It’s clear Event Stylist and Vintage Shopper Katie Sutton has an eye for detail and curating the sweetest of artifacts. In fact, Katie will be back with us next week sharing her tips on how to shop vintage, however until then we’re going to be taken on a tour of her beautiful Victorian cottage adorned with antique treasures and trinkets.

We moved into our little house nearly eleven years ago after much much searching! We desperately wanted to move out into the countryside and live a village life and this ticked all the boxes. It is a Victorian mill workers cottage built in 1885, the mill has now been transformed into luxury flats but the cottages have roughly remained the same. Ours has had an extension, which is the kitchen, and upstairs bathroom, which means we have the lovely skylight in the kitchen.
When we moved in the décor was very traditional of the period and quite safe. There was even colour on the walls!! But the renovations had been done well, with a handmade kitchen, quality woodwork and original fireplaces.

The Living Room

The very first thing we did was to paint every room white; I use a standard matt emulsion, as I like the finish. The only room that isn’t white is the living room and this was painted in a chalky emulsion by Craig & Rose 1829 called Regency White mainly to add a bit of warmth.


This room like most of the rooms had beige carpet which we pulled out and replaced with a dark hard wood floor. To be honest now that I have painted all of the other floors white I am itching to cover this one too but I think I would be told off! The living room is where we spend most time as a family so we have various seats, all of the main furniture was purchased from DFS but I wanted to mix and match the sofas and prints so it didn’t feel to boring. We have a lovely open fire with Victorian surround and I love that the space feels open as it leads onto the middle room. The room with no name!

The Kitchen

The kitchen was bottle green when we moved in and felt really dark so this was painted white and I used a pastel blue on some of the cupboards for interest and also because I love blue. The only thing I want to change in the kitchen is the worktops as I would love white marble but the wood keeps with the country vintage scheme and I like that it is starting to age and show wear and tear. I have a passion for enamelware and kitchenalia, which I have sourced at vintage fairs and boot sales over the years so the open shelves mean I can show it off.

The Workroom

My favourite room is the ex dining room which is now my workroom. This has recently had a mini makeover with the floor being painted and this has massively opened up the space. I love working in here as it gets flooded with light and I can photograph stock and images for my Instagram. I keep my event styling props in here too although we are quickly running out of room. I love the fireplace with the green brick tiles and white surround; I get to style up the mantelpiece differently all the time.

Join us next week when Katie spills all on how to shop vintage and find the best trinkets for your own abode.