At Home With Sofie @inside_inglenook_cottage
This week we are at home with Sophie. The lovely lady behind the beautiful instagram account @inside_inglenook_cottage where she shares fabulous images of her home in Shropshire. Read on to discover more about Sophie, her home and family. If you aren't familiar with her instagram account, I highly recommend it for country style inspiration. It's simply stunning.
Tell us a bit about you
My name is Sofie, I’m a Registered Oncology Nurse specialising in Gynaecology. Despite having been to university and travelling to countries such as America, Australia and New Zealand, I will always be a home bird at heart which is one of the main reasons why my partner and I decided to buy a cottage in our hometown in Shropshire.
I love how rural and open Shropshire is and waking up to the sound of birds singing and the little stream at the bottom of the garden each morning puts me in a good mood for the day.
Tell us about your home
Our cottage is a 19th century old mining cottage. Our cottage is known as a tardis in the village and by the estate agents because from the outside it looks like a dolls house but once you step inside you realise how spacious it actually is! My partner loves modern properties whereas I love old period properties so when we were looking at properties we struggled to agree on things. When this cottage came up it was just perfect for us as it has a combination of old and new, lots of beams and exposed brick combined with a modern kitchen
How would you describe your home?
I would describe our home as rustic with a modern twist. Our cottage has lots of original features such as oak beams, an exposed brick step and of course, the inglenook fireplace. But our cottage is also quite modern in some areas such as the open plan kitchen diner. Decor wise, we love all things country and farmhouse.
Which is your favourite room in the house?
This is a really hard question to answer because I love every room in a different way! If I had to choose, I would say my favourite room is the living room because of the exposed beams and the inglenook fireplace.
In winter it feels extra cosy and homely, especially when it’s raining or snowing outside.
How does your home reflect any passion or interests?
Our home is filled with lots of muted floral prints. I love the countryside and flowers so adding subtle floral prints with things such as paintings and cushions was a must for me.
What are your favourite items in the home?
I wouldn’t say I had a favourite item but one of my favourite features is our little exposed brick step into the kitchen. That was one of the things that sold the cottage to me. I love how unique and quirky it is.
When you moved into your house was it a finished article or project?
A bit of both! The kitchen was finished when we moved in but we have still done a lot of work to the cottage such as chimney restructuring, electrical and plumbing work etc. We are also planning on fully landscaping the garden after our wedding which will be a BIG project!
What renovating have you done and have you learnt any new skills?
We fully renovated the bedroom and dressing room. As for new skills, we haven’t really learnt any. Although I’m sure not everyone will agree with this, we believe in getting professionals in to do a job properly as there’s nothing worse than a botched or messy job. We are perfectionists so always get the right tradesman in to do a job.
Have you any DIY or styling disasters?
Our biggest disaster was getting the work done to our log burner. The fireplace specialist company had to go home and shower halfway through fixing the chimney and sorting out the fireplace. They said it was one of the messiest and worst jobs they’d ever done. We had lots of work done to the inglenook fireplace to ensure it was safe to use. Sadly the previous owners didn’t install the log burner properly at all so it was a huge fire risk and cost us a lot of money to repair.
What is your top home styling tip?
Keep original features rather than ripping things out. Trends will always come and go so I think it’s important to maintain original features such as hooks and beams. These are the kind of things which add rustic charms to your home and which makes your home unique and different compared to others.
Is there anything in your home that you couldn’t live without?
My kitchen! I think I would really struggle if I didn’t have a modern kitchen. I would never have chosen a high gloss kitchen but I absolutely love how clean it looks and how the light from the garden reflects off it
They say every home tells a story. What do you think your home says about you?
Probably that we are home birds! I think our cottage feels super homely.
The Home Edit
Lived in or show home?
Both. I think it’s important to feel comfortable but I also couldn’t live in a messy house. A messy home makes my mind feel chaotic
If you could paint your home one colour what would it be?
Farrow and ball Cornforth white
What is your pet hate when it comes to your own home or others?
Bits on the floor. Having a dog and a rabbit has made me obsessed with hoovering. I Hoover daily as I can’t stand bits sticking to my feet
Favourite front door colour?
Sage green but I do also love oak doors
Carpet or floorboards?
Floorboards. We have oak floor throughout most of the cottage and I love how low maintenance it is in comparison to carpet
Kitchen diner or dining room?
Kitchen diner. The kitchen is the heart of the house when family and friends are over.
High gloss or rustic?
Both are beautiful in their own way. For me, our high gloss kitchen is perfect in our home to bring a little bit of modern into a period home
Wallpaper or brick wall?
Wallpaper because my brother is a painter and decorator so we take advantage of this when we can!
Want More?
If you enjoyed being at home with Sophie, you might like to take a look inside other popular home styling accounts on instagram and find out more about the people behind them. You can see more of these "at home with" articles here
You can view Sophie's stunning instagram account here It's well worth a look!