We’d always wanted to live in this area of Wales,” says Xanthe Dewsnap. “The dream was somewhere with big windows and a large garden, so when this house and grounds turned up, it was so exciting to finally find somewhere that ticked all the boxes. I remember first setting eyes on it, it looked quite beautiful within the hilly Carmarthenshire landscape, a colourful blot of pale yellow on the outside and all white on the inside.”
Since buying the property 17 years ago, Xanthe, a sheepskin boot designer, and her husband Gareth, a graphic and 3D designer, have worked extensively to get it to how it is now, much of the work done by themselves or with the help of friends.
Their plan right from the beginning was to make sure that the materials they bought used were high quality and as sustainable and energy-efficient as possible. “We made a pact with ourselves that whatever we pulled out during the renovations, we’d try to repurpose what we could, before buying new,’’ says Xanthe.
“Being as self-sufficient as possible with our energy was important to us, too, as the Welsh winters are bitter, with the potential of heating being costly, so the wood-fired system we installed has been a bonus,” she says.
The couple bought a masonry stove kit from Tigchelkachels in the Netherlands and built it using engineering bricks from a local builders’ merchant. “It works by burning wood hot and fast, the bricks then absorb the heat and release it slowly into the house throughout the day,” explains Gareth. This, combined with underfloor heating and double-glazed windows, means the house is really cosy.
Solar thermal panels were installed on the roof to generate energy for hot water, then more panels were added for electricity with the excess being sold on to the National Grid. “It was a big investment at the time when technology was rarer for older properties, but the expense has been well worth it,” says Xanthe.
Some elements of the house – such as the open-plan kitchen from Neptune and the Verdigris porcelain tiles behind the cooker from Mandarin Stone – were more expensive, but the couple compensated by being thrifty when it came to the furniture and textiles.
In the Dewsnaps’ home, colour is predominant. Xanthe’s love of bold colours started in her early 20s when she studied theatre design, but she’d never had the opportunity to use it until living in this house, because previously they’d always rented. “I like to think about views through the home, seeing from one space to the next, so I went for neutral tones like the Skimming Stone on the walls from Farrow & Ball.”
This has left room for bolder, more colourful furniture and patterned elements. “I’ve then repeated bolder paint colours throughout the house, so there’s consistency and links to each room,” says Xanthe. The Theatre Red from Little Greene on the staircase is repeated in accessories and small furniture pieces, like the red stool in her bedroom; the blue tones are added in various ways on the walls, or painted on larger furniture pieces, for example on the dresser and window frames in the kitchen, which are painted in Tea With Florence from Little Greene.
“This was an economical way of painting as none was left over or wasted,” says Xanthe. “I also found it was a good way of breaking up the wooden furniture and the Ivy oak flooring downstairs from Broadleaf Timber.”
Upstairs in the living room, furniture has been swapped for floor cushions made from a fabric bought on Etsy. This is so as not to block the natural light coming in from the large living room window. “Our ceilings are really low, especially downstairs, so maximising the daylight was important. The open staircase has really helped the light flood down to the kitchen/living area.”
As well as saving money, making, fixing or buying furnishings second-hand has added a unique look to Xanthe and Gareth’s home. “We were given the kitchen table, which was in a bit of a state, but fixed its wobbly legs, stripped off the peeling varnish and sanded it back, finishing with Fiddes Hard Wax Oil,” says Xanthe. She also reupholstered a sofa from a neighbour; another one was bought on Gumtree. Gareth designed and made their bed, wardrobe, bookshelves and the table in their son Lori’s room.
The block-print fabric curtain in their bedroom is the same as she had when she was a teenager and it fits the window perfectly. The living-room curtain used to be a throw on an old sofa at her parent’s house. “When I find something I love, I look after it and keep reusing and reinventing it if I can,” she says. “When the work was done it was such a relief to have all our things in the right places and not be living around dust, mess and chaos.”
Now her focus is on her sheepskin boot and slipper business, launched in 2021 next door to the house. Once a storage and tool shed, it’s now a fully running workshop. “Both the house and the business are a work in progress, always evolving and changing”, says Xanthe. “And colours from the house do seem to be creeping into my designs, so both influence one another.’’ She smiles.
