How We Recreated A Cottage Facade

A home should feel welcoming and inviting. When you lay eyes on that house, the facade should compel you to enter and provide a ‘wow’ moment. Blackbird Cottage is prominent in the main street of our town and, as one of the earliest homes built, we wanted it to be seen in its best light. We wanted to celebrate the history of our cottage, so the colour scheme, details, and front garden were important. We also wanted to recreate the look of a traditional English cottage. When first constructed, Blackbird Cottage probably didn’t have a garden. It was quite a humble little house. We’ve elevated the look to make it feel even quainter. Here’s how we recreated the cottage facade and what we need to do to complete the look.

Recreating the Cottage Facade

The cottage was sad and unloved when we took possession, but it had great bones. The facade was very sweet, with handmade timber fretwork along the verandah, original windows, and door. However, previous owners had hidden the pretty features with an ugly Colourbond fence and a drab paint job, so the features could be appreciated. They had replaced the original verandah floor with a concrete slab, and removed several scalloped timber brackets.

What we Did

The first thing we did was to take down the fence and replace it with a box hedge. This softened the hard edges around the property.

The next task was to create a garden on the side of the house. We chose many of our favourite plants and added some advanced crab apple trees with pink blossoms in spring. We used reclaimed bricks from the chimney of the house to create garden edging and added some of the concrete geese we brought with us from the farm for a touch of whimsy.

Once Gavin laid out and planted the garden, we turned our attention to the front of the house. The verandah needed replacing, so we took down the fretwork and brackets to reinstate them after the verandah was back in place. After discovering that the verandah had originally included rails and timber flooring which had been removed, we decided to incorporate these elements into the rebuilt verandah.

Our carpenter laid a new timber floor (with breathing room) as a ‘skin’ to cover the concrete. He built the new verandah on top of this, using posts shaped to match the original rotted ones. We also added the rails and, finally, the scallop details we cut using the original bracket we saved as a template. The scallops add a lovely layer of detail and authenticity to the house. The decision was made not to put the fretwork back on. It would have made the facade very busy.

Finishing Touches

Colour is always risky and can be divisive, so many people play it safe when choosing a house colour. We didn’t. The yellow ochre paint colour I discovered hiding under the verandah rails heavily influenced my choice for the walls. I knew I wanted something similar to be our wall color too, so I went on the hunt and found Ginger Crunch by Dulux. I teamed this with Natural White trim and Klavier for the front door. The blue black adds some drama.

I finished the door area by adding a ‘BLACKBIRD COTTAGE’ decal in metallic copper tones to the front door. I love this touch. It feels very traditional.

Next Jobs

To complete the cottage facade we need to do a few more things

• Stain the flooring, The tannins have leached out so we can do this now.
• Complete the sandstone gravel path and brick edging along the front
• Install the front gate
• Add a letter box!
• Buy some wicker verandah chairs
• Replace the door lock. We installed a smart lock which is great but the original lock needs attention and has no striker.