How to add pieces to your home that tell your story, and how I ignored all the interior design 'rules' to make a house that felt like me

Window seat in a pale yellow room covered with a gingham throw and a variety of check cushions.

Home decorator Lara Winter is one of Ideal Home's new Open House contributors, sharing her thoughts on revamping a 200 year old cottage to make it right for modern family life. See the rest of her articles here.

When we first moved into this house - a 200-year-old extended cottage in the countryside -I was eight months pregnant, deeply exhausted, and mildly terrified. The house had great bones, but it was... beige. Nicely beige. Respectably beige. The kind of beige that says, “Don’t even think about touching me with a paintbrush.” Every room felt pared back and polite. Cream walls. Neutral furnishings. Quite high end. You know the type.