{"id":441170,"date":"2026-02-23T12:08:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T12:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/441170\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T12:08:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T12:08:08","slug":"an-elegant-cotswolds-cottage-designed-to-make-the-most-of-every-inch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/441170\/","title":{"rendered":"An elegant Cotswolds cottage designed to make the most of every inch"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"has-dropcap has-dropcap__lead-standard-heading\">The charming cottage at the edge of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.houseandgarden.co.uk\/gallery\/berkeley-hawkes-cotswold-barn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Laura Berkeley-Hawkes\u2019 Cotswolds barn<\/a> began life as a utilitarian 1990s outbuilding with little architectural merit. As her daughter Gracy, the other half of design studio Berkeley Hawkes, puts it, \u2018It had no inherent character or history to lean on, especially when compared to the 18th-century house.\u2019 Even so, it came with a few advantages, since it served as a place for Laura to stay during the renovation of the barn and also became a testing ground for their fledgling interior design practice. \u2018Having two separate projects to showcase our work was a gift,\u2019 recalls Gracy.<\/p>\n<p>As the plan had always been to give the barn a more romantic and feminine feel, the cottage became an opportunity to explore a different and what the pair describes as a more masculine and elemental tone. The palette follows this intention, with earthy browns, greens and warm neutrals, while natural materials such as wood, marble, linen, wool and jute reinforce the mood: \u2018Everything feels very raw here \u2013 nothing is shiny or perfect,\u2019 says Gracy. Sourced from old agricultural buildings in continental <a href=\"https:\/\/www.houseandgarden.co.uk\/topic\/europe\" target=\"_blank\" isautogenerated=\"true\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Europe<\/a>, the reclaimed oak floorboards became key to the scheme. \u2018They reference the farming history of the area and also appear in the main house, keeping both buildings connected.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Image may contain Garden Nature Outdoors Arbour Architecture Building Housing Plant Vegetation House and Backyard\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"ResponsiveImageContainer-eNxvmU cfBbTk responsive-image__image\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/DSCF5815.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Set within the garden of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.houseandgarden.co.uk\/gallery\/berkeley-hawkes-cotswold-barn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Laura\u2019s main house<\/a>, the cottage sits in close contact with the surrounding landscape, which became the designers\u2019 starting point.<\/p>\n<p>Mark Anthony Fox<\/p>\n<p>The cottage\u2019s diminutive proportions called for optimising every inch without sacrificing comfort \u2013 a challenge that Laura and Gracy embraced. \u2018We sketched endless configurations before arriving at one that felt right,\u2019 recalls Laura. \u2018We made use of every centimetre of space available and even created a compact utility room under the stairs.\u2019 On the ground floor, a timber kitchen runs along one side. To continue the woodland thread, they had cabinet fronts made from the darkest of the reclaimed oak boards that they had sourced from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.houseandgarden.co.uk\/topic\/flooring\" isautogenerated=\"true\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">flooring<\/a> specialist Lubelska. \u2018We selected them one by one and then opted for minimalist handles that let the vertical grain read like a row of tree trunks,\u2019 Gracy explains.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The charming cottage at the edge of Laura Berkeley-Hawkes\u2019 Cotswolds barn began life as a utilitarian 1990s outbuilding&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":441171,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,7885,8434,110595,1120,96,33918,20779,35815,65367,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-441170","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-cottages","12":"tag-country","13":"tag-country-cottages","14":"tag-design","15":"tag-entertainment","16":"tag-modern-country","17":"tag-modern-houses","18":"tag-quiet-interiors","19":"tag-the-cotswolds","20":"tag-uk","21":"tag-united-kingdom","22":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=441170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441170\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/441171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=441170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=441170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=441170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}