Super natural

Deep in the woods, the Mahon family found a cottage they could bring to life with a kaleidoscope of colour and pattern

- JULIET BENNING

KITCHEN

Molly has used a fresh, vibrant palette here, including reupholstering the retro chairs in a sunny yellow.

Tablecloth made from Coffee Bean in Pink fabric, £95m, Molly Mahon. Source G Plan mid-century chairs at Vinterior. Tea towel, from £12, Molly Mahon

The Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, famous as the Hundred Acre Wood in Winnie the Pooh stories, has also provided the backdrop for Molly Mahon’s family life for over a decade. ‘In 2010 my husband Rollo and I decided we wanted to move out of London, and eventually settled here because of the schools,’ says Molly, who runs block-printing company Molly Mahon. ‘It feels wonderfully rural but it’s actually only a 45-minute train ride from town.’

Deciding on the property that was to become their country home was not, however, straightforward. ‘The house we initially wanted to buy fell through so we ended up bouncing around for two years renting,’ says Molly. Fantasising about a Georgian farmhouse, she was less than impressed with the wood keeper’s cottage her husband, Rollo, who runs the business with her, had taken a fancy to. ‘He was much more open-minded,’ she says. ‘He’d noticed its great location down a lovely track with the sense of being cut off, but still just a short walk to the children’s school.’

‘Aesthetically, with low ceilings and diamond windows, it wasn’t what I’d visualised, so I went away with a heavy heart,’ Molly admits. ‘We kept looking and occasionally he’d mention the cottage and finally, when our search was beginning to get tired, we decided to buy it as a project with a view to staying only a few years.’