Wealden Times | WT184 | June 2017 | Kitchen & Bathroom supplement inside

Above: The front bedroom of the upstairs flat is very light and feminine, with a white fireplace and over mantle mirror, a lovely old brass
bed and a temptingly squashy armchair
Susie bought the flat from Andy and Christine Cowle, of
the well-known Bexhill antiques emporium Eras of Style.
“I was so lucky,” says Susie, “because it was already impeccably
decorated by Andy and Christine and I was able to buy some
of the furniture from them, so it was all there waiting for us.”
While that flat was very much bought to be a seaside escape
for Susie and her daughter, that little girl is now a teenager
and more interested in spending her weekends at home, where
her school friends are, than eating ice creams on the beach.
So it was another stroke of luck when, two and a half
years ago, just as Susie was starting to rent the flat out
on holidaylettings.co.uk and Airbnb – managed by her
friend Sarah Thompson – the one below came on the
market. Susie could immediately see the potential for
letting them both out – either separately, or together
for one larger party, joined by those quirky stairs.
Big sister Caroline, a north London-based garden designer,
immediately saw the potential – and was excited about
the prospect of refurbishing it as a joint project, which
was a good thing, considering the state it was in…
“It was filthy… in a terrible state,” says Susie. “We
gutted it and put in a new kitchen and bathroom
and stripped the doors and floors to freshen it.”
“We really wanted to please ourselves,” adds
Caroline. “To make something completely from
scratch with a contemporary/vintage feel.”
Looking around the airy room, painted a beautiful pale
sea blue and drenched in that special seaside light, it’s
easy to imagine what a haven it would be for a stressed
city dweller, sorely needing a break – which was exactly
their aim. “We wanted to keep it simple so every piece
in here had to earn its place,” says Caroline. “We didn’t
want it to be cluttered, because that’s not relaxing.”
Even the sofa, from SofasWorld, was chosen with relaxing
holiday makers in mind. “We wanted something really big,”
says Caroline, “for people to lie on and read a book.”
While that sofa is from a big online company, the vast
majority of the furnishings in both flats were sourced
close to home – whether that is home defined as within
walking distance of the St Leonards flats, favourite
emporia near their London houses, or legacies from
their parents’ and grandparents’ family homes.
A quick glance round the sitting room tells the story.
The glass side table is from The Kula, the fish print from
the yard in Courthouse Street and the light fitting from
Nelson Antiques, all in Hastings Old Town. The glasses
on the table are from Eras of Style, the wall sconces from
an antique shop on Norman Road and the seagull artwork
from the gallery in Marine Court. Local heroes all.
The side tables are from a shop near Caroline’s home
91 wealdentimes.co.uk