From the archive: William Yeoward's Cotswolds cottage (2011)

Benjamin Franklin's blunt assertion that ‘guests, like fish, start to smell after three days' is not something one could ever imagine designer William Yeoward saying-or even thinking. William thrives on entertaining -as readers of his numerous books on the subject will know-and he likes nothing better than having friends to stay at his ravishingly pretty place in the country.

When they are not in their flat in London, William and interior designer Colin Orchard live in a converted, 1860s, Cotswolds village schoolhouse, built in a light-hearted Gothic style in a local, honey-coloured stone. With generous ‘public' space, including a stupendous living room-the former schoolroom-it is perfect for parties, but bedroom capacity is very limited, making it less than ideal for inviting people overnight. So when the opportunity arose for William to buy a small cottage that could be accessed from the end of his garden, he jumped at it. Now arranged specifically for guests, this little building - illustrated here – comprises two bedrooms, each with its own bathroom, and a sitting room.

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Although the cottage is only a short distance from the main house, where everyone congregates for meals and socialising, it is far enough away to allow guests a sense of separation and independence should they wish to spend some time on their own. When William took on the cottage, which was constructed in the Sixties, it was no beauty, but he decided against doing major work to the exterior. He simply improved it by painting the stucco in a warm shade of ochre and introducing some stylish symmetry to the small garden that leads up to the main entrance, which is flanked by olive trees in tubs.

In contrast, he virtually gutted the interior of the cottage. The main constraint on the revised, internal plan was the position of the front door, but this turned out to be a blessing, as it meant that the new wall facing it had to be curved inwards to allow for the sweep of the door and provide adequate space for circulation. Behind the wall is a bedroom, so the curve is now a distinctive - and decorative - feature in this room as well as in the hall. The hall and sitting room are open to one another but partially separated by the new staircase. As the latter is visible in both spaces, its design needed to look interesting but, equally, it was important for it to suit the modest setting. The conundrum was solved by using plain, square section balusters – the sort typically found in cottages – and, unusually, grouping them in threes on the treads.

William has no qualms about introducing new architectural features in interiors, providing they appear appropriate and can be justified – hence the beams in the sitting room. These were added to give definition overhead and prevent the room, which has a low ceiling height, from feeling shoeboxy. Hence, too, the chimneypiece. This acts as a focus for the room's comfortably upholstered sofas and chairs, which are complemented by a medley of quirky furniture, pictures and objects. The window is hung with curtains made of Italian, cut velvet - "probably the most expensive fabric I have ever bought,' says William, ‘and I refuse to give it up. It's now in its third incarnation.'

The curtains in the ground-floor bedroom are another example of recycling. A lovely old toile, one of William's long-time favourites, has been incorporated here in a scheme that is deliberately old-fashioned - but in a beautiful way. The decoration of the upstairs bedroom is younger in feeling, with a cheerful mix of styles and periods, including Arts-and Crafts tables by the bed, twentieth-century paintings on the walls and fabrics from the William Yeoward collections.

The two bathrooms look - and are - comfortable. The 'clinical' approach is not for William. In fact, he and Colin regard comfort, both aesthetic and physical, as a priority in interior design and, being thoroughly thoughtful hosts, have gone to as much trouble with their guest cottage as they have with the main house.