Latest news with #ElsiedeWolfe


Telegraph
6 days ago
- General
- Telegraph
Join the fray: embrace country home decor
In smarter pockets of the Home Counties, an arcane protocol used to dictate how you did – and didn't – do up your country home. Marble floors were for Mayfair. Ditto glass coffee tables – and Jacuzzis. No longer. In more meritocratic times, such conventions have been hurled on the scrapheap of history. A hot tub overlooking the ha-ha? A home cinema in the old ballroom? Why not? It's your home. Do what you want. But the fact persists. Rural homes are different from their urban counterparts. It isn't just the materials (honeyed Cotswolds stone, Norfolk flint and brick) but the scale – be it a beam-strewn cottage or Palladian villa – that sets them apart. Then there's the light. Filtered through a canopy of green, it brings the outside inside. All of these elements suggest a more nuanced, gentler approach to interiors. As the US decorator Elsie de Wolfe declared, it's all about 'suitability'. So if you're eyeing up a rural bolthole, or plotting a full-time escape from the city what are some of the essential 'dos' of modern-country decorating? Kitchens First: kitchens. If yours is the size of an apartment in Bow, resist the temptation to go open plan. Instead, think like the Edwardians and put the square footage to work as functional but decorative ancillary rooms. Larders with marble shelves, flower rooms heady with blooms, a scullery with charming plate racks. You won't have a tweenie to do the behind-the-scenes drudgery for you. But at least you can do it in style. In his Somerset kitchen, designer and furniture maker Patrick Williams of Berdoulat installed the 'wibbly' glazed screen which divides the pantry from the rest of the room. 'It masks the clutter without closing off the space,' says Patrick. 'By housing appliances in separate rooms, you can make the kitchen feel less kitcheny – more like a collection of furniture.' Other devices include tables instead of islands, wooden worktops, Welsh slate, or zinc beaten into sinks and worktops for 'a beautiful patina of time'. Designer Emma Hutton 's country-kitchen staples include: terracotta flooring, flatweave rugs (try Home & Found or Edit58) and open shelves with ceramics and plants jostling for space. The layers bring 'comfort and softness: a refuge from city life.' Bathrooms Country bathrooms are invariably bigger, so you won't have to fret about splashes and spills. 'You can be practical and aesthetic,' says designer Octavia Dickinson. Fabric is key: for frilled panels on baths or under vanities to conceal storage. And yes, you can use carpet on the floor although you may want to fling a washable rug (try Jennifer Manners or Weaver Green) on top. Steven Rodel of Guy Goodfellow agrees, citing a recent project where every bathroom was different. A roll-top bath, positioned in front of a window framed by floor-grazing curtains. The walk-in (Drummond's) shower next to a Regency bookcase; the antique chest of drawers converted to a vanity on 'warm, worn' wooden floors. Rooms 'where you can find solace in a bubble bath,' he says. Atmosphere The well-designed country home is comfortable and convivial. Take the sitting room. Tamsyn Mason likes to include perching points: a club fender (try Jamb); a card table and chairs tucked beneath a bay window. Swap coffee tables for a squashy ottoman (Trove, Balmain & Balmain, Max Rollitt) and opt for fabrics with a darker background (Bennison, Robert Kime or Jean Monro are good starting points). 'White can look surprisingly stark in the country,' she says. 'In the country you're always aware of the landscape. That's what inspires me,' says designer Speronella Marsh whose eponymous firm specialises in block-printed furnishings. She reconfigured her Shropshire kitchen to capitalise on the views, installing glazed doors that open on the walled garden. The dresser, painted a punchy tomato red, nods to her vegetable plot. Its glazing bars reference nearby Ironbridge, crucible of the Industrial Revolution. 'Whether you're surrounded by fields or in a village, there's always something to draw on.' But another caveat. A paint shade that sings in London can look dowdy in the country. It's the light of course. For older houses, Kate Guinness favours Atelier Ellis 's natural paints in muted but luminescent tones. Fellow designer Henriette von Stockhausen of VSP Interiors advises clients to be chromatically adventurous. 'Blues, greens or pinks that can be tricky in town take on a different life in the country.' Her rural picks include Edward Bulmer 's Cinnamon, Celadon or Lute for its 'warm glow'. Scale Scale is all. The sofa that swaggers in London can look Lilliputian in a Wiltshire parsonage. This also applies to four-posters sought out by townies chasing the arcadian dream. Antiques can be too small, so Henriette designs her own. 'The mattress has to be in proportion to the posts. Otherwise, it looks strange.' It's the same for panelling. 'It looks charming. We do lots of it. But the scale has to be right.' Above all, putting down rural roots involves a change of mindset. 'When I arrive in the country, I inwardly exhale. And relax,' says Steven. Apply the same outlook to your décor. 'I call it permission to fray.' Speronella concurs. Friends will visit 'leaving a trail of mud and spilt wine.' Dogs will leap onto sofas jeopardising upholstery. 'That's fine. You throw on another blanket,' she says. In the country, there are (almost) no rules.


Irish Times
07-06-2025
- Lifestyle
- Irish Times
Rugs, tables and drinks cabinets for eclectic tastes on auction this week
Interior design – whether professional or amateur - is such a staple of 21st-century life that you would think it's been around for centuries. But New Yorker Elsie de Wolfe is considered to be one of the first interior decorators – a term used in the early 1900s to describe upper-class women with a penchant for furnishing and embellishing homes. Another New Yorker, Dorothy Draper was deemed to be one of the first interior designers, when she started a business designing the interiors of high-profile hotels. Others followed, such as Florence Knoll from the famous Knoll furniture company, and more recently Irish-born, New-York based Clodagh Phipps known simply as Clodagh. And, while interior design magazines prescribe new trends each year, experienced interior designers know that true taste isn't limited to fashions. READ MORE 'When specifying furniture, the goal is to connect the design concept and overall feeling of the space with functionality, comfort and durability,' write Stephanie Travis and Catherine Anderson in their intriguing book, Interior Design is Not Decoration and Other Ideas (Laurence King Publishing). Adam's At Home online auction , which ends on Wednesday, June 11th, has a diverse range of furnishing from book cases, to tables, chairs, lamps and rugs, which should catch the eye of contemporary interior designers with an eclectic taste. Two walnut bedside chests (€300-€400), a set of eight oak and elmwood Windsor-style kitchen chairs (€1,500-€2,000), a late 19th-century Victorian walnut centre table (€500-€800), and a mahogany and brass mounted pedestal drinks cabinet (€200-€300) are some of the interesting lots. Two walnut bedside chests (€300-€400) from Adam's Late 19th-century Victorian walnut centre table (€500-€800), at Adam's A mahogany and brass mounted pedestal drinks cabinet (€200-€300), from Adam's The At Home auction – which will be on view from Saturday, June 7th until Tuesday, June 10th, in Adam's St Stephen's Green showrooms - also has a good selection of rugs, runners, prayer mats and wall hangings. These include a modern kilim rug from Turkey (€500-€700); an embroidered wall hanging from Uzbekistan (€300-€500); and a Gabbeh wool rug from Iran (€400-€600). Gabbeh rugs are traditional deep-pile Persian rugs often made from hand-knotted wool. a modern kilim rug from Turkey (€500-€700),Adam's Two watercolours from the prominent botanical artist, Wendy Walsh (1915-2014), are also included in the auction. Walsh was born in Cumbria, England, but spent many years in Ireland with her husband John Walsh and their three children. There is a permanent exhibition of her work in Burtown House, Athy, Co Kildare as her daughter, the artist Lesley Fennell lives there. Wendy and John retired to the stable yard house at Burtown. Bianchi 1928 car (€20,000-€40,000) RJ Keighery The sale of classic cars, traps, carriages, motor memorabilia and signage at R J Keighery in Waterford city on Monday, June 16th will no doubt draw interest from classic and vintage car enthusiasts. 'These cars were left to a woman in her father's will and have been sitting in a shed in east Waterford for many years,' says Thomas Keighery. Keighery selects a rare Ford Model A Touring from 1912 (€20,000-€40,000), and a Bianchi 1928 car (€20,000-€40,000) imported into Ireland years ago, among the pièces de résistance. He tells me that the Model T Ford Touring cars were supplied with fore doors as standard, while the earlier models were open-front models without doors to enclose the front-seat passengers. Ford Model A Touring from 1912 (€20,000-€40,000), at RJ Keighery He adds that the Bianchi vintage car model S5 with timber spokes is reputed to be the only one of its kind in Ireland. Finally, the summer months are ideal for taking on furniture restoration projects. The warmer days and long evenings make it easier to work out of doors or if inside, paint, varnish and glue smells can be reduced by opening windows and doors. Pepie O'Sullivan and Nigel Barnes run beginners upholstery courses over two days from their home at Clooneenagh House in west Clare. Over a weekend, a novice restorer will learn how to dismantle and rebuild a uncomplicated chair frame and complete the upholstery. 'We can't turn you into a skilled craftsman in one weekend, but we aim to give you enough building blocks and confidence to tackle your own antique restoration projects,' says O'Sullivan. Participants can bring along their own piece of furniture to work on. 'Good shabby and wobbly dining type chairs with upholstered seats or backs or open armchairs are good beginner projects,' says Barnes. Tools will be supplied as will all other materials and lunch. Cost €215 for two days. See for upcoming dates. Antique furniture restorer George Williams at work Antique furniture restorer, George Williams runs one-day courses in antique furniture care and restoration and staining and French polishing from his home in Kells, Co Meath. A former antiques dealer, Williams has a wealth of knowledge about furniture from different eras and how best to maintain and repair them. He also runs courses in restoring and maintaining 18th- and 19th-century sash windows. See ; ; ; What did it sell for? Summer Inscape, Callan, Tony O'Malley Summer Inscape, Callan by Tony O'Malley (€15,000-€20,000) at Devere's Irish Art and Sculpture auction Estimate €15,000-€20,000 Hammer price €16,000 Auction house deVere's Head of artist, Tony O'Malley, Brian Bourke Head of artist, Tony O'Malley by Brian Bourke (€2,000-€3,000) was one of several pieces of sculpture in the DeVeres auction Estimate €2,000-€3,000 Hammer price €2,000 Auction house deVere's Little Girls Wonder, Gerard Dillon Little Girls Wonder by Gerard Dillon Estimate €50,000-€80,000 Hammer price €55,000 Auction house deVere's Waiting, Daniel O'Neill Daniel O'Neill's Waiting Estimate €10,000-€15,000 Hammer price €10,500 Auction house deVere's