Cool, calm and concrete

Dee Phillips is one enviable lady. Not only does she have an exciting job in fashion that takes her around the world, a front-cover husband who once appeared on Vogue, and two adorable kids that are so polite you could melt, she’s also got a beautiful home. Sigh.

However, it seems this idyllic peace and quiet business can have its draw backs. ‘It’s infuriatingly remote at times, bleak in the winter, tough in the snow, near impossible for deliveries, but the most beautiful place on a sunny day,’ says Dee. I think I’d sacrifice my Asos mail order for some restful isolation any day.

Despite its extremely minor, barely-there, down points, the Cowshed, as it affectionately known thanks to its former life, has become the perfect heritage backdrop for the couple's contemporary pieces and vibrant modern artwork. With a background in fashion, Dee is a buyer and Scott used to be a model, the couple have a passion for beautifully crafted designs that are aesthetically simply and functional. ‘We spend a long time hunting the perfect piece, such as a sofa or a side board, and see them as investment item that will last a lifetime,’ says Dee.

Having spent 18 years living in London in various converted spaces such as a Victorian piano factory, the couple craved a better quality of life with more space and fresh air, so they began searching for similarly historic conversions that were commutable to London.

Viewing these old animal barns for the first time, the couple were immediately attracted to their remote location, tucked away from the main road, not overlooked by the neighbouring properties and with outstanding views across farmland. Hading been renovated back in 2000 by the previous owners, Dee and Scott inherited rustic red walls, dark stained beams and tonnes and tonnes of pine…not their taste at all. ‘Our vision was to open it all up, let the light in and make the space flow throughout. We were also keen to modernise the finishes, such as the floors and walls, and give it a contemporary feel on the inside,' explains Dee.

Now the cavernous dining space, the epic living room and the sunken kitchen have been refreshed and renewed with concrete floors throughout and contemporary wall finishes, resulting in surprisingly cosy and cocooning spaces despite their huge dimensions.

Poggenpohl takes the starring role in the kitchen, with its cool simplicity creating a super-sleek vibe, while still retaining a warm and welcoming appeal thanks to the bronze splash backs and earthy tones. ‘We all gather here now and so do guests that visit. It is the centre of our home and I like nothing more than cooking for family and friends with a good glass of wine and my music on,’ smiles Delia.

The barn is full of feature walls to bring drama to the large spaces, and Dee seems to be a dab hand at sourcing wallpaper that's impossible to buy! 'I spotted the soft metallic gold Cole & Sons Lily wallpaper in Browns on South Molten Street, but I soon discovered it was an archive design. It took some begging but I finally convinced Cole & Son to re-print it,' recalls Dee.

It was a similar story in the master bedroom when Dee spied The Cranes wallpaper in a New York hotel. ‘It’s by the Australian designer Florence Broadhurst and after having no luck tracking it down in the UK I had to get it shipped over. It cost me a small fortune, plus it took me four months to find someone to hang it. No one wanted to touch it due to its metallic Mylar base, then finally I found a decorator brave enough to give it a go and he succeeded. It was well worth the wait though, and the money, as I love the gentle lustre of the surface when it catches the light.'

Making the move to concrete was a decision of epic proportions. It took a year to research and find a suitable company that would deliver the floor finish over such a huge area, and in the end, they had to convince a commercial layer to take on the project. Little did they realise the adventure they would embark on...

'It was crazy...it took three weeks to lay and they did it by hand, but their attention to detail was incredible. We decamped to my parent’s house to escape the chaos and the fumes,' recalls Dee. 'However, we made a mistake of popping in one afternoon and were overcome with the toxic smell of resin. It was our fault as they did warn us not too enter.'

The result…a cool, crisp 'cloudy day' grey that evokes calm in every space and instantly slows the pace down throughout the barns.

Despite the big hurdles they had to overcome with decorating such large spaces, the couple have succeeded in achieving their dream of combining contemporary living in a rural environment. The family have also embraced new pastoral passions such as gardening, growing veggies and keeping chickens. With ¾ acres to look after, the couple had to do most of the landscaping themselves, including the formal courtyard in the centre of the barns, where they have re-shaped the lawns and planted silver birch. ‘Scott and I both love nature and we were keen to embrace countryside living in its entirety,' says Dee.

Recently, the couple hired the help of garden landscapers Hendy Curzon and had a new patio area built to connect the house with the paddock, which includes sunken seating and a pagoda. ‘The low benches provide privacy with bird song all around. It’s also a great social space. When we light the fire pit at night and snuggle under blankets, it’s fantastic,’ says Delia.

The patio leads onto the paddock via some Prairie Turf, a sort of mini wildflower meadow, that Scott is tenderly maintaining. ‘There’s always something that needs looking after or a job that has to be done - it's simply the nature of living within such a rural landscape,’ says Delia. ‘But we wouldn’t have it any other way, we love our country retreat and everything that it entails.’