The right move... with less work

After spending almost three years converting old cottages into the perfect family home, Sarah Lamb was convinced she'd never find anything better. "It was wonderful and we had got it just as we wanted it. The views were amazing and we had hens and a pony," she says.

But her property paradise had one flaw – it wasn't in the right location for work and schools.

"We realised that we needed to be nearer everything and reluctantly we moved out into rented. We spent ages looking for another house but nothing was quite right," says Sarah, who was convinced she'd have to undertake another major renovation project to get what she wanted.

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Fortunately, she and husband Matthew, who have two daughters Elle, 12, and Charlotte, 14, found a converted barn near Boroughbridge, and it was uncannily like their old home.

"It was as if it had been specified just for us, right down to the Jeremy Wood kitchen that we had in our previous place. It's hidden away off the road, there's land for horses and the dcor was just as I'd have done it."

The conversion and rural peace and calm also reminded her of a finca – bringing back happy memories of her time working in Spain as a travel rep. Although there was no need for a major makeover, Sarah has added her own touches. She has natural flair and lots of inspiration gained from buying expeditions for her shop Issima, which has become a big attraction in Boroughbridge. She started it 10 years ago and sells an eclectic mix of "must haves" from homeware and gifts to jewellery

and fashion.

"Matthew says it is a way for me to buy everything I love without having to squeeze it into the house and that's true. But it's a challenge to keep ahead and find new and different stock."

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Her own home is full of old favourites, treasured mementoes and new accessories and she is careful to re-use what she can. "I don't throw everything out and start again when I move. I make

it fit.

"The secret is reinventing rooms using furniture you love. I often have it painted," says Sarah, whose Ducal pine dresser is a prime example of her thrifty, eco approach.

It was painted in subtle green grey by Sarah Mortimer and now has pride of place in the enormous sitting room, which was once a cart shed.

Her Laura Ashley armoire in the dining room is another practical piece she has re-used and some of her many pictures have been re-framed to suit the colour schemes. "I buy pictures I like without thinking where they will fit. If you dither and go back to the shop they may not be there. That's something I've learned. If you see something you love, buy it there and then or you may be disappointed."

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Cushions and throws are from Issima and from another favourite shop, Angel and Rose in Boroughbridge, which specialises in reclaimed French pieces. Outside, Sarah has had little to do except maintain what is already there. It is another source of prt porter pleasure.

"We were really lucky that the couples who lived here before us were all keen gardeners and it is stocked with some beautiful plants."

It has a series of "rooms", a pond, vines and espalier pears. It also boasts an outbuilding suitable for conversion into an annexe, which should satisfy the Lambs' urge to undertake property projects.

"We'll do that one day I think, but for now we're just enjoying living here with nothing to do," says Sarah. "It's a great house and we're all so much nearer to everything we do so life has become

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less fraught and not having to renovate has meant we have more time to just live here.

"It's the first time in eight years we've unpacked everything and put all our pictures up, so I think we can say that it's somewhere we hope to stay long-term," she said.

Sarah's Useful Contacts:

Issima for homeware, accessories, jewellery, gifts and fashion at 6 The High Street, Boroughbridge. Tel: 01423 325979.

Jeremy Wood Kitchens, Wetherby, tel: 01937 586544, www.jeremywoodkitchens.co.uk

Sarah Mortimer – furniture painter. Tel: 01423 340722

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Angel and Rose, Fishergate, Boroughbridge – French reclaimed antiques.

Presence Fine Arts, 38 High Street, Boroughbridge, for pictures and framing.

Flowers from Caine, Johns Street, Harrogate, www.caineofharrogate.co.uk

YP MAG 18/9/10

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