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NATURALLY INDIVIDUAL Relaxed, multi-layered style in a Grade II listed Sussex property.
Naturally INDIVIDUAL
Moving to Sussex has been completely in tune with interior designer Aline Mackenzie-Reid’s relaxed, multi-layered style
FEATURE & STYLING SARA BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY DAN DUCHARS
PREVIOUS PAGE The huge kitchen is a sociable space with a mix of seating including an antique bench piled with cushions and Eames DSW chairs by Vitra. Aline has given the inglenook depth and greater impact by painting the interior of it grey. ABOVE The old hallway is small and windowless so Aline has cleverly hung a collection of small antique mirrors to brighten it up. The walls are painted in Trilby Claypaint by Earthborn. T here is nowhere interior designer Aline Mackenzie-Reid would rather be to enjoy the festive season than at home. Aline, her husband Duncan, who is a reputation management consultant, and their 10-year-old son Milo, like to play host to family and friends with mid-afternoon walks on the South Downs, and fun evenings round the large kitchen table, with a little dancing later.
Home for the family is in a pretty Sussex village at the foot of the South Downs, and they moved here from London in 2014 when Duncan took up a new job in Brighton. “Our property search at the time focused mostly on Victorian houses as I like big rooms and really did not want a cottage or beams,” explains Aline, who is originally from Paris. So, this four-bedroom, Grade II listed seventeenth-century house with Victorian changes and an extension was something of a surprise. “It is part of a manor house – the part that would have housed the kitchen and servants’ quarters,” adds Aline. “I was really not expecting to get high ceilings in a house of this age and it has so many beautiful original features – the kitchen floors, leaded windows and amazing fireplaces – we knew we could do something really lovely here.”
It was a quick sale and, whilst the house seemed in good condition on first viewing, it did need rewiring, replumbing and replastering. It was poorly-insulated too and Aline thinks the services might not have been updated since the 1950s.
The family had been renting during their search and continued to do so for a further six months whilst structural work was completed on their new home. This included reconfiguring storage space on the ground floor to create a study, a utility room and a small boot room. They insulated the loft and beneath most of the floorboards on the ground floor, and replastered throughout using an eco-solution of cork coated with traditional lime plaster. “It is a good finish for listed buildings as it insulates well but is still very breathable,” explains Aline.
‘Natural’ is important to Aline and is at the heart of her design philosophy. “I like really simple interiors that reflect the simplicity of country life,” she says.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT Candlelight is an important part of the festive celebrations in this house. The striking candlesticks came from Barbed Limited in Barnes, London. The old laboratory table makes a wonderful console, and the seventeenthcentury German portraits bring a sense of grandeur to the dining area. The white dresser in the kitchen came from an antiques shop in Petworth and the pendant lights are from Hector Finch. One of a pair of nineteenth-century chairs in Abbot & Boyd fabric in front of the wood-burning stove that keeps the spacious kitchen toasty all through winter.
The tiles in the old entrance hall are original and run through to the kitchen. Aline bought the French nineteenth-century chair at an antiques fair and the cushion is by Linen Tales and came from an independent shop in Lewes. “I shop locally,” she says, “You can find lovely things in the independents in Lewes.”
“We have such busy lives, it’s important to remind ourselves of the beauty of nature on a daily basis. Bringing nature indoors is an easy way to feel good about your home,” she says, pointing to the growing trend for biophillia.
Aline’s decorating schemes include plenty of vintage pieces and antiques, and she buys for home and her online shop, The Textured Room, which is part of her business. “I choose decorative antiques and beautifully weathered pieces for their texture; they are so much more interesting than the brand new pieces that everyone has, all bought from the same shop,” she adds. “I use them to create individuality and personality, and I love how these imperfect pieces eventually find their perfect place in our homes.”
Aline works with texture in the way other decorators might use colour. “Yes, it is a toned-down approach,”
ABOVE The sitting room walls are painted in Tom’s Bakery Claypaint by Earthborn and the armchair, bought at auction in Lewes, covered in wool from Isle Mill. The rug is from Jacaranda. LEFT Aline found this white cabinet at a local antiques fair and uses it to display treasures she comes across, some of which she sells online via thetexturedroom. co.uk
ABOVE The chest of drawers is a vintage buy and the Linora curtain fabric is from Sahco. “I like to keep curtains light to let light flood in as much as possible,” says Aline.
ABOVE Aline bought an antique Italian bed for the master bedroom. The walls are painted in Cat’s Cradle by Earthborn and the lampshade was bought from a local shop called From Victoria. RIGHT The couple updated the bathroom with Retro Metro Green Park tiles, a Battersea basin and Avebury taps, all from Fired Earth. she says, “but it can still be very dynamic. I like to bring together materials such as wood, metal or brick, with the softness of fabrics like linen, wool and velvet – they are all very natural, but a long way from the homogeneous beige schemes of the 2000s,” she adds. “These materials have a depth to them and you can use them to add pops of interest.”
A favourite room is the kitchen-diner, which Aline describes as the “physical and spiritual heart of this home. The ground-floor rooms radiate from this room and it is such a big, sociable space,” she says. The kitchen cabinetry and range cooker came with the house and the couple decided to keep both, although Aline admits it took a while to get used to cooking on the Stanley range cooker. “We battled with it for the first few weeks but we have learned to love its quirks. It’s actually very nice to cook with,” she says.
One of the best buys in the kitchen-diner is the large laboratory table used as console table, above which Aline has hung antique portraits that bring some splendour to the dining area. She has quite a collection of portraits and picks them up at antiques fairs and vintage shops whenever she spots them. “I bought this set of early eighteenth-century German portraits specifically for this space,” she says. “It is a fierce-looking mother and her two interesting-looking daughters. They are peculiar and quirky and are always a talking point.”
Throughout the Christmas holidays, Aline likes to fill the house with lit candles and natural foliage. “I usually forage in the week or two beforehand to give myself plenty of time to decorate,” she says. “And we have two trees – one in the kitchen and one in the sitting room.” The family tends to spend the week between Christmas and New Year with friends and family, doing a lot of cooking, playing family games and enjoying long walks.
Future plans for the house include tanking the cellar to create a games room and gym, but Aline is happy to enjoy the house just the way it is for now. “The key to a cosy home is staying true to what works for you and not getting caught up in trends,” she says. “We love this house. After a long walk or a hard day’s work, coming home is the best part.” n
In the spare bedroom, the black iron bedstead came from Feather & Black. The chimney of the inglenook fireplace comes up through this bedroom. The walls and panelling are painted Gregory’s Den by Earthborn.
RIGHT The house is part of an old manor and sits at the end of a quiet lane, close to the foot of the South Downs. “It was originally a seventeenth-century timber-framed manor house, to which the Georgians added a brick facade. Then the Victorians added bay windows and a side extension,” explains Aline.
