25 Beautiful Homes March 2018

When I’m poring over which houses to feature in 25 Beautiful Homes, something that catches my eye more than anything are wooden beams. Maybe that’s because I live in a period house where beams can be seen in almost every downstairs room – from supporting ones, which were boxed in during Victorian times to the roof supports in the kitchen. One of my sons recently committed the cardinal sin of questioning the point of them. He was staring hard at one of the kitchen beams – the one our cat likes to jump up on – and noticed that some of the metal plates that are fixed to them for stability (I assume) looked a lot less attached than others. I suppose I could let it worry me, but since…

When I’m poring over which houses to feature in 25 Beautiful Homes, something that catches my eye more than anything are wooden beams. Maybe that’s because I live in a period house where beams can be seen in almost every downstairs room – from supporting ones, which were boxed in during Victorian times to the roof supports in the kitchen. One of my sons recently committed the cardinal sin of questioning the point of them. He was staring hard at one of the kitchen beams – the one our cat likes to jump up on – and noticed that some of the metal plates that are fixed to them for stability (I assume) looked a lot less attached than others. I suppose I could let it worry me, but since…

1 DYNAMIC DESIGN Paco cushion, £65, Habitat 2 FACETED FRIEND Geometric elephant ornament, £12, George Home 3 THE RIGHT ANGLE Triangle mirror, £7.50, Hema 4 TV DINNER Lap tray in grey, £39, Out & Out Original 5 BEYOND RETRO Smeg ECF01BLUK espresso coffee machine in black, £280, Ao.com 6 SPOT ON Tina coffee cup in black, £37 a pair, Camilla Engdahl at Nordic Kind 7 URBAN SLEEK Esme tall chest in white and ash, £399, Made.com 8 WHITER THAN WHITE Savoy towels, from £15 each, The White Company 9 HIGH & MIGHTY Henriksdal bar stool with padded seat and backrest, £60, Ikea…

When Alison Henry’s property agent contacted her about a house that was potentially going on the market and recommended she take a look, she was in two minds. ‘I’d been made an offer on our previous home nearby and I didn’t know what to do, as the family loved it and we’d done a lot of work to improve it,’ she says. When she went to the viewing, Alison remembered that she had been to the house before for a charity meeting, and at the time she had thought what a special place it was. ‘I’d only seen the hall and the dining room previously, but it felt really unique,’ she recalls. The timing seemed just right, so Alison made a prompt decision to buy the house and three months later,…

1 MARINE MOOD Bamboo fish trap pendant light, £90, Oggetto 2 BEACH BOUND Faux Shell bookends, £56 a pair, Oka 3 WOOD WORKS Fish serving board, £25, Debenhams 4 NET GAINS Round copper-wired bottle, £35, French Connection 5 AGATE ACCENT Cushion, £39.50, Marks & Spencer 6 WONDERFUL WEAVES Tall round basket trio, £50, Murmur 7 TONAL TREND Teal jug, £20, Homesense 8 LUXE LIVING Tate velvet large three-seater sofa, £549, Tesco Direct 9 ON THE WING Standing bird table ornament, £16, M&Co…

Having sold their barn conversion in just two weeks, Sharon and David Broadbent were all set to purchase a Grade II-listed house, until the lengthy survey results came back. ‘We were on holiday in Mexico at the time, and had to pull out of the sale,’ explains Sharon. ‘But luckily, two days before our return, the estate agent emailed, urging us to view a property they’d just valued, even though it was a little bit over our budget.’ The house was in West Yorkshire and had been built in 1820 for a mill owner. It was inherited by his son Joseph William Whitley, who embarked on a major refurbishment in 1893, hiring an Italian artist to create elaborate painted ceilings and glasswork as well as adding bay windows. Formerly a grand…