photography: Celia Pearson

"I drove through every neighborhood around the University of Virginia looking for a small, affordable house," she recalls, "one that was special, with the potential for my kind of do-it-yourself charm." Miles discovered one low bungalow, tucked nearly out of sight behind a fence and overgrown bushes and wished it were on the market. She says, "A few months later a real estate agent directed me to the same house, and it was for sale!"

That one-story 1930s cottage had "everything I could ever want–old quirky windows, a graceful little fireplace, amazingly high ceilings for the house's tiny size, plaster walls to take my paint finishes, and the original ‘cottage green' sink and tub in the bathroom," she says. "Whoever ordered that tub in the '30s ordered it for me—it fits so perfectly."

Miles viewed the new house as "one more opportunity for expression." Her passion for design dates back to childhood, when she played with swatches belonging to her father (a builder) and went to furniture auctions with her mother. A budding desire to create anything fresh and unconventional led her to work with the flamboyant Cirque du Soleil when it debuted in California, and then to pioneer some old-world paint finishes and recondition flea market furniture in Charlottesville. There, she opened a store called Terracottage and, with Kelly Gentry, now runs the shop 2 French Hens.

photography: Celia Pearson “I was drawn to the kitchen’s vintage iron-frame windows,” says Miles, who added bird feeders, a bamboo pergola, and cascading akebia vines outside.

photography: Celia Pearson Miles painted diamonds on the wood floor and a "Chinese Gold" on the walls of her living room for a dramatic effect. “I knew I wanted a glowing gold for the walls, but the mustard yellow wasn’t right until I applied a terra-cotta tinted glaze,” Miles says.

She challenged herself to deliver drama in the small adjacent living room and worked up dynamic finishes for the walls and wood floor. "The floor pattern had to be bold and oversized to give the room stature, so I painted black-and-white squares on the diagonal," she says. "Chinese gold was what I was after on the walls, but starting with a mustard yellow didn't work until I glazed it pink." That warmed and deepened the brash yellow to more of a terra-cotta. This theatrical backdrop—"the stage," as she puts it—led to slip-covering a group of flea market upholstered pieces as neutral, staple fixtures. Her subsequent layering with mirrors, a mantel clock, and a painting in a round frame epitomizes her philosophy. "It's all about giving the eye lots to feast on—not clutter, but choice accents," she emphasizes.

photography: Celia Pearson French doors lead from the garden to the old screened porch that Miles transformed into an office. She bartered her faux-painting services for the slate tiles on the porch floor.

Miles' design philosophy, rather like her life, is to keep things moving. She's forever changing out, moving around, and adding to her treasures. "A new color or accessory or a great new fabric for a seasonal slipcover is all I need to get motivated and shake things up," she says. When she finished her living room the first time, she kept the furnishings sparse "to ballroom dance with a friend." Now, it's a place to mix a drink, lounge, and write a letter.

Landing in Charlottesville years ago gave her roots, she says, "but I'm never locked in."

photography: Celia Pearson “I painted everything before I slept here,” Miles says of her bedroom. “The Italian Straw yellow walls, high-gloss white ceiling, and (what I call) ‘cottage green’ floor made it easier to move in and get inspired,” she says.