25 Beautiful Homes May 2017

At home, we’re about to redecorate rooms that haven’t been touched for years and I’ve come to realise that I find it much harder to create a new look in an existing scheme than to start from scratch. With a blank canvas, I find it easy to choose colours and fabrics that sit well together, but when I’m changing an existing look I’m conscious I might end up altering the mood of the room, which isn’t always what I want to achieve. I’ve therefore resolved not to begin until I’m clear about what should stay and what should go. I sometimes wish all our rooms were painted white so all I had to do was to change fabrics and accessories to introduce fresh, uplifting colour. White, however, works best on…

1 IN THE SWIM Life ring wall decoration, £40, House of Fraser 2 CATCH THE DRIFT Driftwood wall mirror, £185, Oka 3 BEACHCOMBER Wood bird ornament, £14, M&Co 4 MAKE A SPLASH Cornish Harbour set of three nesting tins, £12, Creative Tops 5 CAPTAIN’S TABLE Cockles bowl, £14.95, Emma Bridgewater 6 QUAYSIDE COMFORT Seaspray throw, £50, Laura Ashley 7 SHIP SHAPE Adirondack Falun lounge chair in white, £187, Wayfair 8 DRINKING VESSEL Large bottle vase, £65, The White Company 9 SAILOR’S STRIPES Raffia baskets, £65 for small; £95 for large, Ross & Brown…

1 FUTURE HEIRLOOM Chinoiserie trio side table, £285, Oka 2 IN BLOSSOM Oriental floral cushion, £7, Wilko 3 TOUCH OF GOLD Marrakesh tie-back in chartreuse, £17.49, Swish 4 TASTE OF THE ORIENT Ginger Jar table lamp, £129, Furniture Village 5 BIRDS OF PARADISE Quilt, £125, Graham and Green 6 SILK ROUTE STYLE Boho & Co Chinoiserie parrot tray £22, Angel & Boho 7 TEA CEREMONY Kitchen Craft Le’Xpress teapot, £29, Sophie Charles 8 KYOTO CONNECTION Maple leaf faux bonsai tree, £39, Bloom 9 BE SEATED Chippendale dining chair in white lacquer, £695, Jonathan Adler…

At home, we’re about to redecorate rooms that haven’t been touched for years and I’ve come to realise that I find it much harder to create a new look in an existing scheme than to start from scratch. With a blank canvas, I find it easy to choose colours and fabrics that sit well together, but when I’m changing an existing look I’m conscious I might end up altering the mood of the room, which isn’t always what I want to achieve. I’ve therefore resolved not to begin until I’m clear about what should stay and what should go. I sometimes wish all our rooms were painted white so all I had to do was to change fabrics and accessories to introduce fresh, uplifting colour. White, however, works best on…

PAINTING BRICKWORK I’m about to refresh my tired country kitchen and would like to paint the exposed brick chimney breast. Do I need to apply a specialist primer first? JO ROBERTS, BY EMAIL The team at Dulux (0333 222 7171, dulux.co.uk) advised cleaning and drying the brickwork first, before applying a primer, such as its Primer & Undercoat for Multi Surfaces, from £7.69 for 250ml. Use a roller with a medium to long pile, and a brush to get primer into the places the roller cannot reach. Let it dry before painting with a water-based acrylic using the roller and brush in the same way as the primer. Exposed brick is porous so you will need at least two coats, allowing each to dry before applying the next. OWL WALLPAPER I would like to redecorate…

INSPIRING HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY Semi-detached townhouse, built in 1890 LOCATION Southwest London ROOMS Hall, sitting room, kitchen-diner, family room, TV room, cloakroom, boot room, five bedrooms (two en suite), two bathrooms PURCHASED 1997 PREVIOUS PROPERTY ‘We were living in Los Angeles in a beach house,’ says Natasha. House hunting took on a new urgency when Natasha and David Sharpe, a music company executive, returned to the UK after living and working in the USA. Natasha learnt she was pregnant with twins – James and Stephen, now 19. Suddenly, their rented flat in Wimbledon no longer fitted the bill and the search was on for a large, family-friendly home. ‘We loved having the wide open spaces of the Common on our doorstep, so decided to remain here in the village,’ says Natasha, formerly a fashion buyer. ‘After we’d…