Home Style: From Barn to Beauty

It took time and patience before Natasha Miller was able to transform her family home into the tranquil retreat she had longed for with a gentle scheme and sensitive improvements 

“My home really is my sanctuary,” admitted Natasha Miller, and it’s not difficult to see why. This mellow 17th century barn, nestled near the north downs, has a calm, cohesive, light-filled space which feels effortlessly stylish. 

But there’s more to it than that. Natasha has a degenerative eye condition which means her sight is severely impaired. “I have no peripheral vision, so I have to look at things in sections, if that makes sense,” she explained. “It can make everyday life a bit challenging, so coming home to a place where I always feel happy, relaxed and safe has become increasingly important to me.” 

The barn has been a much-loved family home for Natasha, husband Alan and their three children since 2007, but it’s only in recent years that she has really been able to indulge her passion for interiors and create the home she had long imagined. “When we moved here from a Victorian town house many years ago, it ticked everything on our wish list: we wanted a characterful home in the country which was big enough for all of us, and close to good schools and amenities. As soon as we viewed this barn conversion, we knew it would be perfect for us.” 

And so it proved to be. However, the couple were resigned to the fact that it would be a long wait before they could make substantial changes. “Busy family life ate into both our time and our budget,” Natasha laughed. “We simply lived with everything we already had, and it wasn’t until our brood began to fly the nest a few years ago, that we finally had the time and opportunity to reimagine it all.” 

The long wait had given Natasha plenty of time to live in the space and fine-tune her interior design ideas. “I pretty much knew exactly what I wanted – and luckily Alan agreed!” she laughed. “We were also very fortunate to receive a little inheritance money which helped enormously with the cost of some of the renovations.’ 

The first area to be tackled was the kitchen. “I wanted a timeless modern country design with plenty of storage, lots of light, and not least my much-loved Aga which we’ve had for many years,” she said. “The kitchen was built by a local kitchen company, and I remember how exciting it was to finally see everything I had dreamed about in situ. Even now, a few years on, there’s nothing about it that I would change.” 

Also, intrinsic to giving the barn a new lease of life was the installation of bi-fold doors – which provide a seamless link to the pretty courtyard outside. “The difference in the sense of light and space and the link between outside and in – is incredible,” explained Natasha. “It was well worth the investment.” 

To keep costs down, the couple took on a lot of the decorating tasks themselves. “I was always finding fantastic ideas online or in magazines and saying to Alan, “Look we could do that!” she recalled. “To be fair, he liked most of my suggestions – we proved to be a good team!” 

One of the biggest challenges was painting the enormous open-plan living space with its soaring ceiling and myriad old beams. “It was a mammoth task – we even had to hire scaffolding! It took Alanat least two weeks as apart from the sheer size of the room, the old beams had to be carefully painted around using a small paintbrush. Patience was called for!” 

In terms of décor, the concept was simple: clean, fresh and light. “The palette is primarily soft grey, blue and white, layered with lots of natural textures,” explained Natasha. “It’s comfortable, but uncluttered and easy to live with. On a practical level, it’s also simple for me to maintain and appreciate.” 

Natasha found it cathartic to finally sell or donate most of the dark and dated furniture that the family had lived with for so many years, and it was exciting to choose new pieces that were more in keeping with the barn’s fresh new look. “We’ve been careful to invest in furnishings that will stand the test of time,” she said. “The aim has always been to achieve an elegant modern country look, and I kept that in mind whenever I was choosing items.” 

“The process of creating something so special has given me a new lease of life,” Natasha explained. “Our home is now everything we ever wanted, and I know we’ll always love living here in the years ahead.” 

Photography: Richard Gadsby/ House of Pictures

Words: Sharon Parsons/House of Pictures