Author of the Month: Linn B Halton talks interior decorating

When real-life is funnier than any fictional story! And ‘inside’ designer tales …

When my editor at Harper Impulse asked me to write a story about an older woman, I immediately knew the setting into which I was going to put her – Ashgrove Cottage, on the edge of the Forest of Dean in the UK. Of course, in the book it’s Ash Cottage – but Ashgrove Cottage is real and it’s where my husband and I moved on the 19th December 2013. And that’s how ‘A Cottage in the Country’ was born.

But while Maddie Brooks’ story is fictional – as are all of the characters - the setting and the catalogue of moving-in disasters are REAL. Not only that, the reality was much worse. However, sometimes life is so funny that it’s almost unbelievable and I had to reign back a little and leave out some moments that, at the time, seemed like the final straw. But we survived and with two big projects left to complete, it now feels very much like home! However, another thing a lot of people don’t realise, is that the interior design posts I do for Loveahappyending Lifestyle emagazine are all REAL projects.
Some relate to previous homes I’ve worked on in the past, but the most recent posts are things I’m doing at Ashgrove Cottage in between writing books and running websites. I’m fortunate enough to be married to my own ‘man who can’, who has been using his building skills for a long time now, as this is our thirteenth home. Many have been renovations – including an old stone lodge, a former stable-block and a couple of 200-year old cottages. Before I began writing, in March 2009, I was an interior designer and it was my job to choose all of the final finishes for new-build homes that weren’t sold off-plan (ie whilst building work was still in progress). But the really fun part was kitting-out the show homes. It was not unusual for me to be seen walking around stores with a train of trolleys behind being pushed by helpers, all piled high. Most of the show homes were 4 or 5-bed, executive homes, and choosing the furniture, soft furnishings and decorative pieces was such fun! However, what people don’t realise is that what appears to be quite a glamorous, exciting job is also very hard work. I was once given two weeks to buy, and install, everything to furnish a four-bed, four-bathroom, luxury home ready for viewings on day fifteen! There was another problem … the developer had nowhere I could store the goods, as the site was still ankle deep in mud and groundworks. The show home itself had a hive of guys still working on it and the deadline was tight.

 

At the time we lived in an old stone hunting lodge (photo of our cat, Mr Tiggs on the roof. He has a cameo role as No. 4 in Under The Stars and Quintessentially Yours)  and were turning what was a workshop in the garden, into a one-bed cottage, so it was empty. Fortunately, everything I ordered just about fitted inside – and when you think of four double beds, sofas, chairs, dining table, bedding … it was jammed packed. The paint on the show home was hardly dry as I arrived on the Friday evening, with a large van and a car full of helpers following me. By late Sunday evening everything was done, ready for the first viewings on the Monday morning. After the mountain of discarded wrappings was bundled into the van, we did a group hug. We’d achieved the seemingly impossible – foregoing sleep, food and coffee breaks for the most part! Do I miss those days? Not really, because I love my new day job and writing is a passion that is consuming. But I really enjoy the articles I write for ‘Home by Design’. Sometimes it inspires me to fit in a quick project to feature and my other half was rather surprised, recently, to come home to find two trees painted on the sitting room wall. But usually I just take photos of whatever I’m working on and at the moment that tends to be picking up old pieces of furniture and giving them a new lease of life. But whether I’m hand-stencilling walls, or have my hands covered in paint – it’s the perfect way to relax after a day on the pc!

  Here’s a link to my feature on LLm: http://www.loveahappyending.com/category/interior-design/

You can also catch up with my latest news here:

Website/blog: http://linnbhalton.co.uk/

Twitter: @LinnBHalton FB: Linn B Halton Author

Want to read A Cottage in the Country?

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