25 Beautiful Homes February 2017

If you were undertaking a project on your home towards the end of 2016, I do hope it was completed in time for Christmas – I am sure you did too – and that you are now enjoying your new rooms. For those of you who have been thinking about starting something – from an easy refurbishment to a total new-build – this is often the time of year that dreams start to become reality. I know of lots of occasions where a new year has kick-started me into action. If that’s the stage you’re at, or even if you are only just beginning to imagine creating a new scheme, I hope that you will find inspiration from our selection of houses this month, which range from a complete self-build…

1 READING CORNER Wooden stem table lamp in grey, £39, Marquis & Dawe 2 PILLOW TALK Mid-Century meadow cushion, £40, Jenni Douglas Designs 3 AMBER GLOW Hand-cut crystal tumbler in gold, £64 for set of two, Gurasu 4 FAUX FLORALS Peony Phalaenopsis Orchid in grey and white pot, £74.50, QVC 5 HOME AND DRY Deer Fern towels, from £15 for a hand towel, Clarissa Hulse 6 DASH OF SPICE Luxe modern leather ottoman in mustard yellow, £399, Danetti 7 LAP OF LUXURY Rider dining chair in brass with gold velvet, £895, Jonathan Adler 8 STACKS OF STYLE Scallop bowls in yellow, stone and mint, £5 each, Dickins & Jones collection at House of Fraser 9 ON A PEDESTAL Grey wash elm dining table, £1,460, Sweetpea & Willow…

1 DREAM WEAVE Disco laundry basket, £85, Loaf 2 NATURAL LIGHT Randwick willow lampshade, £25, One World Trading 3 BURNING BRIGHT Round wooden tea light holder set, £17, Puji 4 SPRING GREENS Painted sideboard, £13, HomeSense 5 SPECIAL BREW Barbara teapot, £25, Pad Lifestyle 6 SOFT TOUCH Pierre Frey Tikal silk and cotton cushion, £115, L Lifestyle 7 TOP DRAWER Tree chest, £27, Myakka 8 SURFACE MATTERS Trémy coffee table with oak top, £300, PIB Home 9 POT LUCK Utility utensil pot with leather handle, £32, LSA International…

If you were undertaking a project on your home towards the end of 2016, I do hope it was completed in time for Christmas – I am sure you did too – and that you are now enjoying your new rooms. For those of you who have been thinking about starting something – from an easy refurbishment to a total new-build – this is often the time of year that dreams start to become reality. I know of lots of occasions where a new year has kick-started me into action. If that’s the stage you’re at, or even if you are only just beginning to imagine creating a new scheme, I hope that you will find inspiration from our selection of houses this month, which range from a complete self-build…

TEXTURED WALLPAPER I liked the wallpaper in Clare and Richard Jackson’s sitting room (p97, October 2016) – do you know where it’s from? FRAZER HATHORN, BY EMAIL I spoke to the interior designer who devised this scheme, Nicole Haig of DNK Design (020 7813 2945, dnkdesign.co.uk), and she tells me that the beauty of a textured wallpaper like this is that it brings added depth and character to a room. The paper she used is Larsen Backdrop in Peppercorn, £58 a roll, Larsen at Colefax and Fowler (020 8877 6400, larsenfabrics.com). Andrew Martin (020 7225 5100, andrewmartin.co.uk) sells a choice of wonderfully tactile grasscloth wallpapers in six neutral hues including an enveloping charcoal shade, £57 a roll. For a really luxurious effect, consider using fabric on the walls: Zoffany (0844 543 4600,…

REPLANNED HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY Detached thatched cottage LOCATION West Sussex ROOMS Hall, sitting room, family room, kitchen-diner, larder, boot room, utility room, cloakroom, five bedrooms, bathroom PURCHASED 2009 PREVIOUS PROPERTY ‘Before this, we lived in a 1920s house nearby,’ says Richard. Moving house was the last thing on Richard and Isobel Wilson’s minds as they walked the dog one summer evening near their West Sussex home. But as they passed a property they had noticed many times before, they saw it was up for sale. ‘It was a house we had dreamt of owning one day,’ says Richard. The exterior of the thatched 1930s Arts & Crafts-style house had attracted the couple – and, once inside, they were excited by the potential of the interior, too. Although it had been improved in the 1980s, its previous owners…