A Weekend on the Suffolk Coast staying at The Dunns

Suffolk: land of my father’s birth and fictional birthplace of Harry Potter (true fact Potter fans). Inland it is dotted with lovely towns and villages featuring pastel coloured cottages with thatched roofs. But head to its easterly side and you will also find a stretches of glorious unspoilt coastline abutted by tasteful towns where you can queue up for gluten free fish and chips and wash them down with a craft ale or two like a proper DIFL.

Since discovering the charms of its coast 15 years ago we have been regular return visitors. I spent my 30th birthday eating chips on the beach in Aldeburgh, we celebrated my mum’s 60th birthday with a meal at the Crown & Castle in Orford and we returned (without my mum) for a dirty weekend in Woodbridge back in the days when that wasn’t shorthand for clearing out the garden shed.

Its charms are endless and I am always on the look out for great new self catering places to stay on this stretch of coast now that our days of holing up in hotel rooms are over. So I was delighted when Jodie got in touch to ask me if we would like to come and stay at The Dunns, a newly converted cedar clad Scandi style holiday home in the heart of Orford, one of my very favourite Suffolk spots.

The Dunns definitely has coastal kerb appeal

I love how they have brought the bungalow up to date with the use of timber cladding

Orford sits on the mouth of the river Ore and you reach it via a soul stirring drive through Rendlesham Forest. There is very definitely a sense of leaving the world behind behind you as you whizz past pine trees under huge open skies. Whilst Orford is a vision of cute cottage loveliness it also has some really cool contemporary houses as well which take full advantage of the amazing views out over Orford Ness Nature reserve.

Orford is full of pretty houses like these red brick beauties

The Dunns is one such home. It sits nestled in a great spot just yards from the castle and the quay and has been newly renovated by Jodie and her family to create a light, bright and spacious holiday home. Downstairs it has a brilliant open plan layout with a newly installed navy kitchen which leads out to a courtyard at the back and a great garden at the front.

The open plan kitchen/dining space

The super well equipped kitchen

A tap like this is on my kitchen renovation wish list

I liked how Jodie had mixed some vintage pieces into the Scandi inspired decor

There are two bedrooms at The Dunns, a double and a twin that can also be a double. The twin is on the groundfloor with an ensuite shower room whilst the double is upstairs in the dormer with its own balcony, stunning floor to ceiling windows and access to an eaves bathroom with the kind of roll top bath you will struggle to get out of.

The master bedroom upstairs with access out to a balcony

I loved the floor to ceiling windows and the views out to Orford Ness

There were so many lovely touches with plentiful interiors books to read in bed

The bathroom in the eaves. I loved the cement tiles they had used in the shower

The view from the bathroom through to the bedroom

The twin bedroom downstairs

With its own ensuite and some more show stopping tiles

Back downstairs, the living room has a lovely squishy corner sofa and woodburner for days when the sun isn’t shining so bright. There is also a sideboard stocked with board games to keep everyone amused as well as a Smart TV.

The squishiest of sofas

As you can see it wasn’t long before everyone had made themselves at home!

A cosy corner by the woodburner

The interiors have been kept simple and Scandi so were right up my street but what really sets The Dunns apart is the level of thought and detail that Jodie has put into making this a truly comfortable and cosseting hideaway. There are stacks of gorgeous interiors books that you will want to sit down with in front of the fire, back issues of Simple Things mags to stay in bed on a Sunday with, Plum & Ashby bath products, lots of board games (and most thrillingly of all for my 3 year old a set of Power Ranger figures) and then also wine, chocolate and biscuits from local producers awaiting you on arrival.

Arriving to find the new Modern Rustic was bliss

I loved this mural in the hallway

There is an honesty shop in the house offering a range of lovely locally made interiors items

So you can stock up on all your favourite Plum & Ashby products whilst you are there

Things to Eat, See and Do in Orford

If you can tear yourself away from the house Orford itself has enough on its own to keep you happily amused for a whole weekend. Mere metres from the Dunns is the legendary Pump Street Bakery. If there is a purer slice of pastry pleasure on this earth than their Rhubarb and Custard donuts I am yet to find it. If you want to enjoy breakfast in the cafe then make sure you get there are soon as it opens (if not a little before) as there are basically only 4 tables and lots of competition for them! Pump Street also now have a shop in the same square if you wanted to take some chocolate goodies home with you.

People come from miles around to get one of the Pump Street Bakery donuts

They also have a chocolate shop just across the square

Inside the small but perfectly formed cafe. Be sure to get there early if you want a table!

Donut heaven

Parking our posteriors outside Pump Street Bakery

Walking away from the main square you have the choice of going right to the castle or left to the Quay. The castle is defo not of Windsor sized proportions but our boys loved rampaging around its walls and ground playing hide and seek. If you have worked up a hunger from hide and seek you can call into the Crown & Castle (formerly owned by Ruth Watson of the Hotel Inspector) for a lovely meal or a drink by their fire. Or back on the market square you can enjoy a truly locally sourced meal at the Butley Orford Oysterage. Pinneys who own the restuarant (and a shop down on the Quay) have been growing and smoking Oysters in nearby Butley Creek since the 1950s.

Orford castle: small but perfectly formed

The Crown & Castle is definitely worth a visit for lunch or dinner

If you are not too full of seafood or sausage and mash head down to the Quay to walk it off at Orford Ness a ten mile shingle spit with marsh, lagoons and waterways. If you prefer to gentle cruise to a stomp through marshland there are daily river cruises from which you can take in all of the same scenery. Sit on the quay at sunset and you will see fishing boats coming back in as the light catches the water and seagulls swoop over head. You can warm up in the nearby Jolly Sailors, one of many excellent Adnam’s brewery pubs on this stretch of coast.

The Quay was my coastal heaven with faded black clad huts

The perfect place for a pint after a wintery walk in Orford Ness

Things to Eat, See and Do on the Suffolk Coast

If you can tear yourself away from Orford there are numerous other lovely spots to explore, almost too many to mention in one blog post! Orford is within very easy reach of all the hotspots on this coast. Head slightly inland to Snape Maltings to enjoy a wonderful combination of music concerts, galleries, cafes and shops set in amongst an expanse of reeds and water in a gorgeous old red brick building. Further up the coast from Orford the delights of Aldeburgh await with its bustling high street and two fish and chip shops so good that they have people queuing around the street for their cod and chips. Our favourite is the Aldeburgh Fish and Chip Shop . Go and eat them sitting on the expanse of pebbly beach and if you have room for dessert be sure to head to the Two Magpies Bakery . Keeping heading up the coast from Aldeburgh and you also have great beaches to chose from at Thopeness, Dunwich and Walberswick not to mention all the delights of Southwold to the south.

If you can tear yourself away from the beach the nearest town to Orford is Woodbridge, set on the river and full of lovely old buildings, shops and cafes. Our favourite is Honey & Harvey. Shops to visit include Vanil, New Street Market and Matisa Market for brilliant secondhand clothes. And it would be remiss of me not to mention the Unruly Pig on the way to Woodbridge which is the best Sunday lunch I have ever eaten. If you have time and room in your belly after that list of recommendations then head to Darsham Nurseries for a lovely lunch and spot of plant shopping. There is also a great antiques/vintage place in which to have a rummage just over the road.

The cafe at Darsham Nurseries

Writing this list of recommendations has just completely wet my appetite to book a return stay to The Dunns this Summer. Thank you so much to Jodie for hosting us for the weekend. The Dunns is available to book through Best Of Suffolk. Click here for the link and here for The Dunns Instagram.

A Weekend at Ivywood Cottage, Norfolk

Mr Malmo and I are not really country people. He grew up in Nottingham surrounded by bus fumes rather than bushes and, although I hail from Northumberland, 20 years of living in London have rendered me twitchy whenever I am more than 300 metres away from a filament bulb and a flat white. However, having three boys has given us a new found appreciation of wide open spaces where you can let lad/labradors off the leash with less people around to hear you loudly telling them to stop what they are doing and go for a poo or to take a SuperZing out of their nose. With this in mind my google holiday search have increasingly started to feature more escapes to the country than city breaks which is how I discovered Ivywood Cottage on the Norfolk/Suffolk border .

The black timber clad exterior of a rustic shed in the garden of Ivywood Cottage in Norfolk

About the Cottage

Ivywood Cottage is owned by Laura and James who live in the big house next door with their 3 year old identical twin boys and new baby. It was the discovery that they were expecting the twins that prompted them to trade in their one bedroom flat in Islington for James’ native Norfolk and a Georgian House in the country with the added bonus of Ivywood Cottage attached. Moving from such a busy part of North London to Redenhall was, Laura admits, a massive change. Instead of the emergency services hurting past at all hours of day and night and noisy neighbours stomping around, they now have the odd tractor trundling past and a cockerel crowing next door. But having grown up on a farm herself and James a country village it wasn't the huge shock it could have been.

The dreamy cottage exterior of Ivywood with a picture perfect porch. I love the whitewashed bricks and clematis growing up around the door

In the summer this would be the perfect spot to sit out with a glass of wine watching the sun set

Their adjustment to country life has, therefore, been fairly smooth bar some standard country-newbie errors (running out of oil...several times, forgetting they have a septic tank, not realising they had a soak-away pond, not realising the lush green garden was actually thick with ground elder and bind weed…. Reading this list revealed the depths of my own #urbanignorance because I initially thought Laura was referring to running out of olive oil here and thought a soak away pond might be some sort of cool Grand Designs style contemporary garden water feature rather than a tricksy pond drainage system.

Where most people see an old shed I see my dream modern rustic cabin with black cladding. I would love to add a garden studio at home a little bit like this. I loved the bunting strung from it

Downstairs at the Cottage

Ivywood Cottage has been beautifully restored so that you get the best of old and new. So there are gorgeous flagstone floors, exposed beams and quirky staircases but also the comfort of having a beautiful contemporary kitchen in soft grey with metro tiles and on trend copper taps and the very 21st Century pleasure for soft linen bedding from Loaf on all the beds.

I loved the whitewashed brick flooring in the living room laid in a herringbone pattern

The living room at the cottage was painted in neutral colours with texture and warmth added through touches such as the jute rug and woolen cushions and blankets

We visited in January so took full advantage of the cosy woodburner in the living room which comes complete with all the urban comforts you need to ease you into country life gently i.e. ready access to the latest copy of Kinfolk. I loved how Laura has carefully mixed interiors styles together in this room, introducing vintage pieces such as two 1950s midcentury armchairs covered in gorgeous mossy green and smokey grey velvet.

One of the changes that Laura and James made to the cottage was to add a woodburner

Laura has been really clever at blending contemporary and vintage in the cottage. I loved these velvet mid century armchairs she had had restored

City dwellers relax, the cottage was fully stocked with the latest issues of Kinfolk and Cereal Magazine

The nearest town to the cottage is Harleston where we stocked up on locally baked bread, bacon from Norfolk bred pigs and fresh orange juice for breakfast (and if I am honest also Weetabix, Nutella and Robinsons squash because my kids regard Granola and Fresh Orange Juice as their breakfast enemies ). The kitchen has a gorgeous farmhouse table, bench and tolix seats and I loved the industrial touches like the vintage lights over the island and the concrete worktops.

White metro tiles on the walls give the kitchen a contemporary feel that works with the medieval bones of the cottage

Concrete worktops contrasted with the shaker style kitchen units to add a shot of industrial style to the kitchen

Restored vintage brass taps in the kitchen with my dream Belfast sink

I loved the vintage industrial pendant lights hanging over the kitchen island

The dining table and chairs which comfortably seat 6-8 for large family breakfasts, lunches and dinners

Upstairs at the Cottage

Upstairs are two double bedrooms (one with an ensuite) and a large landing area with vaulted ceiling which houses a sofa bed meaning the cottage can comfortably sleep six making it ideal for a family break, a weekend away with friends or a romantic retreat with your partner where you can enjoy spaces in your togetherness i.e. escape their snoring if you need to!

The vaulted ceiling landing space which has a sofa bed. I loved the pinstripe blinds

High ceilings and gorgeous exposed oak beams in the landing area. I liked the modern twist added by the contemporary bulb lights

I loved the panelling that had been added to the second double bedroom and the smoky grey colour on the walls

The combination of linen bedding and cast iron radiators in the bedrooms make them super warm and toasty

There are a plethora of lovely country walks you can do from the cottage and a host of country pubs dotted all around. Laura’s favourite walk is a big loop from the house which just happens (!) to pass three pubs along the way. The last pub (about a 10 minute walk from the house) has a super children's play park a stones through away #parentingwin. After you have been out to take in the country air come home and warm up in the huge roll top bath. I have never been a huge shower curtain fan but the yellow and white candy striped one at Ivywood totally changed my view. I would happily have it cling to my naked body (if you are reading Ryan Gosling have similar thoughts about you).

The vintage sink and vanity area in the gorgeous rustic bathroom

Pale pink metro tiles add a contemporary twist in the bathroom and provide contrast to the timber walls and wooden floors

The yellow and white shower curtain that frames the roll top bath

Exploring the surrounding area

Whilst the cottage is perfectly positioned for enjoying the best of the countryside there are also plenty of lovely coffee and cake shops nearby should you need a #FlatWhiteFix. One of Laura’s favourite cafes, Marsh Larder, is on a local farm and when it's warm, you can sit outside with a glass of prosecco, eating homemade cake whilst the cows in the field next to you gaze on. Or, if, like me, you have a slight fear of bovine animals, why not try the Earsham Street Cafe in Bungay who serve up an awesome homemade cake. Bungay also has some great antiques and interiors shops and Laura recommends checking out Naken Interiors in Beccles who stock great brands like Ferm Living. Slightly further afield are all of the delights of the Suffolk coast. We worked our way over to Southwold one day via Darsham Nurseries which serves up delicious breakfasts and lunches in a garden nursery (think Petersham Nurseries rather than Dobbies Garden Centre).

Darsham Nurseries is a must visit place for delicious lunches and brunches close to the Suffolk Coast

I loved the vintage mirrors and industrial pendant lighting in Darsham Nurseries cafe

The reclaimed wood clad bar at Darsham Nurseries was ticking all my modern rustic boxes

There are great beach walks to enjoy at Dunwich, Covehithe, Aldeburgh, Thorpness and Southwold to name but a few and even more great pubs and bakeries to sample. No self respecting instagrammer (or donut fan) should leave Suffolk without calling in at the Pump Street Bakery in Orford. And if you are looking for the perfect place for Sunday lunch look no further than the Unruly Pig near Woodbridge.

Miniest Malmo enjoy a romp through the sand dunes at Walberswick

The sand dunes at Walberswick beach on the Suffolk Coast

We stayed at Ivywood Cottage at a discount but even at full rates it is great value for a weekend away at around £100 a night depending on the time of year. A single hotel room can easily cost that without any of the comforts, luxuries and style that Ivywood offers. We are already thinking about coming back not least because I can’t wait to see the renovations that Laura is carrying out on their neighbouring Georgian House. I am hoping I can convince her to let me come back and do a house tour when she is finished! In the meantime if you would like to book a stay at Ivywood Cottage the link is here