The Shropshire B&B . . . in a garage
[gallery] If you were offered the chance to spend a romantic weekend in Kerrie Griffin-Rogers' garage, your first reaction may well be to turn it down.
And you'd be making a big mistake if you did, for designer and artist Kerrie has transformed the garage from a roofless, disused storage room into a rural retreat that's attracting a stream of guests.
Turtledove Hideaway is, says Kerrie, a bolt hole for those wanting to escape from everyday life.
And it also acts as a perfect showhome – literally – for the mother-of-two's range of interior designs and furnishings.
The cottage, at her bed and breakfast home at Wood Farm House, Breaden Heath, between Whitchurch and Ellesmere, attracts short break holidaymakers from across Britain and beyond and its lounge has just been shortlisted for best room of the year by a design magazine.
Yet the hideaway was not the original intention of Kerrie, 46, who runs Interior Design Co. She said: "I was using the garage to store products for my interior design company but it didn't have a roof and birds were making a mess in there. I decided to renovate the garage and use it to show off my products.
"Then it was suggested that I rent it out as a cottage so I went through the planning procedures and haven't looked back. There is barely a day when it isn't being used."
She spent £10,000 converting the building into a rural retreat and uses the income towards her mortgage.
"Turtledove Hideaway went on to the website, Unique Homestays, in May under the heading of "two-man boltholes". About half of them are in Devon and Cornwall.
"We had our first booking in just five weeks and things snowballed from there."
"Many of our holidaymakers come from the London area and are simply thrilled by the peace and quiet.
"One couple had just returned from their honeymoon in Mauritius and said Turtledove was an equally wonderful holiday," she added.
Kerrie said that the interior design was cited over and over again as one of the reasons people loved the cottage.
"Many guests buy the decor from the rooms along with the artwork I paint to take away with them to try and create the same feel in their homes.
"Others have even asked me to design the interior of their home."
