A listed country home is beautifully renovated

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This week's renovation tour is an impressive renovated listed country home from sunny_inside_out_interiors on Instagram, which we absolutely adore.

The style is very sympathetic to the period, with traditional restored features sitting alongside some amazing modern interiors. We love the bright and bold colours used throughout the home, like the deep blue painted bedroom which works so well with the original oak beams and classic roll top bath.

Lisa, who owns the property, has done such an amazing job renovating her family home, which has also inspired a change in career and she is now training to become an interior designer. We love how home renovations can be so inspiring and really change so many aspects of your life. Thanks to Lisa for her advice and sharing her beautiful pictures with us.

Can you tell us about your home and renovation project

We bought our home 4 years ago when we were still working and living in London and would try and come out to the house every weekend. When we first bought the house we weren't in a position to renovate it and so we sort of camped out here at weekends.

The heating was awful, only 3 radiators worked in the house and there wasn't a single shower so it wasn't a very practical place to live full time, especially given that we have 4 young kids. The laundry machines were also out in the barn which meant lots of slipping and sliding to and from the barn in wet weather, with armfuls of laundry.

So when we did decide to make the move out of London and settle out west permanently, we also decided it was time to give the house a bit of an overhaul and make it fit for modern living. This meant moving into a rental cottage for a year while we took on the renovation work.

We love the pink tiles which works beautifully with the grey walls

Your home is a beautiful listed property, were there any additional challenges that you faced during your renovation?

One of the joys of having a listed property is that we have lots of lovely, quirky original features that date back hundreds of years. One of the downsides is trying to keep those in one piece and still make the house work for modern, day to day life. This meant that we had to go through a long planning process with multiple submissions to get to a proposal that worked for us and for the planners.

One of the key stumbling blocks was the glass link that we wanted to make to connect the barn to the main house. Originally they said no but after lots of discussion they agreed that we could create a box that was almost entirely glass and therefore did not disrupt the view of the old parts of the building. We were both very happy with this compromise and I think it is a beautiful feature of the property.

The glass link which connects the barn to the main house - it's such a stunning feature

You have such a beautiful style - how would you describe it and where do you get your inspiration from?

I think that people often think that if you want your home to look elegant you have to be very restrained with colour or pattern but I disagree. I love colour and I like to use it in slightly surprising ways, whether that is our pink pheasant wallpaper in the downstairs washroom or the woad blue walls and ceilings that cocoon our bedroom. I think you can have fun with colour and still have an elegant-looking home and in fact the combination makes it feel warmer and more welcoming. Since we have a big rambling country home that is very important to me. I want it to have both elegance and warmth.

I'm often inspired by nature in my use of colour or pattern and if you walk around the house you'll find Adam's Eden wallpaper, starry ceilings and pheasants on the walls. Living in the country I'm surrounded by shades of green, blue, yellow and in the summer pinks and reds. These are the colours that dominate inside my home as well.

We love the kitchen with the fabulous mix of deep blue and pale pink

What's your favourite place in your home now and why?

My favourite place in the house is the gallery, a room that connects the two sides of the house. I love this room because it has light that comes from windows on both sides so it always feels bright and welcoming.

I've painted the walls a soft setting plaster pink, which helps soften the light too and there's a jotul stove nestled at one end for extra warmth on chilly days. I purposefully didn't leave this black, but had it spray painted a soft blue. The room is intentionally feminine and welcoming to compensate for the fact that it might otherwise be a bit of a 'corridor' room that people cross through but never stop in. It's a wonderful place to sit and read or simply pause for a sit down and a chat.

The gallery with the jotul stove nestled in the beautiful fireplace

What would be your advice for anyone considering a renovation?

If you're considering a renovation that will mean taking apart a wall, floor or ceiling, always assume you'll find something unexpected that will take you over budget. There are always, unforeseen problems hidden (quite literally) in houses and it's best to have a contingency amount put aside so that when you finally do get to look behind the facade you're not left in a panic by what you see and need to fix.

Also, don't forget to budget for interior design. People often forget to include a budget for new curtains or key pieces of furniture and if you have to scrimp on those final elements the end result of a renovation project can feel quite disappointing.

The master bedroom is painted in woad blue which works so well against the oak beams

What do your family and friends say about your renovation?

We've been very lucky to have met and become friends with some lovely people in Bath throughout this renovation project and it's been lovely to have their support and encouragement along the journey. So much so that I've been inspired to take up interior design as a profession and am currently studying with KLC to turn what has been a wonderful life experience into a full time career.