Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2025 i Country Homes & Interiors

I’M IN LOVE WITH THE SHEPHERD’S HUT ON OUR FRONT COVER. Sadly, I don’t think craning a lookalike into my flint-walled courtyard garden is an option, but there are lots of other ideas in this issue to help me reinvent my outdoor space – and I hope they inspire you, too. Think a greenhouse is just for green-fingered growers? We’ve lots of other ways to use them (page 90). There are expert tips on installing a conservatory (page 106) and choosing patio doors (page 108). We’re bringing romance back to our gardens with roses (page 146) and wisteria (page 153). And if you need to sit down to take all that in, we’ve even picked our favourite garden armchairs (page 158). My favourite ice cream flavour is raspberry ripple, so…

A chic co-ord is this summer’s wardrobe staple and we’re buying ours from Cornwall-based boutique Pink Lemons. Inspired by a love of India, this slow fashion brand’s small-batch collections (it generally drops only two a year) feature pretty patterns block-printed by hand onto organic cotton fabrics using natural dyes. We love the mother-of-pearl buttons and ruffle detailing on the Lowen blouse (above), £55, paired with matching trousers, £65, and the Lolita blouse (left), £65, pinklemons.boutique TIME WELL SPENT… CREATE the perfect picnic at The Big Kitchen, Parham House, West Sussex. This friendly workshop is hosted by food writers Valentina Harris and Miranda Gore Browne on 10 July, £120 per person including coffee, cake and lunch, tickettailor.com/events/mirandaandvalentina cookeryworkshops TRANSFORM everyday essentials – from beauty pouches and tote bags to aprons and…

MOVEABLE FEAST The freedom to mix and match furniture is a great way to add interest. ‘A freestanding island adds flexibility and style,’ says Fred Horlock, design director of Neptune. ‘An island design built on legs offers an adaptable layout, perfect for smaller kitchens or evolving designs – you can even take it with you if you move.’ An island can be used for multiple purposes, including a practical prep area, additional storage, casual socialising, or a serving station for buffet-style meals. A freestanding island like this can be moved around to suit what the day holds, whether it’s to make room for a large sociable gathering, a boisterous children’s game or even 20 minutes of kitchen yoga. ADDING WARMTH In this striking design by Pringle & Pringle, bold colour…

Shepherd’s delight If you dream of having a shepherd’s hut in your garden, there are alternatives to expensive, bespoke designs. Search out kit versions (this one is from tuin.co.uk) and customise it to suit your needs, whether that’s electricity and plumbing, or simply a stove and a cosy armchair. To elevate the finish, set it within its own miniature plot, complete with blooming borders and flower-filled pots.…

1 Use a pencil and ruler to measure and mark out a 15x16.5cm outline on a piece of MDF for the planter base. 2 Carefully cut out the MDF base using a jigsaw. Sand the edges with sandpaper so they are flat and smooth. 3 Run clear grab adhesive along the base of the first tile and stick it to the 15cm edge of the MDF. The tile should protrude slightly on either side. 4 Next, run a line of adhesive along the base of the second tile on the wrong side and up the left back edge of the first tile. Push these together so the edge of the second tile butts up to the back surface of the first tile. Make sure the tiles are straight at a…

I am currently mid pas de basque, pronounced pah-d’-bah around here, in a circle of eight, surrounded by close friends, some fond acquaintances and a few faces I’m sure I know but can’t quite place. I’m waiting for my turn to lock arms and spin in place with my husband. We’re deep into the second round of an Eightsome reel, and my heart is threatening to leap straight out of my chest. It’s at this exact moment, during every ceilidh I have ever attended, that I silently vow to take up running, or some other form of cardiovascular exercise, again. The slightly springy dance floor is alive with movement. Cheeks are flushed, hair that was styled to perfection mere hours ago is now delightfully askew, and I’m grinning so widely…

SAVE UP TO £25 Ensure a warm Mediterranean glow in your outside space and transform your patio, garden or balcony this summer with these stunning, fragrant potted oleander bushes. It’s not hard to see why oleanders are one of the UK’s favourite exotics – they’re so easy to grow and actually thrive on neglect. The boldly coloured, sweetly perfumed blooms stand out wonderfully against rich, green foliage. Oleanders love hot, dry weather, yet they are also happy in conditions down to minus 5C. Low-maintenance and compact, these evergreen plants become smothered in blooms from May to September, creating impact all summer long. 1 x 15cm pot, £19.99 (RRP £24.99). SAVE £5. Item code 680027 2 x 15cm pots, £24.98 (RRP £49.98) SAVE £25. Item code 680031 HELIX SILVER PLANTER The…

Founded in 1981 by husband-and-wife team, Robert (an architectural historian) and Georgina (an interior designer), Hamilton Weston reproduces historic designs from a rich archive of wallpaper fragments, collected from properties dating back to the 1690s. A visit to Jane Austen’s family cottage in Chawton, Hampshire, led the team to develop a collection of hand-block-printed designs, coinciding with the 250th anniversary of the author’s birth this year. Tell us a little bit about the collection. When investigating the walls at the Jane Austen House museum – where Jane lived with her mother and sister from 1809-1817 – we found a tiny fragment of colourful wallpaper, peeping through the paintwork in the dining room. This was a rare and exciting discovery, given that wallpaper in the 19th century was heavily taxed and…

The interiors forecast is bright! Say hello to yellow, the summer’s hottest colour, to channel the joys of sunny days and boost your mood. Bright hues team best with shades of blue, green and grey, or use them as accents to make a subtle scheme pop. We love them in pattern hits across fabrics and wallpaper, too.…

Q Is it true that producing quartz worktops can be risky? A Engineered quartz has been popular for its wide variety of styles, durability and ease of maintenance. But the hunt is on for an alternative. While there is no suggestion that a quartz worktop in the home presents a health hazard, there are concerns that its fabricators may be exposed to silica dust during manufacture, which could lead to the incurable respiratory disease silicosis. Producers are introducing low- or no-silica versions of quartz that reduce the risk. You can also go quartz-free with porcelains and ultra-compact surfaces, which are digitally printed to look like natural stone, are super-hard and resistant to high temperatures, stains and scratches. With marble and granite yougetthe uniquebeauty of natural stone – no two slabs will…

Replacing walls with glazing, even partially, increases the light coming in, improves your wellbeing and extends your living space without extending the property. It’s time to open up about the benefits of patio doors. Q What different styles of patio doors can I choose from? A French doors operate like traditional double doors, working singly or together to open the space to the garden. Consider a design with parliament hinges, which will fold back flush to the house. Bi-fold doors concertina open to provide a wide opening. However, this opening style requires a greater clearance inside and outside. Sliding doors have a wide expanse of glass that gives uninterrupted views of the garden, and open by running along a track. When seeking inspiration, contact local showrooms to see what designs…

‘ If you have a street with a bookshop, you’ve got a street with soul,’ says Lindsay Galvin, former teacher and now a full-time writer of novels for older children and adults. In country towns and villages, a bookshop is more than just a store. It’s a meeting place, a community hub, and a lovely place to hang out. You can’t help but strike up a conversation in one. You may walk in with a vague memory of a book with a red cover, by a woman, with a long title, and the seller will find it for you. There’s a healthy number of 1,072 independent bookstores in the UK, plus numerous book festivals and pop-up events, fuelled by a revival of interest in physical books. People of all ages…

Chilled tomato soup with pistou SERVES 4 This chilled soup is similar to gazpacho, served with pistou sauce, a French version of Italian pesto. 500g juicy ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped1 onion, roughly chopped1 garlic clove, crushed3tbsp drained and rinsed capers4 baby gherkins, drained, rinsed and chopped50g dried breadcrumbs2tsp caster sugar300ml cold vegetable stock50ml extra virgin olive oil1-2tsp sherry vinegar (optional) FOR THE PISTOU 30g bunch basil1 garlic clove, roughly chopped25g pine nuts, toasted lightly5tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1 Put the tomatoes, pepper, onion, garlic, capers and gherkins in a food processor and blend until smooth. Add the breadcrumbs and sugar, pulse briefly and then blend in the stock and oil to form a smooth soup. 2 Season to taste, adding a little sherry vinegar,…

Wisteria in full flower is a wonderful sight, dripping tiny flowers that fill the air with a sweet, musky perfume. The flowering season lasts from spring to early summer, with white, rosy-pink, mauve, violet-blue or purple flowers. According to the cultivar, the blooms vary in length from 20cm to 120cm long, with bean-like seed pods often following the flowers. The four most commonly cultivated species are Wisteria floribunda (Japanese wisteria), Wisteria brachybotrys (silky wisteria), Wisteria sinensis (Chinese wisteria) and Wisteria x formosa (beautiful wisteria), a cross between floribunda and sinensis. All wisterias are very vigorous, capable of reaching a height of at least nine metres – train them up walls or fences, over arches, across pergolas or up a mature tree. Buy a wisteria when it is in bloom and…

The exterior of Annie and Tom Heather’s cottage could have come from the pages of a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale. Silvery grey cladding, sweet dormer windows and an oak-framed porch come together to create an enchanting appearance. The couple had been happily living in Hertfordshire when they decided to move nearer to Tom’s family in Kent. ‘We were both commuting to London but then the pandemic hit and things became a bit more flexible with working from home,’ says Annie. Their Victorian terraced house sold within 24 hours, before the particulars even went online. ‘We put in an offer on a period property but the survey came back with too many issues, so we pulled out,’ says Annie. Fortuitously, the perfect cottage, near Tenterden, came on the market around…

The season of high days and holidays draws our hearts and eyes towards the colours of the coast. With longer daylight hours, sunrise and fall joyfully linger, casting magical mauve shades over cloud-scudding skies and in watery reflections. A calming and soulful exchange between day and night, the seascape touches on restful tones of misty blue and whisper pink, making this the most relaxing of palettes. Evoke the soothing quality of the waterline, plus beachy textures, to create an authentic look in a country home. Use a base of milky white and neutrals on floors and walls. Chalky tints and natural fibres underfoot will add warmth to the pale and cooling pastels. Dapple in dreamy smoked hues such as violet, blush and duck egg to emulate the twilight tones. A…

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Flora Roberts is deep in concentration at her studio in rural Dorset. ‘Excuse me for being quiet for a few minutes,’ she says. ‘I must finish painting this flower head before it starts to droop.’ The subject of Flora’s quiet, intense focus is a postbox-red tulip, which is taped onto the outsized canvas she is working on. She paints the last petal, deftly capturing the subtle tones cast by the soft, warm morning light flooding through a huge north-facing window in her converted coach house studio. A thin scarlet thread props up the tulip’s recalcitrant head. The fact that Flora paints her floral wallpapers and artwork from life lends her working process an urgency. ‘Flowers change from minute to minute, so I have to work intuitively,’ she explains. ‘There’s no…

English sparkling wines are starting to command the attention they deserve, with the message that these homegrown vintages are to be taken just as seriously as Champagne. While opening a bottle is one way of experiencing the excitement, even better is a tour of the vineyards and producers that are putting our wine country on the map. Sussex is an ideal destination. Two years ago, East and West Sussex combined became the first area in England to gain appellation status as a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). It accounts for more than a quarter of England’s vineyards and is home to wineries large and small, new and long-established. Many are located in or close to the South Downs National Park and the south coast is nearby. It’s possible to visit for…

Water and gardens have a special bond. From the formal traditions of geometric pools and waterways in Arabic courtyards and grand rococo fountain displays in European palaces and stately homes, to the humble backyard pond, water has long been used to bring beauty and serenity to outdoor spaces. It offers fascination and distraction as light plays on the surface, unique soundscapes of rain or falling water, and the joy of seeing wildlife discovering it, while also cooling and nourishing the garden. It’s also an essential resource. If we’re planning for future resilience, we need to look at plants that can cope with extremes of too little or too much water. When we do get rain, it’s vital to capture the runoff for our plants. The added benefit of harnessing this…