we could use its eccentricities as the basis for the perfect family home.’

Amy’s fondness for an eclectic aesthetic is clear. ‘My favourite Sunday activity is visiting a flea market. I go with a list and always come back with whatever’s not on it, but that’s how I build the interiors for the rooms.’

Liberty fabrics, which are known for their bold and floral patterns, played a huge part in decorating the home and have been used for everything from the curtains and bedding to the table linen. Amy’s love of these quintessentially British prints came into its own when she had Lady Coco and found childrenswear was full of ‘garish or primary colours, so I just started making clothes out of Liberty fabrics’. With nursery bedding quickly following, Amy’s friends and independent boutiques were soon interested and her brand Coco & Wolf was born.

With special collaborations on the horizon with fashion designer Pearl Lowe and AHB Atelier, Amy says, ‘Just like feeling comfortable in your home, I want to make people feel confident and happy in the clothes they wear. Clothes, like houses, should feel special to the person who inhabits them.’

On the stairwell, the walls are painted in Breakfast Room Green, £52 for 2.5 litres, farrow-ball.com, which provides the perfect muted background for Amy’s eclectic artworks. Giraffe head, £185, rockettstgeorge.co.uk. For a similar chandelier try oka.com

On the stairwell, the walls are painted in Breakfast Room Green, £52 for 2.5 litres, farrow-ball.com, which provides the perfect muted background for Amy’s eclectic artworks. Giraffe head, £185, rockettstgeorge.co.uk. For a similar chandelier try oka.com

 

To give the sitting room its cosy feel Amy painted the walls in Hague Blue, £52 for 2.5 litres, farrow-ball.com, and added a deep green velvet sofa by loaf.com and, of course, Liberty prints for the curtains, fabric from £25, and cushions, from £72 each, cocoandwolf.com. The large painting is by steveburden.co.uk – one of Amy’s neighbours

To give the sitting room its cosy feel Amy painted the walls in Hague Blue, £52 for 2.5 litres, farrow-ball.com, and added a deep green velvet sofa by loaf.com and, of course, Liberty prints for the curtains, fabric from £25, and cushions, from £72 each, cocoandwolf.com. The large painting is by steveburden.co.uk – one of Amy’s neighbours

A master at discovering vintage furniture, Amy bought these leather armchairs, which are in the sitting room, on Facebook Marketplace. The sideboard was her grandfather’s. Rug, £140, johnlewis.com. Lampshade, from £355, Beauvamp x cocoandwolf.com. Cushions, £43 each, and decanter, £55, all rockettstgeorge.co.uk

A master at discovering vintage furniture, Amy bought these leather armchairs, which are in the sitting room, on Facebook Marketplace. The sideboard was her grandfather’s. Rug, £140, johnlewis.com. Lampshade, from £355, Beauvamp x cocoandwolf.com. Cushions, £43 each, and decanter, £55, all rockettstgeorge.co.uk

Amy’s love for antiques continues in the bathroom, where a 1920s mirror sits above her metro-style wall tiles, from £21 per sq m, toppstiles.co.uk. Hand towel, £44, cocoandwolf.com. Verden D’orangerie products, from £34, verden.world

Amy’s love for antiques continues in the bathroom, where a 1920s mirror sits above her metro-style wall tiles, from £21 per sq m, toppstiles.co.uk. Hand towel, £44, cocoandwolf.com. Verden D’orangerie products, from £34, verden.world

‘I love the idea of switching the fabric through the seasons,’ says Amy about the Liberty Linen Garden material inside her wardrobe, which was designed by Amy and made by walrowkitchens.co.uk. ‘At first I wanted rattan doors but then felt using fabric was something different,’ she says. The stool is from zarahome.com, the wall lights by pooky.com and the bedding by cocoandwolf.com

‘I love the idea of switching the fabric through the seasons,’ says Amy about the Liberty Linen Garden material inside her wardrobe, which was designed by Amy and made by walrowkitchens.co.uk. ‘At first I wanted rattan doors but then felt using fabric was something different,’ she says. The stool is from zarahome.com, the wall lights by pooky.com and the bedding by cocoandwolf.com