FRENCH Connection
Keen to create a home bursting with colour, interest and one-off finds, Petit Panier’s Marie Dent has injected a historic barn with her flair for interiors and joie de vivre
OPPOSITE The Swedish rug, brought from the couple’s London apartment, helps to zone the drawing room. Marie sourced the Roman blinds from Maison Brocante and the pair of French antique chairs from The Textured Room. The yellow lampshade was bought at a French brocante.
THIS PAGE Marie feels that adding the full-length, linen curtains from The Secret Linen Store and the vintage Indian rug have made this charming space even cosier. The wall lights lampshades are from Matilda Goad & Co, and the antique side table was bought at a local auction.
brightly coloured accessories. A selection of table lamps from Vaughan and Pooky provide layered and flexible lighting.
Sofas from Lorfords and a striped footstool from Arlo & Jacob fit in with the largely neutral scheme, which is punctuated by
Classic good looks
Interior designer Anna Hewitson has given her 18th-century West Sussex home new life by embracing the beautiful views and imbuing it with a timeless aesthetic
FEATURE VIVIENNE AYERS PHOTOGRAPHY BOZ GAGOVSKI
STYLE INSPIRATION
The perfect elements of a country house with designer advice, creating a kitchen with character, sumptuous bedroom ideas and an expert guide on choosing garden sculptures
A COUNTRY AFFAIR
How could we resist this showcase of new floral prints by Flora Soames?
West House Trellis, £379 a metre, Flora Soames
The launch features two designs: West House Trellis, shown here in two colourways; and West House Trail, a cascade of flowers and berries. Both are inspired by 19th-century fragments and have been reimagined to work on their own and together, particularly with a maximalist country house aesthetic in mind. ‘I wanted smaller-scale prints that spoke to each other, and there is a spirit of quintessential English playfulness in these,’ Flora says.
Room by room: COUNTRY STYLE SECRETS
We have curated our dream country house, using exemplary rooms from interior designers, who reveal their key ingredients for creating the perfect country aesthetic
CARLOS GARCIA
Carlos Garcia Interiors
‘The main and most important ingredient of country house style is comfort. Whether a grand room or a small cottage, comfort is paramount. The presence of chintz is another unifier, as are antiques from different periods. This amalgamation of styles and periods in a room helps to create the “generational layering” that is so inherent to the country house style.
This drawing room (opposite) is an example of all of this. A balance between the grand architectural details and some of the more domestic elements of the decoration. A room not to feel intimidated by, but approachable. A home.
Comfortable sofas covered in practical loose covers in chintz mix effortlessly with the damask on the more formal Gainsborough chairs, creating that balance between elegance and comfort. A mix of different patterns in a seemingly casual approach. There’s always a table nearby to rest your drink or a book and the addition of an ottoman relaxes the atmosphere.
Lighting is distributed evenly to create a soft mood for every occasion, whether with table lamps with gathered or pleated fabric shades (again, a mix of formality and informality), candles on girandoles reflected on mirrors, or picture lights.
Fabric-covered walls soften the large space, making it cosy; a grand room equally at ease to converse or to entertain in comfort. As does the antique tapestry on the wall, adding a decorative touch and deepening that sense of history to the space, but helping to soften the acoustics.’
ABOVE Living the dream in an idyllic country house. Over the coming pages we have curated the interiors that epitomise country house style.
NATURE In tune with
Embrace seasonal living and enjoy the harvests and sights of August
FEATURE KATY MCLEAN
NATURAL SPECTACLE
Carpeting moorlands in a haze of purple, heather is in full bloom in the last few weeks of summer. This vibrant sight brings with it the buzz of bees, who particularly adore violet-hued blooms, transforming the nectar into delicious honey. Curlews and red grouse, too, can be spotted among the shrubs. The northern moors of Yorkshire, Cumbria and Northumberland are some of the best to visit to take in this glorious display of colour. Meanwhile, in the lowland heaths of southern England, contrasting golden flashes of gorse also peak in August, making for a dazzling spectacle across the countryside.
Green pea flatbreads
(Recipe on page 114)