The Charlie & Josie Edit
Our oak, in their rooms.
Charlie and Josie Irons have filled their corner of the Cotswolds with things we've carved. Their home is an old rectory, where the name of the house greets you at the entrance. Strawtop Cottages are their holiday cottages, all warm stone and thatch, and every cottage has had its share of oak. Holy Reformer is their reformer Pilates studio, in a chapel they saved from being turned into flats.
This is their edit: the pieces they chose, seen in the places they're used. None of it is fussy. These are things that get picked up and used every day, made to outlast any holiday.
Every piece is solid oak from our workshop in Kent, and each one can carry your own words. Charlie and Josie chose theirs. We'd love to carve yours.
At Strawtop Cottages
Rectangular Sign
Carved STRAWTOP COTTAGES.
The first thing guests see is the name of the place, carved into oak and fixed to the stone beside the door. A house name, a business or a family saying all work just as well.
Delivery Signs
Carved STRAWTOP COTTAGES NUMBER TWO and STRAWTOP COTTAGES NUMBER THREE.
One for each cottage's parking space, fixed to the old stone wall so guests know exactly where to pull in. Black letters on oak, easy to read from the driver's seat.
Jumbo Matchbox
Carved STRAWTOP COTTAGES.
It sits on the log bucket by the wood burner, so the matches are always where the fire is. Big enough that nobody ever has to hunt for it.
Medium Butler Tray
Carved STRAWTOP COTTAGE.
On the bedside it holds the radio and a stack of books. In the morning it carries the tea.
Coffee Pod Rack
Carved CAFFEINE.
One word, carved down the side, and nobody needs telling what it's for. The pods stand in rows next to the machine, ready for the first cup.
Boot Jack/Pull (Personalised)
The MUDDY BOOTS boot jack by the wellies. Video: Charlie & Josie Irons
Carved MUDDY BOOTS.
It waits by the wellies in the boot room. Heel in the notch, a quick pull, and the boots come off without anyone touching the mud.
At home
Oak House Sign Post
Carved THE OLD RECTORY.
A tall oak post by the lane, carved down its length with the name of the house. Visitors and deliveries find the way first time, and the oak settles into the hedge as the seasons turn.
Waffle Trivet Board
Josie keeps hers on the worktop beside the Aga, ready for whatever comes off the hotplate. Solid oak, carved in the shape of a waffle, so a hot kettle or pan has somewhere handsome to land.
The waffle trivet board in Josie's kitchen, from 46:48. Video: Josie Irons on YouTube
Jumbo Matchbox
Carved THE OLD RECTORY.
The same jumbo matchbox as the cottages, carved with the name of the house. It sits in the log basket by the stove, with a striker on the base and room for long matches.
Boot Jack/Pull (Standard Engraving)
Carved MUDDY BOOT / CLEAN SOCK.
Just inside the front door, where every walk ends. Charlie and Josie have given this one to friends more than once.
Charlie on the boot jack, from 38:18. Video: Josie Irons on YouTube
Oak Welly Rack
Carved THE OLD RECTORY.
Six pairs of wellies stand upside down in the kitchen, drying off the floor and out of the way. The name of the house runs along the base.
Oak Dog Gate
Carved DACHSHUND FREE ZONE.
Made to measure for the foot of their stairs, to save the sausage dogs' backs from the climb. Charlie sent us photographs of the staircase and we built the gate to fit.
Charlie shows the dog gate on the stairs, from 11:44. Video: Josie Irons on YouTube
Tool Shed Peg Rail
Carved GARDENS ARE NOT MADE BY SINGING 'OH HOW BEAUTIFUL' AND SITTING IN THE SHADE.
Made for Charlie's garden shed, with a peg for every tool and a few words from Rudyard Kipling to keep everyone honest.
Medium Swing
Carved THE COACH HOUSE.
A swing for the garden by the coach house, claimed mostly by their nephews. An oak seat on proper rope, with the name of the place carved into it.
Charlie and Josie unbox THE COACH HOUSE swing, from 34:50. Video: Josie Irons on YouTube
At Holy Reformer
Holy Reformer is their reformer Pilates studio, in the chapel they saved. They asked us for the signs.
Quote Plaque (door sign)
Carved SERVICE / in progress...
It hangs from the brass knob on the studio door whenever a class is under way.
The SERVICE door plaque, then the FEEL THE BURN matchbox, at the studio, from 8:00. Video: Josie Irons on YouTube
Jumbo Matchbox
Carved FEEL THE BURN and HOLY REFORMER.
One phrase on each side of the sliding lid. It sits in the log basket by the studio's wood burner, full of long matches for lighting the stove before the first class.
Josie lights the studio stove from the FEEL THE BURN matchbox, from 0:25. Video: Josie Irons on YouTube
The rest of the studio's signs are bespoke signage, carved for the chapel in our workshop in Kent: HOLY REFORMER in natural oak for the railings, a car park sign with a carved arrow, a long board that asks visitors, politely, to PLEASE PARK PRETTILY, and HOLY WATER, carved into a piece of Canterbury Cathedral stone.
Photographs by Sarah Frances Kelley and by Charlie & Josie Irons. Stills and video from Charlie and Josie's own films and from Josie Irons on YouTube, all shared with us by Charlie and Josie.