Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2016 i The English Home

There is a quiet pause in life as we approach and enter the new year (although hopefully there is a fabulous party too!). Many switch off completely from work, the routines of home-life, the school run, or local commitments, and are able to enjoy a brief interlude to reflect upon the important things in life. Maybe like me, you also start to dream of plans for the year to come. When the Christmas decorations come down I always find my home feels suddenly a little drab, and inevitably I start to consider a spot of redecoration. I think it is because I look at my rooms with the most critical of eyes when the festive jewels are packed away. But making a resolution to redecorate is so much more fun…

With their amazing colourful plumage, markings and shapes, birds in their natural habitat are an utter joy to observe. It is these characteristics, with their interesting textures and hues, that also provide delightful adornments for the home. Bird and feather motifs continue to be a recurrent theme in interiors collections and suit a variety of rooms, whatever their style and whatever the season.…

Spending her childhood in Africa had a profound effect on designer Katherine Hooker. It was whilst travelling as a teenager that she came across a superbly cut jacket that later inspired her business, which specialises in semi-bespoke tweed jackets, coats and waistcoats. After years in the film industry, she finally launched her business in 2001, and today, has a store in Chelsea, London. She counts the Duchess of Cambridge, Meryl Streep and Taylor Swift amongst her loyal customers. Where did you grow up and what was your childhood home like? I was born in Africa and I grew up in Cyprus, Tunisia, Nigeria and Kenya, which was the last country we lived in. My father worked for Esso oil, so every three years we moved. Because of that, we had…

Mirror glass has been around for two millennia, and its timeless magic makes it enduringly popular. Aside from the traditional over-mantel and hall-console mirrors, there are many more imaginative ways to use mirror glass to enhance a home. A mirrored feature wall fools the eye into thinking there is a room beyond, made more believable by an understated frame or surround. Using mirror glass panels is not only more cost-effective than an oversized mirror, but the stud fixings in between the panels offer a design statement of their own, with a choice of ornate designs in burnished metal, elevating them from purely functional to decorative. Mirrors specialist Dominic Schuster says, “Panelling a whole wall in antiqued mirror is very effective and popular, often behind a bed frame or to make…

Kate Forman Expanding a much-admired brand is a tightrope walk, but Kate Forman has achieved this with aplomb. The bolder, boho alter ego of her new fabrics will appeal to both lovers of her ‘heartland’ French-inspired prints, as well as enticing a whole new audience. Forman neatly describes them as ‘the downstairs companions’ to her delicate ‘upstairs’ collections. Hodsoll McKenzie We highlight this elegantly timeless collection for its beautiful colour palette and incredibly versatile blend of prints, weaves and embroideries. The carefully curated range will instil the buyer with great confidence in mixing and matching across the entire collection to create for personal schemes to suit individual homes without fear of error. Guy Goodfellow With his impeccable eye for scale and hue, Guy Goodfellow’s own-brand fabric range is created based…

Bethan Gray Welsh designer Bethan Gray’s leather and marble Private Collection celebrates a love of tactile textures and immaculate attention to detail, from elegant stitching to a delicious colour palette going from blush to jade to coral. Paolo Moschino for Nicholas Haslam This spectacular dining table typifies Paolo Moschino’s consistently reliable style and flair, with patterned bone inlay top in black and ivory colours, and solid-wood base with ebonised finish. Stuart Scott Associates The Fleure sofa’s exquisite fluting and eye-catching design commands attention. Built to order by hand in England, hand-signed and individually numbered, it has a solid beech frame with finish options in oak, walnut and brass. Scumble Goosie This dreamily curvaceous chest of drawers began as a bespoke commission, but it was so popular it has become part…

Ask any fledgling student of interiors to name a select few of the most renowned and respected designers in the world and Nicky Haslam’s name will unquestionably come to the fore. A charismatic figure with a witty, glamorous and ‘seductive’ aesthetic, his design skills and opinions have been widely sought for decades by a stellar client list (from Mick Jagger to Bryan Ferry to Charles Saatchi and Rupert Everett) and by the most authoritative interior magazines, including Veranda, Architectural Digest and The English Home. It is 44 years since the Eton-educated, Haslam first started practicing as an interior designer in 1972. In the late 1980s he founded his London-based architectural and design firm, NH Design. As his own career has grown and flourished, he has also worked with and mentored…

No one who has walked across a thickly carpeted floor, stroked the smooth arm of a leather chair or felt a tingle of pleasure when climbing into a bed made up with crisp cotton sheets would deny the importance of texture in interiors. Where colour and pattern appeal to the eye, texture satisfies the sense of touch, literally creating rooms that ‘feel’ good. Every component of every interior has a texture, but often it is overlooked in favour of the more dominant elements of colour and pattern. Playing it up by combining and contrasting materials and adding tactile accents will give decorating schemes a feeling of depth and an added layer of interest. With lots of innovative new ways of adding multiple layers of texture to one piece, whether in…

CELERIAC AND PARSNIP VELOUTÉ Serves 4 1 celeriac (about 500g), scrubbed 2 parsnips (about 350g), scrubbed 2 small onions, 1 halved and 1 finely chopped 2 garlic cloves, crushed 5 fresh thyme sprigs 100g unsalted butter 100g cooked peeled chestnuts 100ml whole milk 2 tablespoons Madeira Squeeze of lemon juice Sea salt and ground black pepper Double cream, to serve • Peel the celeriac and parsnip (reserving the peel) and finely chop the flesh. Put the peel and 100g of each vegetable into a pan with the halved onion, the garlic and half the thyme. Add 1.2 litres of water and simmer gently for 30 minutes. Strain the stock. • Heat the butter in a pan, add the finely chopped onion and fry for 10 minutes until soft. Add the…

PURSUITS Warm embrace Sit by the fireside, soothed by the meditative repetition of wool passing through hands and the rhythmic clicking of knitting needles, enjoying seeing your work grow. Whether part of the new wave or the old guard, revel in the sheer breadth of choice prompted by knitting’s renaissance. Natural fibres offer unrivalled feel and warmth. Bluefaced Leicester wool has a lovely lightweight quality, and British Gotland is known for its softness and lustre. Blacker Yarns in Cornwall (blackeryarns.co.uk) specialises in natural British yarns, and The Little Grey Sheep, based on a small family farm on the Surrey/Hampshire border (thelittlegreysheep.co.uk), produces yarn from its own sheep, which is then hand-dyed on the farm. When it comes to needles, Knit Pro (in stock at John Lewis) offers an extensive range…

Far from being stark and cold, a white scheme mixed with the gentlest neutrals can create a calming mood in which to relax. A pared-back palette will require a little more attention to detail to maintain allure – note the smart leather piping, button upholstery and the casual, yet cohesive, display of pictures on the radiator. Finally, complement with a shimmer of silvers and crystal for a touch of glamour. New England Knox Chair, £665; Maine Footstool, £265, both Furniture Village…

When guests are staying for an extended period, taking time in advance of their arrival to carefully plan and arrange interiors will ensure hosting does not feel like a tiring marathon of constant effort, but instead a pleasurable experience where it is even possible to relax oneself. The hallway is the first room your guests will see, and it will establish an inaugural mood. As guests have usually travelled some way, a warm welcome will instantly brighten their arrival. A sprinkling of seasonal decorations is uplifting to weary travellers and promises a festive time to come. Be sure to make room on the coat rack, in storage areas and cupboards for extra coats and boots to avoid an unwelcoming palaver on the doorstep. If extra storage is required, the Cotswold…

Lewis & Wood Lewis & Wood is to be much commended for introducing an innovative bespoke service from its London showroom. This allows customers to rescale some of the existing wide-width wallpaper designs (Saskia, Alhambra, Womad, Rococo, Petra, Ipek Damask and Benaki), choose bespoke background colours on Jasper Peony, Indienne Tint, Saskia, and even pay to have many of the designs on a fabric texture or metallic wallpaper. These bespoke elements allow customers to create something individual and unique. Farrow & Ball Taking inspiration from the English countryside, the Hornbeam, Feather Grass and Blostma (the old English word for blossom) wallpaper designs offer a delicate modern touch for walls in sophisticated and unexpected colour combinations – printed with paint to perfectly match Farrow & Ball’s paint range. Sanderson Ikats and…

deVOL Founded 27 years ago by two design graduates from Loughborough University, deVOL’s bespoke design-led craftsmanship caught influential eyes and propelled this small company into growth. Now producing bespoke kitchens, interiors and bathrooms designed and built in England, and expanding into the American market due to customer demand, deVOL’s recent collaboration with young craftsman Sebastian Cox is a highlight. Martin Brudnizki for Drummonds This elegantly understated range of bathroomware and accessories, designed by interior designer Martin Brudnizki in collaboration with Drummonds, is just as impeccable and luxurious as one would hope. Standout pieces include the Double Derwent Light, which features two symmetrical hand-blown reeded glass shades pinched in the middle to create a bow shape. Channelling vintage luxe, it can be mounted horizontally or vertically, and is also available with…

Morris & Co. In 1861, 27-year-old William Morris and a group of like-minded friends started a business providing beautiful hand-crafted products and furnishings for the home, taking a controversial stand against the machine age by celebrating and preserving traditional craftsmanship and techniques. Today, 155 years later, Morris & Co.is renowned worldwide for producing beautiful and unmistakable fabric and wallpaper, and is still a beacon for quality and traditional values. One of the most outstanding and influential designers of the Arts and Crafts Movement, many still hold dear to Morris’s famous adage: “Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.” Sir Terence Conran Visionary designer Sir Terence Conran founded the Conran Design Studio 60 years ago in 1956. He revolutionised the…

Where do you search for antiques? I love to explore the old markets near my house in France – L’Isle sur la Sorgue is a favourite – and also when visiting Italy or Egypt I always make for the nearest market or souk. Nearer home, I also enjoy an early Saturday morning rummage around Portobello Road, where you can still find interesting antiques at sensible prices. I am fortunate in having been at this game for so long that sole-trader dealers – ‘runners’ as they are known – come to me and offer treasures from the boot of their cars. Can you reveal your favoured resources for fabrics and wall coverings? When I first started decorating I re-used old curtains, weaves or fabrics, which I always felt had more wear,…

Children across the land keep a wistful watch on winter skies hoping for signs of an impending sprinkling of white. Woe betide the parent or grandparent who is not prepared with woolly mittens, snow boots and, of course, a sledge. Whilst a tray may echo make-do methods of past childhoods, these handsome vintage toboggans cannot help but add a special frisson to the occasion. And, if it does not snow? Well, they make a jolly attractive focal point for a country hallway, nonetheless. Vintage sledges from Europe, from £58 each, RE…

January is the perfect time to take stock of one’s life. I usually begin by making a short trip around the house to see what needs doing and then make appointments and fill in the calendar for the year. It takes a bit of time and Mr M often says I am wishing my life away planning so far ahead into the future, but I think it makes perfect sense. January is a quiet time for many trades, so one does not have to spend hours hanging on the telephone or leaving messages. Top of my list are the regular jobs one has to tackle; carpet cleaning, for example. I book in four appointments for the year, so the heavy traffic areas are cleaned once every three months. It really…

borderoak.com Tel 01568 708752 bubblegumballoons.co.uk Tel 01252 626697 charmajesty.com davidseyfried.com Tel 020 7823 3848 katharinepooley.com Tel 0207 584 3223 fionaleahy.com Tel 020 8968 4930 hayfordandrhodes.co.uk Tel 020 3130 9219 jayarcherfloraldesign.com Tel 01256 702552 markgillette.com Tel 01244 851897 nicholashaslam.com Tel 020 7730 8623 overburyinteriors.co.uk Tel 01420 590219 purpletree.co.uk Tel 07801 238820 rgandrbwilliams.co.uk Tel 01989 567233 rose-of-jericho.demon.co.uk samanthathomasdesign.com Tel 07970 663665 snapdragonparties.com Tel 020 7416 6664 spencerswaffer.co.uk Tel 01903 882132 stone-circle.com Tel 0845 293 2781 tollgard.co.uk Tel 020 7952 6070 tomstuartsmith.co.uk Tel 020 7253 2100 trefurn.co.uk Tel 01594 560560 twistedwillowfloristry.co.uk Tel 01765 602331 victoriamealedesign.com Tel 07764 466350 woodstockfires.co.uk Tel 01435 868686…

Lord Herbert, director and founder of David Seyfried Ltd, started his career working in Southend salesrooms, including Phillips and Christie’s, before setting up a small antiques shop in Fulham Road. “Whenever I bought a little stool it sold very quickly, and I thought ‘I’ll look into this’ and I got some made. I went off to a chap in the East End and he said I’d have to buy ten, and I thought ‘I’ll never sell ten’.” Despite initial trepidations, Lord Herbert proceeded to commission ten stools with a Victorian leg and caster of his own design. To his delight, the stools did indeed sell. “I covered them in kilim rugs; I was one of the first people to do that, so that got publicity and the stools took over.…

Chill winds, sharp frosts and dark, winter nights all conspire to add to the attractions of an indoor life, lending cosy knits and soft, tactile textures an added seasonal allure. So unless you absolutely have to go out, why not give in to temptation: stoke up the fire, immerse yourself in a good book or box set, turn up the heat and envelop yourself in luxurious cashmere, strokable velvets and snuggly knits.…

Be more decisive Staffan Tollgard, director, Staffan Tollgard Design Group Struggling to make decorating decisions can delay a project for weeks, sometimes months. Staffan Tollgard offers advice for narrowing selections to enable a clear vision to come to fruition. “Design today offers too many choices – as much for the designer as for the client. There is a world, both physical and virtual, of directions to go down and it takes a clear eye and a strong will to go down one path and stick to your guns when an equally attractive alternative presents itself. Finding the path is key, and we have a name for it at our Design Group: ‘the red thread’. It’s a Scandinavian way of describing the DNA of a piece of creative work: the key…

The English Home is delighted to present its second annual New Year Honours List, which celebrates the very best of innovative and collaborative design from companies both large and small. The approach of a new calendar year feels like an appropriate time to look back over the past 12 months and recognise some of the inspirational launches that have stayed with us throughout the year. We simply do not have enough pages to mention absolutely everything that has moved, excited and stimulated us over this past year, and the standard of design has made our choices very difficult indeed. The companies, designers and ranges we have chosen are so diverse and creative that a traditional gold, silver and bronze structure would have felt too limiting and restrictive, so, instead, we…

Sebastian Cox Sir Terence Conran said of this young designer and craftsman: “I have been making furniture for 60 years, but I’m still learning from Sebastian.” Aged 29, Sebastian Cox, combines a fascination with nature, a devotion to wood and innate curiosity and inventiveness with exquisite craftsmanship and a passion for making beautiful and functional objects that last a lifetime. Using often-overlooked sustainable hardwoods such as coppiced hazel, Cox’s creations are simple in form, yet with a fine attention to detail, and they vary in subtle texture, showing the hand of the maker. Cox wants his furniture to engage people with how the pieces were made, what they are made of and where those raw materials came from. Recent stylish collaborations with the likes of deVOL have brought Cox to…

CURTAIN POLES Apart from very specialist, bespoke window treatments, the majority of curtains will be hung either on tracks or on poles, which may be corded and motorised or drawn by hand. There are dozens of different options available, from slim cafe rods, designed to be hung at the halfway point of the window; gently curved poles (sometimes known as a French return), designed for the avoidance of a gap between the curtain and the wall, and drapery arms or portiere rods, designed for doors and dormer windows. Many companies also offer poles designed in sections for bay windows. CURTAIN TRACKS Tracks are particularly versatile and may be fixed either to a vertical surface (wall or baton or lath) or to a horizontal surface, such as a ceiling or the…

The tone and level of formality of any party is traditionally set by the style of invite. Therefore, it is important to consider the manner of invite carefully. For example, a phone invitation denotes a very informal get together, where one would assume there is no dress code. Written invites should ideally be sent out around six weeks beforehand. However, as people often arrange their New Year celebrations well in advance, a phone call ahead of the paper invite – to ‘save the date’ – may be advisable. Vague dress codes cause confusion, so it is best to be specific on the invitation. To ensure formal attire, specify black tie or, for the highest level of dress, white tie. As this is a New Year’s Eve party, more formal dress…

BOXING CLEVER January is absolutely the time to get one’s paperwork in order. A tidy desk really does equal a tidy mind. New files are a great incentive and I am rather loving the canvas range from The Holding Company. They come in a gorgeous neutral shade and have leather handles with a number of useful designs to choose from, including a letterbox, magazine files, a filing box and useful drawer chest, from £13. Visit the website to see the complete collection. theholdingcompany.co.uk CURTAIN CALL If one is looking for a cleaning service for curtains, rugs, tapestries, carpets or a reupholstery service, take a look at Pilgrim Payne & Co. The company is used by HM The Queen’s household, and is perfect for those stress-inducing jobs where one worries so…