Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2024 i The English Home

How will your home evolve in 2024? Whether you’re planning a major project or some simple updates, we welcome you to this special edition of The English Home, which we have put together to help guide your decorating choices as you embrace the year ahead. Colour and pattern seem set to transform interiors into joyful and cocooning spaces this year. From bright, invigorating combinations to calm, sophisticated neutrals, there’s an opportunity to choose palettes to reflect your unique style. One of the biggest shifts is the move away from grey tones towards warmer neutrals, with shades from buttery cream to deepest espresso providing plenty of temptation. While ‘brown’ might initially sound unappealing, our guide to decorating with chocolate tones might just change your perception on page 94. Both pattern and…

‘We are so lucky to be the third generation to live in this wonderful family home. It’s the house we plan to enjoy and grow old in together’ When it was time to create a new environment for their family, relocating from their home in London was never an option for Alex and Andrew Barnes. “Other than moving out when he was a young man, this house has always been Andrew’s home. His late parents bought it for their family in the 1950s,” explains Alex, who moved in when she and Andrew married. Some years ago, the house was stripped back to its bones with repairs and renovations completed before it was redecorated throughout. “The interior had been tastefully and very traditionally decorated, but it was definitely time to brighten…

Unlike fast fashion, interior design trends tend to take a while to turn into definitive movements, and redecorating a home takes time and investment, so is certainly not for faddish ideas. This is particularly the case for those decorating classic English homes, who will want to ensure a style still looks good in years to come, so ascertaining which of the latest colours, patterns and designs will last is time well spent. To help with decision-making, over the next few pages we look at the directions interiors are gently moving towards and the designs we believe offer a timeless, yet relevant, knowing and considered approach to decorating – from warm colours to heritage revivals and statement pieces. Colour A‘trend’ we have focused on, and feel will only continue to deepen,…

RETREAT indoors February can be the cruellest of months when the winter weather of cold, rain and sleet seems unrelenting. Why not enjoy the great indoors and create a cocoon-like interior that is warming, comforting and the perfect place to hunker down? Linger in the kitchen and make it the real heart of the home; stock up on winter vegetables and cook heartwarming dishes, light a fire, turn the lights down low, and of course, enjoy the simple solitude and soft glow of candlelight. Choose candles made from natural beeswax using traditional techniques, in colours that bring joy and warmth and the intoxicating natural scent of floral honey to brighten up even the most miserable of days. Long slim taper candles, £35 for a bundle of six; Stubby candles, £40…

SPOTLIGHT ON… Painterly Charm When Hector Coombs of Shame Studios saw interior designer Cindy Leveson’s room portraits, he proposed collaborating on rugs based on her art. Watercolours is the resulting new collection of 18 painterly handwoven rugs and runners inspired by the formal structure of traditional carpets and the freedom and expressiveness of water and pigment. Patterns and colours range from deep reds and warm corals to Delft blues and ochres. Hand-knotted in India using yarns dyed and spun by hand, the materials and technique lend the weave its subtle variations in tone and colour, giving each rug “the soul of an antique,” says Hector. shamestudios.com; levesondesign.com Fired Imagination New work by celebrated ceramicist Florian Gadsby Hypnotic videos of Florian Gadsby crafting quietly elegant clay wonders at his potter’s wheel…

‘If you’re taking apart a 300-year-old house to move some walls, you’ll find things you aren’t expecting. That’s one of the advantages in a new build’ One could be forgiven for thinking this Georgian-style family home in Wiltshire, with its elegant facade and layered interiors, has a long and rich history. “It’s much more attractive than your average new build,” says Matthew Bates, founder of cooker and cookware company Blake & Bull, who lives in the house with his wife Sarah, of interiors and creative consultancy May Blake, their two girls and their elderly Golden Retriever, Alfie. “Obviously, there are lots of lovely Georgian houses out there, but ours is interesting, I think, because it was only built six years ago,” he adds. For Matthew and Sarah, the house carries…

DESIGN INSIGHT A notable move to reinstate comfort, individuality – even drama – in bathroom design echoes those great decorators at the turn of the 20th century – Nancy Lancaster and Elsie de Wolfe – for whom bathrooms had to have as much charm, interest and personality as any other room in the home. Here, we take inspiration from six detail-filled spaces created by modern decorators redefining expectations in bathroom design. SARAH VANRENEN Interior designer En-suite bathroom in her own home “Growing up I went to stay in lots of country houses which all had uber-comfortable bathrooms, usually with carpets and often with armchairs or something comfortable to sit on. Bathrooms are so important; they are the first room you enter in the morning and the last you leave at…

‘The number of leaves or branches is a good indicator of quality. A faux plant should look like the healthiest version of the real plant’ Fresh flora and foliage bring interiors to life, but there are times when fresh cuttings are not seasonally available without paying a hefty environmental price. This is when the top tier of faux flowers and foliage come into their own, bridging the gap between winter and spring when English gardens start to bloom again. Fastidiously observed and meticulously crafted, artificial stems have become increasingly realistic in recent years. Thanks to advances in construction techniques and materials, it is now possible to replicate intricate details and subtle minutiae, so a growing number of leading florists, interior designers and discerning homeowners are embracing these long-lasting and versatile…

FITTING PATTERNS Richard Smith has delved into Madeaux’s fabric and wallpaper archive to create a new range of eight smaller-scale prints and woven patterns. The designs are ideal to upholster modest-size pieces such as this bench. Seat, Farfalle, Straw, £132 a metre; cushions (from left): Farfalle, Royal Blue, £132 a metre; Hourglass, Marine, £124 a metre; Pavé, Sea Mist, £124 a metre; Rowan, Berry, £132 a metre; wallpaper, Audrey Grasscloth, Charcoal, £880 a roll, Madeaux WARM WEAVE Heighten the warmth of a rug underfoot with a bright design that lifts the whole room and makes a colourful statement. This wool kilim is handwoven and available in bespoke sizes made to order. Handwoven wool kilim, Tulip, Red/Gold, from £1,200; curtains, Natasha hand-printed linen, Red Earth, £256.50 for a 2.7m panel; Tassel…

CHOCOLATE COATED The decisive move in interiors towards embracing warm neutrals is gaining momentum and now encapsulates dark, comforting browns as part of a rich, warming spectrum. As we discover in our feature on page 94, earthy shades of brown can be versatile, grounding and chic in every room of the house. It may not seem an obvious choice for a bathroom, but the enveloping wrap of deepest cocoa creates a soothing sanctuary that would look highly alluring in candlelight for a long evening soak. Interior designers reveal other ways to make bathrooms comfortable, beautifully decorated spaces on page 80. Chocolate Colour, £57.50 for 2.5l Absolute Matt Emulsion, Little Greene…

Buying high-quality fabrics is always a worthy investment, particularly in timeless designs that combine longevity with classic good looks. There are ways, however, for those in the know to obtain such fabrics for reduced costs – at end-of-line sales or on specialist websites. This also chimes with concerns around sustainability, an issue that permeates many areas of our lives – from the fabrics we wear to the ones we buy to furnish our homes. Fashion scores badly with its landfill ratio, but the interiors industry is also reckoned to send thousands of tonnes of fabric waste to landfill or to be burnt. This is why some fabric houses are finding ways to extend public access to textiles they cannot otherwise sell. That this can also be an asset to our…

BLOOD ORANGE SALAD WITH BEETROOT, RED ONIONS AND MOZZARELLA This seasonal salad features blood oranges and fresh produce in a rainbow of colours for a vibrant lunch Serves 4 INGREDIENTS ¼ red cabbage2 blood oranges1 onion, red2 handfuls of baby spinach1 handful of lettuce1 spring onion1 beetroot, cooked1 tbsp white wine vinegar1 tbsp lemon juice2 tbsp blood orange juicesaltpepper, from the mill½ tsp honey6 tbsp olive oil125g mini mozzarella balls2 tbsp pistachios, chopped2 tsp poppy seeds1–2 tsp sesame seeds1 tbsp cress1 tbsp micro herbs METHOD • Clean and finely slice the red cabbage. Peel and slice the blood oranges, reserving the excess juice. Peel and slice the red onion into very fine rings. Prepare the spinach and lettuce. Trim the spring onions and cut the white part into rings and…

Who do you live with, and where? I live in a rented house on the Wiltshire-Dorset border. It is part farmhouse, part new-build with lovely large windows and capacious, light rooms, something I was not used to in my previous cottage in the woods which we outgrew as a family! Who do you live with? I live with my husband Alexander Macdonald-Buchanan, who is a ceramic artist with a workshop nearby in Wilton. Our daughter Lily-Hope lives with us and her step-brother and step-sister Jacobi and Constance stay with us weekly. We also have two devoted spaniels – mother Humbug and her daughter Coco. How has your approach to homemaking been influenced by the Churchill legacy you have inherited? I come from a long line of homemakers, but not in…