Into the WOODS

Serial renovators Claire Rogers and her husband Matt were the perfect people to give a rural idyll in need of some TLC a makeover

- NAOMI JONES

One of my favourite things about living here in this tucked away spot is that I can witness the seasons transition from almost every window of our home,’ explains nature-loving photographer and stylist Claire Rogers, whose home is situated at the end of a private lane in a very quiet Suffolk village.

This house, Claire says, was originally outbuildings serving the neighbouring cottage, with parts dating to the 1800s: ‘The sitting room was once a barn and cart shed, open to the elements, with a hayloft above that is now our daughter Trulie’s room; the building had been extended again and again over the centuries but without much thought to its use as a family home so since we moved in six years ago my husband Matt and I have tried to make sense of the higgledypiggledy layout to establish a sense of flow, including adding a staircase to replace what felt more like a ladder than a set of stairs.