The start of the year is always quiet for us here at Huntsmill Farm. We close during January and like to use it as a time to work on projects around the farm, and over the past few years, it’s been an excellent time for us to work on a few renovations, and most recently we had a mini-renovation project in our largest cottage, Blacksmiths Cottage.
Over the recent years, we’ve been working hard on several projects to update our barn wedding venue to add to its rustic character, including the addition of The Shed in 2021, our outdoor wedding structure overlooking the beautiful Buckinghamshire countryside. As well as projects around our wedding venue, we’ve also been working to update our cottages. In 2020 we undertook an extensive renovation on The Old Dairy, creating a luxury honeymoon suite for our couples, and last year was The Granary‘s turn, giving the cottage a new lease of life and a bright new look. This year, we decided it was long overdue a turn for Blacksmiths Cottage, so we worked on a mini-renovation project while we had our quieter time before weddings started up again.
Photos thanks to Matthew Williams-Ellis and Joe Burford Photography
Blacksmiths Cottage
Blacksmiths Cottage is one of our seven self-catering cottages at Huntsmill Farm and is our largest cottage, sleeping six to eight people. It’s usually the cottage that most people choose for their bridal party to get ready in, as there’s plenty of space for your hair and makeup suppliers. There is one double bedroom and two twin bedrooms, two of which are en-suite, a family bathroom and a hallway leading to an open-plan kitchen and living room space.
At the beginning of the year, we worked hard on the renovation for Blacksmiths Cottage, and we are now super excited to share with you what we got up to!
Living Area and Kitchen
The living room and kitchen area of Blacksmiths Cottage has a huge generous open plan space, which is often why our couples choose this as their getting ready cottage! As you can see from our before photos this part of the cottage was looking a little tired, so with our mini renovation we wanted to give the space a light, fresh, modern rustic cottage feel.
One of the first things you may notice is that we’ve replaced the tired-looking carpet with new hard flooring throughout the lounge and kitchen, continuing down the hallway. We’ve painted throughout our mini-renovation, keeping a neutral colour scheme, and then painted the panelled area white to give it a fresh look. To give Blacksmiths Cottage a modern feel, we’ve also installed a new school radiator, which looks a lot nicer against the rest of the renovation, and new ceiling and wall lights.
Blacksmiths Cottage also had some new furniture in the living room and kitchen area, including a new navy sofa and sofa bed, side tables, lamps and curtains. We like the navy and neutral tones against the stone wall in the lounge; it’s helped to give a more rustic cottage feeling. We finished the space by updating the pictures, some of which you might recognise from areas around the farm!
Double Bedroom
When it came to the bedroom, we gave it a minor refresh with a new coat of paint, fresh new carpet, and new curtains to help the space feel airy and bright. We also fitted new wall lights and bedside lamps alongside a new headboard for the double bed to bring a modern feel to Blacksmiths Cottage. Next to the bedroom dressing table, we installed a stand for hairdryers, making it easier to help you get ready on wedding days!
Twin Bedrooms
We had a similar mini renovation in both twin bedrooms in Blacksmiths Cottage, refreshing the paint and fitting new carpets and curtains to brighten the space. Both twin bedrooms also benefitted from new bed headboards, wall lights, and bedside lamps. For the final finishing touches, we added more photos from around the farm, hooks to hang your dresses and suits, mirrors, and a couple of hairdryer stands.
We’re pleased with how our mini-renovation for Blacksmiths Cottage has turned out; our grounds and maintenance operative, Clive, did most of the work, and what a fantastic job he’s done! It looks a lot brighter, fresher and modern, but it still retains its character and rustic charm to compliment our stone wedding barn.
Photo thanks to Simon Brettell Photography
If you’d like more information on any of our cottages or to see more photos, you can find them on our accommodation page. And if you don’t want to wait to visit us for a wedding to stay here, you can also book to stay in Blacksmiths Cottage with us on Airbnb and join us surrounded by the beautiful Buckinghamshire countryside.
We’re looking forward to welcoming our couples and guests to our updated Blacksmiths Cottage in the future for a relaxing, comfortable stay home from home.
