Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2016 i The English Home

The word ‘home’ is second only to ‘love’ in the English language in its emotive resonance. Those four letters encapsulate so much more than the physical bricks and mortar of the property we live in, don’t they? They represent the ideal of a uniquely personal space; a place that embodies our true sense of self and a haven to gather with those we love. It seems wise, therefore, to maximise this and make our homes work as hard as they can as the private sanctuaries we all desire. For some this will mean creating tranquil, contemplative interiors, for others it offers the opportunity for self-expression with characterful, colourful decor that tells stories of the lives within the home. This issue considers both approaches. Our special guide to using natural materials…

Summerhouses offer garden havens with a holiday-at-home mood. To encourage a gentle pace of life, keep the main features in a palette of washed out blues, greys and creamy taupes and enliven with soft furnishings in nostalgic floral or country-themed prints. Adding accessories and furnishings encourages maximum use: table lamps lighten the setting as evening falls, a pretty tea set encourages a quiet tea break, and moveable seating allows one to sit outside if desired.…

Generous window treatments add a luxurious feel By his own admission, Andrew Oakwell is not an easy man to please. “I have very firm views,” he states. So finding the right location and choosing an interior designer to work with on his weekend home was never going to be a matter of browsing through the telephone directory or wandering into a local interior design studio. With his primary home in central London, being within commutable distance was key to Andrew, and although he wanted somewhere peaceful and secluded, he did not want what he would describe as “a house in a field”: somewhere without any neighbours. With characteristic persistence, he tracked down the perfect edge-of-village spot – tucked away down a quiet lane, yet within reach of the excellent village…

Pretty vintage style goes hand in hand with fresh, wild and home-grown florals: think cottage garden meets wildflower meadow. Inspired by old country gardens where fragrant flowers are in full bloom, romantic vintage botanicals are perfect for anyone who loves the vintage or retro look. Colours are soft, delicate, fresh and retro-pastel, and accessories are covered in ditzy florals and blowsy prints. As well as searching for suitable items for your home at antiques fairs, look for independent designers of furniture, textiles and artwork made from reclaimed vintage pieces. Homes decorated in the vintage botanicals style are bursting with delicate floral designs and romantic blowsy blooms, from fine silks printed with vibrant colours and prettily patterned cottons and linens to hand-painted vintage bone china. Timeworn botanical books filled with beautiful…

Flax is a prodigious multi-tasker. As well as linen, it brings us linseed oil – to bind pigments, provide a protective finish for wood and produce linoleum – and seeds for dietary omega three. Needing few fertilisers or pesticides, flax flourishes in a cool, damp climate. The best quality flax, used to produce finer linens, is grown in northern France and Belgium, both countries having around 75,000 acres under cultivation. Other countries, such as China, produce flax in greater amounts, but none can equal the length and strength of the yarn that comes from the flax grown in northern Europe. Flax builds its basket of talents into a life cycle of approximately one hundred days. Seeds sown in March turn the flax fields blue with flowers in early July. The…

SEAGRASS Seagrass is grown in the tropical coastal areas and riverside meadows of China and Vietnam. It has pale yellowish-green, strap-like oval leaves and tiny flowers, and is harvested by hand, then dried and hand-spun into cords, which are woven into flooring. Fine seagrass is harvested when the plant is much younger and provides a more intense green colour to flooring. A hardwearing form of flooring, seagrass has the additional benefit of being resistant to dust and bacteria, making it suitable for most rooms in the home, although in areas of high humidity it may develop surface mould. SISAL The Agave sisalana is native to the arid areas of Mexico but, due to its popularity, is also grown on dedicated farms in Africa and Brazil. Once harvested, the leaves, or…

SUMMER ARRANGEMENTS “Summer shows off the English garden to perfection – think blowsy roses, majestic delphiniums and fluffy peonies,” enthuses award-winning florist Jay Archer. “To create an arrangement for the home inspired by summer, it is best to pick scented flowers, such as lavender, roses, stocks and sweet peas, and also mint, all of which feature heavily in our summer schemes, and work well in dining rooms and entrance halls,” she explains. “If cutting flowers from the garden, do so first thing in the morning when they’ve had the evening dew to refresh them,” Jay says. “Remember to bleach vases in between arrangements to help keep the new flowers as fresh as possible and prevent bacteria shortening their lifespan.” For a summer dinner party, Jay likes to arrange a floral…

ROSA ‘GRAHAM THOMAS’ is very bold for a yellow rose, and its rich shade has not been bettered since this variety was introduced in 1983. With a strong, zesty fragrance, it is one of the world’s best-loved roses. ROSA ‘ROSA MUNDI’ is one of the largest old-fashioned roses, with semi-double crimson flowers striped with white. It is naturally disease-resistant and has a fragrance that stops passers-by in their tracks. ROSA ‘BALLERINA’ is a modern, reliable shrub rose that flowers from summer into autumn. It bears masses of pink, single flowers and its heads are reminiscent of hydrangea heads. With a light scent, it is loved by bees. ROSA ‘ADÉLAÏDE D’ORLÉANS’ is a rambling rose with dainty sprays of creamy white, semi-double blooms and almost evergreen foliage. Healthy and free-flowering, it…

Alexander James Interior Design Tel 01189 320828 aji.co.uk Camhall Interiors camhallinteriors.com Cowshed Interiors Tel 01789 400575 cowshedinteriors.com Design Forum Tel 01233 732466 designforum.co.uk Eichholtz Tel 01412 804533 houseology.com/brands/ eichholtz Fifi Leuchars Tel 07866 639129 Hanbel hanbel.com Homescent Tel 01825 723290 homescent.co.uk Indigo Interiors Tel 0845 026 8086 indigo-interiors.com Kate Forman Tel 01962 732244 kateforman.co.uk Overmantels Tel 020 7223 8151 overmantels.co.uk Timothy Oulton Tel 020 3040 6000 timothyoulton.com TJ Joinery Tel 01285 831423 tjjoineryltd.co.uk Wychwood Design Tel 01993 851575 wychwood-design.co.uk Zuber Tel 020 7824 8265 zuber.fr…

Embrace the summer season and transform the garden into a tranquil haven of rest and relaxation with a few well-chosen accessories and dashes of refreshing watermelon pink and uplifting sky blue. Enjoy the view with the first cup of tea of the day surrounded by birdsong, invite friends and family for a sociable lunch or watch the sun go down with a refreshing cocktail from the comfort of the chaise longue.…

This July sees the 150th anniversary of the birth of Beatrix Potter: author, artist, natural scientist, conservationist and farmer. To celebrate her enduring appeal, the National Trust is hosting events galore at her former home, Hill Top, in Cumbria. As well as her illustrated tales of animals, Beatrix also bequeathed hundreds of Herdwick sheep and 4000 acres of land in the Lake District to our nation.…

It was whilst studying for a degree in embroidery that Jane Taylor realised her true passion was millinery. She launched her business in 2008, and has since built up an impressive client list including Royals and rock stars; the Duchess of Cambridge has worn Jane’s hats on several occasions, including Prince George’s and Princess Charlotte’s christenings; Beyoncé – for whom she was commissioned to make a vintage lace and crystal-embellished mask for a tour, as well as the Countess of Wessex, Zara Tindall, Kate Winslet, Rita Ora, Paloma Faith and HRH Princess Mary of Denmark. In October 2015 Jane opened a shop on the King’s Road in London, and she has recently moved to a new home in North London with her eight-year-old blue whippet, Lupin. Can you tell me…

Throughout history, artists, illustrators and designers around the globe have looked to the natural world for inspiration. The same plant motifs recur widely in English, Indian and Chinese designs, enthusiastically disseminated between cultures by early explorers. Use of the lotus flower originated in Indian religious imagery, but has since become widely associated with Chinese design. Chinoserie, with its exotic sweeping floral and bird motifs, is a European interpretation of Chinese hand-painted murals, popularised in the eighteenth century, and very much in vogue today. Similarly, motifs such as trees heavy with fruit and paradisical flowers designed to reference the Islamic concept of paradise as a beautiful garden, were first captured in Indian chintz and also widely copied in Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. William Kilburn (1745–1818) was a key…

PAINT COLOUR A colour I often turn to is a dusty pale pink. I use historic and extravagant paint cards for inspiration, which can sometimes be matched in more keenly priced ranges, such as Albany Traditions, whose ‘Kingsclere’ is a favourite pink. FABRICS I love the Scandinavian fabrics found in Skandium. Their fluctuating collections have in the past included prints from a family-run firm, Jobs Handtryck, whose bold designs, often based on fruit and flowers, are a complete inspiration. INSPIRING PLACE TO VISIT William Morris’ country house, Kelmscott, happens to be just a few miles up the Thames from us in West Oxfordshire, and it is a constant inspiration. He is an all-time design god. WALLPAPER We have a big house project in hand and in the distant future, when…

Deliciously fragrant, romantic and rich in nostalgic overtones, roses have a classic beauty that cannot fail to enchant. Varying from delicate single flowers to clusters of silky, ruffled petals, roses come in myriad colours ranging from sultry crimson, velvety purple or rich gold to pure white and soft pastel shades. As well as being beautiful to look at, many roses also have an intoxicating perfume – whether subtly floral, spicy or even musky – so it is no wonder that roses are one of the world’s most popular garden plants. Roses are versatile plants that may be grown in borders, containers, over arches and pergolas, and as groundcover. Easy to grow, roses will often flower many times a year – modern rose hybrids have a flowering season which stretches from…

A sumptuously dressed conservatory can become a favourite room, enabling enjoyment of the garden whatever the weather. A cool palette and unfussy accessories allow the garden to take centre stage, with restful motifs featuring flora and fauna. Natural materials will blend beautifully with foliage outside, and contrasting different textures adds layers of interest while maintaining a soothing tone.…

PURSUITS Garden croquet An English lawn on a summer’s day is the perfect setting for a leisurely game of croquet (reach for the lawn roller if you take the game more seriously). The rules for ‘garden croquet’ call for two sides playing against each other, one using red and yellow balls and one using blue and black balls. Hitting balls around a lawn through six hoops in a particular order and direction is thirsty work but nothing a cool glass of Pimm’s cannot soothe. The game is said to have been invented by John Jaques II – a friend of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known by his pen name, Lewis Carroll – and introduced at the Great Exhibition in 1851. His family business Jaques of London is the oldest games…

“I love the buzz of town life and our position on such a pretty street” When the two eldest of their three children flew the nest, Kate and Jake Forman began to debate a possible move. “The farmhouse we had been living in had been the perfect place to bring up the children, but once the two eldest had gone, we began to feel we were rattling around in this large, beautiful house in the country, miles from anywhere.” Spotting a ‘For Sale’ notice outside a pretty Victorian house in a small Hampshire market town, close to her fabric company’s showroom, Kate’s heart skipped a beat. “It had such a picturesque facade and lots of lateral space – unlike the tall thin Georgian townhouse we had just seen in Winchester,…

Although we tend to think we have a clear interior aesthetic that is our very own, some of our design ingredients come from far-off shores. England’s rich history of global exploration has created a wealth of resources from which to draw inspiration – even our traditional English furniture, such as that by Chippendale, incorporates elements of French Rococo or Chinese shaping and finishes. The patterns and colours we admire in some fabrics and wallpapers often draw influence from the Orient or the Middle East – such as chinoiseries and ikats. Closer to home, the clean lines of Scandinavian design or the fun frivolity of French furniture also hold appeal. Here, we look at some of the key components from different cultures that blend with the English sensibility. Oriental echo Pretty…

ABIGAIL BORG specialises in stylized hand-drawn flora and fauna patterns, digitally printed in Lancashire. She set up her studio in 2009 at The Custard Factory in Birmingham. abigailborg.com ABIGAIL BURY enrolled on a three-year textile design course in her forties, after her children left home, and set up her business in 2015. Her hand-drawn designs have a charmingly delicate quality. abigailbury.com CHLOE GREGORY was awarded the New Designers Sanderson Award in 2015, soon after leaving college, for her magnificent designs. chloegregorytextiles.wordpress.com LAURA OLIVIA is a surface pattern designer whose contemporary take on natural motifs appeal for their vibrant use of colour and tropical style. lauraolivia.com…

Depending on the season, British raspberries ripen any time from July through to October. The fruit’s tangy yet delicate flavour is best enjoyed by eating within a day or two of picking. To avoid damaging raspberries, gently cup a handful and wash under trickling water. After sampling a few berries, present them in a glorious pudding. The recipe for former Great British Bake Off winner Edd Kimber’s raspberry and pistachio tart, seen here, can be found at berryworld.com…

• Before planting, prune back branches to about 15 centimetres in length to concentrate the plant’s energies on producing a strong root system • Plant in well-drained, neutral soil, rich in organic matter such as manure or compost, in a spot with at least four hours of sunlight daily • Never grow roses in cold draughts or waterlogged ground • To retain moisture, mulch the soil annually with manure, bark chippings or seaweed, and feed in the spring and summer months using a proprietary rose fertiliser • Treat roses at the first sign of black spot, making sure to remove diseased foliage and burn it • Train climbers up sturdy supports, ensuring unrestricted air flow around the foliage to deter mildew • Deadhead roses regularly to encourage flowers, leaving late…