As some of you will know, we have very slowly been renovating an old farm house in the south of Portugal…
It’s been a long-term project, but it’s been lovely to see it slowly come together and not have to rush to make decisions. This year we have completed three outhouses with ensuite bathrooms and are now concentrating on developing some outdoor spaces and, fingers crossed, a swimming pool!
This is a paid partnership project with Houseology – hop over for my picks on the site.
We’ve been tiling with local handmade terracotta Santa Catarina tiles and calsadas (Portuguese cobblestones) and starting to look at the garden and what we can do there. We have vines, roses and fruit trees to tame and tend!
Last month, the brilliant Houseology team helped me furnish some of the outdoor spaces from their fantastic array of products – my aim, to create some easy-to-use, relaxed outdoor areas to sit back with a morning coffee, or enjoy a glass of wine while watching the sun set!
Having not been that strict with the overall styling in the house – it’s quite boho tbh! I’ve repainted old mirrors, repurposed old tables as sinks, bought second hand sofas and light fittings from the local flea markets – I was interested to introduce some more minimal and modern pieces to contrast against the soft pink of the terracotta tiles and the old style charm of the house.
So I went for some quite modern design pieces – see the black Lene Bjerre polyrattan dining chairs and Houseology reclaimed teak and slate coffee table – to see how they would fit in (I love it!) while retaining some organic elements with bamboo and wood.
I love the strong, minimal curves of the pair of black lounge chairs and taking that style a bit further is the statement rope Vincent Sheppard chair – this is probably one of the comfiest chairs I’ve ever sat in, no lie! It also comes as a sun lounger, so luxurious!
Softer though, in their lighter wicker work design were the Riviera chairs, the criss-cross of their legs echoing the strips of the pink tiles really nicely.
Leaning towards the other style side of me – the boho bit! – I completely fell for some of the Lene Bjerre pieces (a Danish brand taking beautiful design inspiration from all over the world) and thought this handmade beach-inspired bamboo table makes the perfect cocktail table to watch the sun go down with a glass of something in hand! But stay tuned, as in a month’s time, this space will have a wooden slatted pergola built over it – as for most of the day it really is too hot to sit without shade, this will make it usable throughout the day as well! The sweet rattan iron bench is also Lene Bjerre.
The space outside our kitchen window had been completely bare until we laid the calcadas earlier this year and I wanted to make it a comfy little nook for breakfast or afternoon tea. And for sunbathing! The second-hand teak sun lounger is one of two we picked up at a fleamarket in Almancil, the markets take place every Sunday at different Algarve locations!
I paired the teak coffee table with the wicker chairs and cushions (in all honestly, I kept switching things around as everything looked so nice everywhere and I couldn’t decide!). The little Garden Trading tray table has the added extra of being able to detach, so you can pop into the kitchen, load up with breakfast bits and then pop on the legs.
We also went to town on the flower pots – these big chunky PR planters are quite a statement and the Garden Trading vintage style galvanised pots ones are wonderfully sized and a really good price. We filled them with little yucca trees and mini palms. The long planters we filled with gloriously wild looking lavender!
Taking our time with this project has been quite lovely, as knowing how the outdoor spaces work with sun and shadow at different times, is important to when it comes to setting up little areas. I love a small table to sit around, to drink coffee (never not without a cup of something in hand or drinking up the sun in these pics, lol!) read the news or a book, sit and make plans for the day or to browse photos and lazily make edits (I find this highly therapeutic!).
The day of the video shoot with Houseology was boiling hot – but it was so much fun showing the team around the house and chatting furniture all day! You can watch the video below and see the Houseology Masterclass blog post here! Hope you enjoy it – I am so getting a drone for our next trip!
This dress from *Beach Cafe with a pair of old but favourite Birkenstocks! Hat from Malababa.
This linen dress is handmade by Johanna Sands for Studio B – I had it made to my size! The shoes are by *John Lewis.
*Shades by Bailey Nelson.
These *suitcases by Antler.
Photos taken on an Olympus OMD E-M10 mark iii with 12mm lens.
What an idyllic setting, the rattan furniture fits in perfectly with the relaxed, rustic surroundings. And the video is beautiful! What a lovely collab x
Utterly beautiful Julia. I love all of it, the styling, the location, the incredible photography, that gingham beach cafe dress, love the bamboo sofa with roof. All of it, just perfect. Your blog is incredible too.