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Inside Amber Izzo’s Dark and Cosy Cottage Bedroom Renovation 

Renovating a characterful cottage is a balancing act: preserving the details that make it special while creating a home that works for modern life. For content creator Amber Izzo, her bedroom renovation at Piggy Cottage became even more pressing with a baby on the way. 

Image courtesy of @amberizzo

In the main bedroom, Amber embraced deep green walls, layered textiles and a mix of old and new to create a calm, cocooning retreat. At the centre of the room, two Clear Bubble Chandeliers introduce a more contemporary note, bringing lightness and impact without competing with the cottage’s original character.

We spoke to Amber about her cottage bedroom renovation, designing with darker colours, making confident decisions and why living with a space can lead to a more personal result.

You’ve been renovating Piggy Cottage with a baby on the way! How did you want your bedroom to feel when it was finished?

It has certainly not been easy and we’ve still got a long way to go, but we knew we wanted the bedrooms as finished as possible before she made her arrival. 

Our house was originally two cottages and the upstairs was still very much that, so that space was our number one priority and most of the building work took place in our bedroom. 

We wanted it to feel like a calm, cosy space that we could relax in. I’m a lover of darker, moodier bedrooms that feel like a sacred space and it definitely feels like a warm, personal retreat – I love nothing more than spending my mornings lounging in bed with my family.

Your renovation updates feel very honest – what has the bedroom renovation taught you about making design decisions when life is already quite chaotic?

To sleep on ideas and not rush into things, but also, that sometimes it pays to be brave. Piggy Cottage is an old, characterful cottage and also our ‘forever home’ –  we wanted to be able to inject our personalities as much as possible whilst also trying to respect the heritage of the house. 

I’d had the itch to drench a room in a deep colour for a long time and knew if I didn’t try it, I’d always want to eventually. I love it, but it very much taught me to sometimes slow down and take the flow of the whole house into consideration. 

Particularly with old houses, I think it’s very easy to move in and want to rip everything out and modernise it, but because we really want to preserve the house, its era and character, sometimes slowing down and considering how you can make it work for your family is the better option – and sometimes that means long waits and living with unsightly things for a while whilst you save up the money to do that.

The green walls have made the bedroom feel so cocooning. How did you land on that colour, and did it shape the rest of your choices for the room?

I fell in love with the colour a few years ago and have wanted to make it work ever since. Once we moved, I stumbled across a bedspread I adored and it suited the shade of green perfectly, so we designed everything really around that bedspread. 

It shaped every decision we made in that room – including the colours of the landing and nursery next to it so it flowed really nicely. The cottage is surrounded by very large pine trees and so there isn’t much natural light, but thankfully our bedroom and dressing room get most of it, so it made sense to try it there.

Image courtesy of @amberizzo

What changed when the Bubble Chandelier went up – in the way the room looked, but also in how it felt?

The Bubble Chandelier transformed it. We felt it was a bit of a rogue decision as we’d been so adamant on keeping everything ‘cottage’ style, but I felt that because it also has the dressing room attached, we wanted to elevate it in a way that felt a bit more modern and had a central ‘wow’ factor. 

It really took the room into the 21st century without compromising the rest of the character, and whilst it’s a very modern fitting, it really works in making the space feel luxurious and almost boutique hotel like. 

“I often think choosing a statement piece of décor or art you love before the room colour works well, rather than choosing a colour and then finding it hard to work with.”

For anyone renovating a bedroom and feeling overwhelmed by all the decisions, what would you tell them to choose early – and what can wait?

Choose the bed location first, so you can figure out the flow of the room. From there you can work out the electrical work, like where you want plug sockets for bedside tables and phone chargers, where you want the light switches to be – sort the practical and the flow first. 

I often think choosing a statement piece of décor or art you love before the room colour works well, rather than choosing a colour and then finding it hard to work with. We chose to wait with the actual furniture – our bedroom has an attached dressing room which follows the same colour scheme, but at the moment, other than a mirror and chest of drawers, it’s empty. 

Image courtesy of @amberizzo

We want to give ourselves some time to live in it first to decide whether we want to modernise it or continue down the route of finding thrifted, antique furniture. They’re big purchases, and we want to get those right – the furniture you choose can make or break a vision, so take the time to think about that.

Shop the look

For more behind the scenes peeks at Piggy Cottage’s renovation, follow Amber on Instagram @amberizzo.

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