Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2022 i Country Homes & Interiors

Spoiler alert… We have a new look coming, and I think you’re going to love it! I’ve given you a sneak peek at our box-fresh logo and front cover below, but you’ll see lots more exciting features, inspiring design and decorating ideas, plus expert tips and insight, inside the October issue. It’s on sale on 1 September, so pick up a copy and don’t miss out. But before we race ahead, we’ve made sure that this month’s magazine is an absolute standout for you. From the roof above your head to the floor beneath your feet, every part of your home is covered – check out Up On The Roof (page 110) and Do Look Down (page 96) for stylish roof and floor tile knowhow. If you’re planning a room…

Instagram has been a pivotal tool for Speronella Marsh in raising awareness of her Hare’s Tail brand and directing potential customers to her website. ‘All the interior designers that use me found me through Instagram or by word of mouth and my business is still very much Instagram based,’ she reveals. At first she posted daily but as her account became more established she reduced this to two posts a week. She invests an hour each evening engaging with customers and creates all her own content to retain that authentic voice. ‘It helps me gauge what designs people like or if I’m barking up the wrong tree,’ she says. ‘I get lots of feedback on Instagram Reels in particular as people love seeing the process.’ FIND YOUR POSTING SWEET SPOT…

FLEXI TIME Part climbing frame, part den, all fun, this palette-inspired bed also has versatility built in. ‘This bed has a toddler mattress at the moment but is designed with room to grow. It also swivels for a change in direction! The casters have a locking mechanism that keep it from rolling when it is in one spot,’ says Ginger Curtis of Urbanology Designs. ON THE CEILING Bring an innate sense of security to a child’s room with a darker colour on the ceiling. ‘I love the thoughtful use of this bright-pink shade; a reminder always to look up,’ says Malka Helft of Think Chic Interiors. ‘The use of pink here – in the window treatments, the play tent and the artwork – also ties the scheme together.’ CABIN CREW…

“LOOK AROUND A ROOM – IT IS OFTEN THE SOFT FURNISHINGS THAT WILL DEFINE THE AESTHETIC” The fabric you use for upholstery can often be seen as a ‘finishing touch’, something to be considered only once the rest of your design is in place. But at her eponymous interior design company, Emma Sims Hilditch says the opposite is true. ‘We consider fabric to be an integral factor in the initial design process,’ Emma says. ‘Look around a room – it is often the soft furnishings that will define the aesthetic.’ From window dressings to sofa covers, these are the key considerations to have in mind when choosing upholstery fabrics. Plus, Emma shares the secrets of her favourite suppliers, too… COMBINE STYLE WITH PRACTICALITY ‘One of our most frequently asked questions…

While they might not seem as glamorous as living room wall colours, bedroom furniture or kitchen cabinetry, roof tiles are one of the most important elements of your home. Offering protection from the weather and providing insulation, they also help your house to have a ‘cared for’ appearance. While no one will notice your roof tiles in their own right, they play a huge part in the appearance of your home. ‘Choosing the right roofing tiles comes down to a number of things such as the pitch of the roof, roof design, planning constraints, location of the property and budget,’ says Mark Purvis, director at Burton Roofing. CHOOSING THE RIGHT TILES The price of roof tiles is variable, although they are much more affordable than thatch. According to experts at…

FIGS With their glossy fan-shaped leaves, scented foliage and sweet, fleshy fruit, fig trees bring a touch of the exotic. These Mediterranean plants enjoy hot weather and well-drained rocky soil – but you can replicate these conditions in any plot with a little care. Plant them in the ground or a pot, ideally in a sunny spot close to a wall where they can sunbathe during the day and enjoy the warmth radiating from the brickwork after dark. In winter, they’ll need to be protected with a fleece overcoat or brought inside to stay cosy. PICKINGS Tear figs in half and top with Greek yogurt, a drizzle of honey and toasted walnuts for a delicious breakfast. Quarter figs and add to rocket, Parma ham and mozzarella salad with dressing. Bake…

With an array of colours and forms almost unmatched in the flowering world – from subtle pastel hues to bold vibrant tones, and from dainty Lilliputian flowers to multi-petalled pompons and dinner-plate-sized blooms, dahlias fill the late summer garden with a mesmerising display. ‘Dahlias are getting bigger and blowsier year on year, with soft and romantic colours,’ says plantswoman Sarah Raven. They create an impressive scene planted en masse, or happily mingle among a mixed border, jostling for attention. ‘If you are looking to attract bees and butterflies to your garden, we advise planting one of the many types of single flowered dahlias,’ says Julie Aylett of Aylett Nurseries. ‘Open-centred dahlias are becoming very popular due to the easy accessibility of their pollen for bees and other insects,’ adds June…

Our picks for you…

AT HOME WITH Owners Animal physiotherapist Frankie Bickerdike, her husband, Jack, who works in the family engineering business, and three dogs, Bonny, a bulldog, Bear, a boxer, and Bodhi, a cocker spaniel. House A 19th-century detached property with five bedrooms and three bathrooms located in a village outside York. Living busy lives in a house they’d self-built from scratch on the outskirts of Leeds, Frankie Bickerdike and husband Jack began yearning for more space for themselves and their dogs. ‘We were working hard all day and then coming home to an urban environment, which was nice enough, but we started to think we wanted a different pace of life,’ says Frankie. The couple love hosting friends and family, so as an investment, they bought a holiday cottage to rent out…

Those working in fashion may be familiar with the term ‘deadstock’. It’s a rather ugly phrase for materials with phoenixlike potential for resurrection and reinvention. Deadstock is essentially industry leftovers – surplus materials or stock that would otherwise end up in landfill or incinerated. Fashion houses and high-street brands, mindful of their sustainability footprint, are finding innovative ways to make use of deadstock materials. But the interiors industry has some catching up to do. According to European Federation of Furniture Manufacturers (UEA) statistics, 80 to 90% of EU furniture waste is incinerated or sent to landfill, with only 10% recycled. Having worked as an interiors journalist for over 15 years, I’ve become concerned about how the products I buy for my home are made, and what happens to the waste…

After buying a converted barn in the Nottinghamshire countryside, the new owners found themselves facing a conundrum. ‘The house dates back to the early 1800s, and the kitchen was dark, cramped and too small for a six-bedroom family home,’ says Rachel Stanley, senior designer at bespoke kitchen specialist Krantz Designs. ‘At the same time, the living room was vast – and largely empty. It also had a rather strange and narrow minstrels’ gallery, complete with chunky wooden staircase, which had been built at one end in the 1980s and was really a waste of space.’ In an effort to make the layout more suited to family life with two young children – as well as to their love of socialising and entertaining – the couple decided to remove the minstrels’…

This time of the year is most definitely my favourite. The old apple trees that were here when we arrived at Broadspear are weighed down with juicy fruit. And the orchard that we planted in December 2019, which has 29 varieties of apple, pear, quince, mulberry, cherry, medlar, apricot, damson and plum, is fruiting for the first time, thanks to our bees! Every September we gather all the apples from our trees – a mix of cooking and eating apples – and bring them to our local juice press, My Apple Juice at the Cider Barn, just outside Hungerford. It is so thrilling to arrive and see our lovely apples being pressed into juice, which is then bottled to last us throughout the winter. I do hold back a few…

BLACKBERRY AND APPLE CURD PIE SERVES 8-10, GLUTEN FREE This is no ordinary blackberry and apple pie. Made with a rich fruit curd and almond pastry, it has all the classic nostalgia of apples and blackberries but replaces cooked fruit with a lovely, thick, mousse-like centre. Decorate with blackberries and savour every mouthful. 165g ground almonds30g butter, melted1tbsp brown sugar1 free-range egg, beaten500g blackberry and apple curd (see page 128)120g blackberries, to decorate (optional) 1 Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4 and grease a 20cm cake tin. In a medium bowl, combine the ground almonds, melted butter, sugar and beaten egg and make into a ball. Using your fingers or the back of a metal spoon, press the mixture into the tin, aiming to get an even thickness, especially in the…

 With a spectacular location on the shores of England’s second largest lake, Another Place has achieved its goal of bringing the mesmerising, ever-changing views of Ullswater and surrounding fells inside, while creating a stylish, laid-back retreat in the heart of the Lake District. The Georgian property was bought and updated by the owner’s of Cornwall’s Watergate Bay Hotel, who were bowled over by the stop-and-stare vistas and 18 acres of natural, unspoilt parkland, leading to the water’s edge. The 40-bedroom hotel reopened in 2017, with a new contemporary wing with open-plan interiors, a bar and two restaurants, a tranquil library and Swim Club with treatment rooms, plus an indoor swimming pool, flanked by two walls of glass, boasting breathtaking views. Recently, one of Another Place’s two-bedroom suites – Willow Cottage…

There is something magical about the final throes of the British summertime; those mellow, shorter ‘betwixt and between’ days poised between the end of one season and the start of another. They start off crisp and dewy, expand into warm golden sunlight, and end with deep russet sunsets that slowly wind down with sharp bites of crispness in the air. With age and experience comes an appreciation of the many contrasting delights bestowed upon us by the seasonal calendar. As children we are as awestruck by the ‘touch’ of sunshine on our skin, as we are with the flurries of snow drifting quietly onto our upturned faces. These days, I believe the ‘secret’ to evolving with the seasons comes from intentionally recapturing that sense of awe and adapting willingly to…

AT HOME WITH Owners Laura and Patrick Butler-Madden, property renovators and designers, live here with daughter Lily, four, and two Maltese terriers, Coco and Lola. House A red-brick Victorian cottage with two bedrooms when they bought it in February 2019. They have added a third bedroom with a shower room and extended the kitchen. The Butler-Maddens caught their first glimpse of Carpenter’s Cottage by torchlight, huddled over a tiny screen in a rustic farmhouse in Menorca. It was February and the couple, with baby Lily, were on a no-frills business trip. ‘We sort of design and renovate properties,’ they explain modestly, although they are experts at what they do. ‘It wasn’t part of our plan but something kept drawing us back to this small, dated cottage.’ On returning to the…

Business success relies on meeting a need – and for Speronella Marsh, that need was affordable curtains for her home! Realising the best way to get what she wanted was to make them herself led to her discovery of hand-block printing. That, in turn, prompted a life shift, as she launched her artisanal printing studio to bring her designs to others. Today, Hare’s Tail Printing draws on her Italian heritage, her passion for vintage linens, and her love of English gardens and rural life, and is admired equally by interior designers and private clients. From her workshop in rural Shropshire, Speronella prints nature-inspired patterns onto vintage sheets, which are then used for bespoke curtaining, upholstery and tablecloths. Her joy in English gardens shows in the motifs, and her love of…

THE LIBRARY LOOK As well as providing ample storage, dedicating an entire wall to a bookcase makes a wonderful feature. ‘A big advantage of having a bookcase specially made is that the size of the shelves can suit the collection,’ says Simon Tcherniak, senior designer at Neville Johnson. Try arranging books in order of size (left) to make the display easier on the eye. COLOUR POP When using books for styling, select colours that work with your décor – tones that sit opposite each other on the colour wheel work particularly well, as in this project (right) by Sims Hilditch. ‘We used books with a terracotta spine, which sit in nice contrast with the smoky-blue paint of the joinery,’ says design director Louise Wicksteed. PAGE TURNER Large collections of books…

ORNATE SIMPLICITY Filigree patterns take on a modern look in striking black and white, bringing a beautiful dimension of pattern and personality to a calming, neutral scheme. Inspired by classic encaustic tiles, this intricate design celebrates traditional tile patterns and craftsmanship techniques of the past. 1 MAKE A STATEMENT WITH STRIPES There are two ways to create a striped design – either by choosing a striped tile, or by laying plain tiles in contrasting colours in horizontal or vertical bands. Striped tiles can also create an optical effect, so whether you choose a narrow stripe or a wider stripe, they give the illusion of a much larger space, tricking the eye to add length or width depending upon how they are laid within a room. 2 TERRAZZO TREND A great…

1 WET ZONE To create a smart clearing-up zone that functions well for the owners’ busy family life and love of hosting parties, the island houses a large double bowl sink and two dishwashers, built in on either side. Two pull-out waste bins, one at each end of the island, are also included. The neat single spout dispenses hot and cold water, as well as boiling, chilled filtered and sparkling water. Its tanks are concealed below the sink behind a specially designed shallow-depth drawer for storing cleaning products and soaps. 2 COOKING STATION Sleek integrated appliances include a touch-control Miele oven, combi steam oven, microwave, warming drawer and induction hob, offering multiple functions that suit the owners’ love of cooking. A furniture mantel conceals the extractor and brings a traditional look…

The first bite of a new season apple is one to savour. But whether you’ve plucked the fruits from your own trees or filled trugs at a pick-your-own farm, there are ways to enjoy them for longer, rather than relying on flown-in or forced-grown apples during the colder months. ‘How long an apple will store depends on the variety and the conditions it’s kept in,’ say experts at Brogdale Collections, home of the National Fruit Collection. ‘Apples need to be picked when they are ripe or nearly ripe. Only store fruit that has been plucked off a tree rather than fallen on the ground, as windfalls will have some bruising and blemishes,’ says Tom Adams of Tom the Apple Man fruit tree nursery. ‘Those that aren’t stored can be lightly…

IN BLOOM Calendula A brilliant companion plant in the veg patch, calendula (shown) attracts pollinators and distracts slugs – and is even said to deter pigeons. The edible flowers bloom until the end of September, or can be sown this month to flower from next May to July. Phlox paniculata This bright-pink flower is an antidote to autumn’s usual golden hues. Sprays of pretty flowers bloom through September and into October, and they thrive in acidic soil in full sun to part shade. Damsons Ready to eat now, this relative of the plum develops the best flavour when left to ripen on the tree, so don’t pick until they feel soft when given a gentle squeeze. De-stone and make into jam. PLANT CARE AND PRUNING Nights turning cooler and days…

My ideal day in the country would probably be in a field somewhere, with a pub nearby. The South Downs are great for that combo, which is good as I can walk there from where I live in Littlehampton, West Sussex, with my aunt and uncle, two cousins, and my cat, called Luna. Technically Luna isn’t mine, but she loves me the most for sure. I’d like a stack of Scotch pancakes for breakfast with bacon and maple syrup. I’d be sipping on black decaf Earl Grey and a Diet Coke, ideally sitting outside. I would be browsing recipes and flicking through food magazines for baking inspiration. I feel very lucky to be able to say that most mornings are quite relaxed like this – but I don’t bother with the…