Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2017 i The English Home

Colour and pattern are vital ingredients for the quintessentially English interior. I have long retained the sage advice from interior designer Joanna Wood that we only have to look to nature and the floral borders for colour-palette inspiration. Janie Money, the charming associate director at Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler, similarly revealed that she also believes English interior style is innately connected to the bounty of an English garden. Such words of wisdom are particularly apt in relation to our feature on Floral Exuberance (page 74). Interior designers are a fount of knowledge: they decorate more rooms in a year than most homeowners will tackle in a lifetime, and at The English Home we are grateful for the generosity of many of Britain’s leading designers in sharing their insights. In…

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A smart, subtle, contemporary linen uplifts what could be a heavy look on this classically dressed four-poster bed. Luxurious lined drapes, with a full, traditional canopy and pelmet are invitingly indulgent, yet the overall vibe is surprisingly light and fresh owing to the fabric and colour choices which set a chic modern tone. Valance and curtains, Wicker Linen, £96 a metre; bed cover, Plain Linen Club Yellow, £96 a metre; cushions, Chiltern Linen, from £76 each, all Fermoie…

NINA CAMPBELL, INTERIOR DESIGNER “As this room [left] was panelled and we had limitations – for example, I wasn’t able to paint the room – I put a large-scale damask fabric within the panels in order to give it a sense of grandeur. It is a very grand room, so it needed filling up. But I also wanted to make the room incredibly comfortable, so I used a wonderful green-grey Nina Campbell velvet on the chaise longue. To make the room slightly playful I used a Nina Campbell pattern called Penglai, which is a little oriental, to suit the mood of the room, and includes greens and wonderful green-grey colours. This print also provided the opportunity to bring in corals to make the scheme fresher. I think pattern is wonderful,…

Art is good for the soul. As well as adding colour and richness to our lives, there is a growing body of evidence that living with art has a positive impact on both physical and psychological well-being. As our lives get busier and more fragmented, a beautiful piece of art in the sitting room or bedroom can soothe and ground us – or alternatively, make us feel energised and uplifted. Most importantly, art can be something uniquely personal; a reminder that home is a special sanctuary and somewhere we can be completely ourselves. Hospitals have long recognised the importance of uplifting paintings to make their public spaces less impersonal and create a calm, welcoming ambience, and many interior designers are incorporating artworks into their design schemes, too, as well as…

Taking inspiration from author and floral stylist Willow Crossley’s way with interiors during a visit to her home (page 70) and to the chic pub with rooms – The Bull Inn at Charlbury – that she and her husband, Charlie, run. Dreaming of summer garden parties and preparing delicious food for them from recipes by Great British Bake Off semi-finalist Flora Shedden (page 122). Wondering at the incredibly good value of some antiques in the course of researching our feature on page 100. It is possible to find antique chests of drawers, for example, for less than the price of new ones on the high street – and such a wonderful way to reuse, reduce and recycle, as well as add instant character to any interior.…

PURSUITS Making the garden a haven for bees Welcoming bees into the garden is not just about wildlife conservation; bees pollinate 70 of the 100 crop species that feed 90 per cent of the world. The loss of flower meadows, climate change and the increasing use of pesticides are all creating dire consequences for bees – and a world without bees could struggle to sustain the global human population. The good news is that everyone can help. The Royal Horticultural Society and wildlife trusts have joined forces to urge us all to do more by growing plants rich in nectar and pollen, such as foxglove, borage and honeysuckle; providing nesting sites; letting some of the lawn grow tall and daisies and dandelions to flower between mowing; and avoiding pesticides. For…

SWEET PEAS Ready to harvest from mid-June through to mid-August, the tender sweetness of the fresh pea season is fleeting. Of course the bounty can be preserved by freezing to enjoy in other months, but freshly podded peas served simply with a minted butter on a hot summer’s day are a delicacy to savour. Pods should be crisp, smooth and a vibrant bright green; any that are wrinkled or discoloured should be discarded. The theraputic process of shelling is one best enjoyed in the sunshine, rewarding oneself with tasters of the sweet little peas along the way. Wooden serving board, small, £15, National Trust…

ROMANTIC ELEGANCE Stepping out into a beautiful garden on a cool summer’s morning, surrounded by tumbling roses, timeworn stone walls and delicate wirework detailing sounds like a blissful dream, but with considered thought and planning, the plainest of gardens can be revived with a touch of elegance. Just as inside the home walls and floors set the stage, in the garden weathered stone or brick walls will bring character and a timeless feel to the outdoor space. Classic trelliswork, wrought-iron panels or concave palisade fencing are attractive alternatives that can be introduced, too. It is hard to beat the audible and tactile quality of gravel underfoot, and it lends itself perfectly to creating meandering paths that flow through the garden. The pale tones of sandstone, limestone, oyster or Cotters Gold…

ANDREW HAYES-WATKINS is the photographer who captured the portrait of Willow Crossley on page 70. He graduated with a fine art degree before going on to work as a curator’s assistant straight from college, but ended up assisting a fashion photographer. “I travelled the world having adventures and knew I wanted to be a photographer myself, but focussing on portraits, not fashion. I put a portfolio together and got lucky. My first shoot was for the FT Weekend Magazine and a year later I was shooting for Vogue.” Andrew has photographed HRH The Prince of Wales in Clarence House, flown to New York and back in a day to photograph Thierry Henry, shot David Attenborough and Bob Geldof, and more recently has been working on book projects with top chefs…

Willow Crossley worked for Vogue before a move to the South of France prompted her to set up an online business selling antiques and her works of art. Creativity runs in the family – her mother is artist Kate Corbett-Winder. Willow’s blog about life in France was discovered by a publisher who commissioned her to write her first book, The Art of Handmade Living. She is now a full-time floral stylist and author with three books under her belt and a faux-flower range at Oka. Willow lives in Oxfordshire with her husband Charlie, three sons – Wolf, Rafferty and Kit – and two cats called Dottie and Juniper. Where do you live and why? We live in a little village in west Oxfordshire. We found the house on a website…

Digital printing is – effectively – printing with dots, and tracking these dots helps explain what this print system does best on textiles, as well as what it cannot do. Digital printing is best at printing a high number of colours all at once – 64,000 at current reckoning. It can also create watercolour effects where softness is preferred to crisp outlines. With the painterly gain, however, comes a loss of sharp definition and three-dimensional effects. For this reason, a system such as screen printing, which puts down wet colour on top of dry, will never be entirely displaced. For smaller design-led companies, a significant advantage of digital technology is the option to print short runs to meet individual orders, avoiding the need to warehouse hundreds of metres of printed…