AND CURATED

In this self-confessed maximalist’s Cotswolds home, every item tells a story…

There are a few things that supercharge Lisa Mehydene’s sense of happiness: family, travel, seeking vintage items and home. As a former advertising director for agencies in London, Dubai and Singapore, she made a name for herself bringing brands to life. But on returning to the UK in 2015 with her husband Hil and their twins Milla and George (now 11), she was keen to begin a new journey

‘I’M NOT LOOKING FOR ENERGY. I WANT A FEELING OF TRANQUILLITY’

in the form of edit58, an online homeware brand that sources one-off artisan and vintage finds.

Living in London, the couple were keen to find a cottage they could decamp to, and the less well-known areas in the Cotswolds, 90 minutes from the city, ticked all the boxes. ‘We were looking for a quiet sense of community, with space for the children and for us to enjoy time with family and friends,’ she says.

With both of them over six foot tall, low-ceilinged cottages felt claustrophobic, and openplan conversions failed to deliver on character. ‘Discovering this unique barn – part of a secluded farm – we fell in love with the rambling 18th-century stone

structure, its higgledy-piggledy flow and unexpected lofty heights. Everything needed updating, which provided the chance for me to play, but the layout and structural bones were perfect,’ says Mehydene.

Her interiors style has always been vintage: traditional with a twist, layered, but organised; colourful, yet knocked back. ‘I’m not looking for energy from my interiors at the barn. Instead I want to create a feeling of tranquillity and calm,’ she says.

‘Most of the pieces here are low-cost and chosen because they work within our budget.’ Namely, a drinks table bought for £35 at Kempton antiques market (sunburyantiques.com) and, in the sitting room, a wavy-back vintage sofa (pictured on the previous page) which they picked up on Ebay for £300 and reupholstered in Folies Bergère by howelondon. com, along with a contemporary stripe. ‘I like the combination of old and new in one item – it adds a fresh edge and always makes for a more interesting story,’ says Mehydene.

Downstairs, one of the living-room walls has been opened up and newly framed with floor-to-ceiling doors that were salvaged in France. The kitchen, meanwhile, has been transformed with terracotta tiles, an antique Belgian display sideboard – a must-have, ‘will-fit-somewhere-someday’ buy – and a weathered florist’s bench which has been turned into a kitchen table.

Vintage cheeseboard planks from France have been reused as wide, patina-rich floorboards for the bedrooms, hallways and stairs. Textiles, both old and new, are imaginatively layered – runners repurposed into colourful stair coverings and bathmats; vintage floral rugs used as offcuts for headboards; ribbontied blinds and patched antique kantha throws transformed into one-off bed coverings.