House and Garden July 2016

TRINE HAHNEMANN Food writer and chef While studying comparative literature at university, Trine had no intention of working in the culinary industry. But although she never planned to cook professionally, student life took its financial toll on the Copenhagen native and led her in a surprising new direction. ‘I ran out of money and decided to take a break from school and cook for two years to save and finish my thesis,’ she says. ‘Here I am, 22 years later, having never gone back.’ And it seems fate worked in her favour: today Trine is an accomplished food writer and chef, sharing her love of regional recipes in cookbooks such as Eat Nordic. From page 131, she shares her favourite local dishes for summer. What is special to you about Scandinavian food? ‘The…

‘Avoid fashions in furnishings as much as you can,’ says Ashley Hicks, this month’s ‘Tastemaker’ on page 160. It is sound advice, as anything too fashionable quickly becomes a cliché – we have a whole list in our office of things that make us slightly cringe. I won’t name them, though, just in case you have one of them. Ashley is deft at making interiors entirely his own and is an example to us all, but for most of us it is easier said than done. Somehow decorating is a bit like choosing your children’s names: even if you think you have hit upon something unusual, it is all too easy to find every other child their age is called the same. When we chose the name Jago for our…

Mix plain, coloured linens as the starting point for your scheme, then add patterns and textures…

£ ££ £££ For suppliers’ details, see Stockists page CLIFF COLGATE/SPIKE IMAGING; ALEX DELFANNE; TORBJÖRN ÅHMAN…

On his Instagram account, David Oliver describes himself as a ‘rock star of colour’, ‘crown prince of paint’ and ‘the Indiana Jones of home decor’. As the co-founder of the Paint & Paper Library, which opened in 1996, these monikers don’t just hint at David’s professional achievements and passions – they also capture his infectious enthusiasm and playful attitude. Having moved from Sydney to London in 1992 with a fineart degree, he recalls finding it difficult to sell his artwork in a recession-hit Britain. ‘But I had an eye for colour, so on my mother-in-law’s advice I decided to sell paint rather than paintings,’ he says. Soon, with their contemporary paints and wallpapers, David and his now ex-wife Sophie Grattan Bellew were ‘riding the Changing Rooms market as London property prices…