Christmas Gifts

There is something about buying interior accessories, furniture or artwork for friends and relatives that is tricky. It is not just that they will probably feel the need to display the item which might be awkward if they don’t love the present you have selected, but it might also feel as though you are indicating that their abode is in need of a bit of improvement. This of course may just be the over thinking mind of an interior designer at play, but I do find both the offering and accepting of presents for a home to be one open to upset.

For those who love a hip hotel visit, Soho House has a range of homeware to tempt the best of us

The first thing to remember when selecting an item for a loved one’s home is that it is about what they like, not what you like. If you are able, have a good look at what they already have – you obviously don’t want to replicate things they already own but at the same time, you don’t want to offer something that is completely at odds with their current furnishings. I would suggest that you don’t make purchases from their favourite shops because they will probably know and have considered those items anyway. Much better to find a source that sells their style but that is new to them, which might mean some research is needed.

If they regularly buy an interiors magazine, or have interiors books, there is often a directory included that can be quite a rich source of places to buy interior products that are in the style they like. There are also directories like The List from House and Garden (thelist.houseandgarden.com), or The House Directory (www.thehousedirectory.com) – these are less filtered to a particular style but they will include generally higher end interiors focused suppliers.

A clue might be a particular designer, or an interiors style, they might like or even a restaurant or hotel that they are drawn to. This might give you an idea of what type of look they aspire to and, on that note, might they like a book about that designer or style, or indeed a magazine subscription? For anyone that is a bit of an interiors obsessive, it is hard to get too much of well presented, well photographed homes to help the creative process – there is something about seeing images in high quality print that will always be better than looking at a screen.

If your recipient is a fan of second-hand/vintage items, this gives you added scope because there is something marvellous (and I say this from the heart) about an antique treasure that is a one off and that has been sourced with you in mind. My mother regularly buys me something from her local antique shop for Christmas – I’ve received a wonderful glass paperweight, a lovely old set of cutlery, a pair of china bookends which are all things I love – and my heart beats a bit faster when she hands me a gift and says ‘this is for you and it’s from the Emporium’.

Of course, not everyone is obsessed with the interiors of their home – if they aren’t (and I would like to hope they consider getting help for this horrifying condition) you might still be able to give them a practical item for their home. If possible, see if their present can be at the attractive, well-made end of the scale – there is hope for everyone and you might be able to inspire them to better things. As a starting point, try Labour and Wait (www.labourandwait.co.uk) and Baileys (www.baileyshome.com) for treasures of this type.

Twenty Twenty One is a target rich environment when shopping for design aficionados, particularly those with an appreciation of a hint of retro

Twentytwentyone is a target rich environment when shopping for design aficionados, particularly those with an appreciation of a hint of retro

As a general rule of thumb, I would say that smaller in size is better than bigger, unless you are very sure they are going to like the item. This is simply because there is less of it to offend when on display and easier to put in a cupboard between visits if the item fails the ‘on show’ test. I also think that artwork is particularly difficult to get right, because you really should absolutely love the artwork on your walls, whereas a mildly offensive cushion or knick-knack is easier to mix in with others to dilute it.

Some presents are less permanent than others, which I would aim for if you are feeling nervous and your gift selection. Items such as scented candles, stationary (I personally would like to receive almost anything from Cambridge Imprint for Christmas www.cambridgeimprint.co.uk ), bathroom products, throws, cushions, photo frames – the key with all these is to buy small amounts of the luxurious sort that your loved one perhaps wouldn’t normally treat themselves to. But the rules still apply to these items, particularly focusing on what they might like rather than what you like. And of course, make sure they do actually like the said item. I found out that my sister-in-law doesn’t like scented candles of any description soon after I told my mother that I had bought my sister-in-law a (in my opinion) gorgeous and expensive scented candle for Christmas.

So what do you do if you get a gift for your home that you don’t love? Well, of course it will depend on your relationship with the person who gave it to you – you will know whether you can be frank or not, but I suggest that a lot of us wouldn’t want to be told a gift is not liked/wanted, as mostly present buying takes a fair amount of effort and expense. I think gracious acceptance is important (a small festive drink often helps with this) then in January, work out where it can live in your house – either somewhere discrete where is doesn’t offend you or in a cupboard with occasional outings – or how to recycle it on to someone who might love it.

Of course on the flip side of this is the present you might give that may not be a huge success. It is important to remember, once you have tried hard to buy something that might be liked, that part of the present is your own discretion about ever mentioning it again. Once the wrapping is off, it is no longer anything to do with you and if you never see it again in the future, the reason is probably obvious.

I am aware that in this season of joy and goodwill, I might be sounding ever so slightly negative about the (what should be) pleasurable pastime of exchanging gifts. It’s just that receiving a gift that you love is such a wonderful thing and I would argue that for adult gift receivers, particularly in this age where we all seem to be having a go at decluttering, it is so much better to get one well thought through gift for your home that you actually want and like, than a load of things you don’t.

A very happy Christmas to you all when the big day arrives and in the meantime, the best of luck with the shopping.

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Kitchen living

Cate Burren of Angel and Blume Interior Design reflects on what we really want from our kitchen and how to go about creating it.

We are bombarded with images of kitchens – not just what they should look like but how we should or could live in them. On TV for example, I am particularly struck by the difference between Downton Abbey where there is a crushing silence if one of the upstairs crowd appears, right through to Nigella Lawson’s programmes which show us how to effortlessly impress, feed and entertain friends without ever leaving the kitchen. The pressure on the presentation of our kitchen and culinary life feels quite full on to me and I remember a while ago that there was an article on how the modern way was to have a shelf full of the latest cookery books and a shopping basket full of ready meals. I am afraid when I read it I felt completely rumbled, although I have long since realised that I prefer eating to cooking – the sense of anxiety rather than joy that I feel when I occasionally watch an episode of MasterChef, or the like, is a clue. The moral of this is that good design depends on honesty about how we live, and there is no shame in that.

There has been a tremendous trend in recent years to open plan living and many walls have been removed and extensions built so that the functions of cooking, eating and relaxing can all be incorporated into one area. At best, this can create a wonderful area for family and guests to all be together but I have found with some of my clients that these spaces need a little bit of division, to allow for different and simultaneous uses of space (as an example, TV and discussion are not always happy bedfellows). However much a cook loves to cook, sometimes having hungry diners being able to watch every blood, sweat and tear can remove some of the joy. The balance between residents of a space feeling connected but having somewhere to call their own is tricky but important.

What goes into your kitchen depends on what other spaces you have available. In the extensive kitchens of old stately homes, there were an extraordinary range of other rooms that alleviate pressure on the demands of the kitchen and some of these are making great comebacks as we mourn their loss both in terms of tremendous functionality and wonderful aesthetic. A larder or pantry are now highly desirable, not just for storage, but also for providing additional worksurface if you are lucky and there are also rooms such as a utility room, laundry room, boot room (these are ideally different as clean laundry and wet coats/dogs don’t work that well together), butler’s pantry or flower room (if you are a bit posh) and others. The position of these rooms within the house, and in connection with the kitchen, are just as important as the location of the kitchen space itself, as they help to take some of the pressure off the gastronomic purpose of the heart of the home.

This relaxed, welcoming kitchen gives the cook space to work while not being disconnected from family or guests who can enjoy a comfortable seat. Photography by Peter Bennett Photography

When planning the storage of your kitchen, I think the first step is to work out what you need to hand on a day-to-day level. I bet this is less stuff than you originally think you need. We all have some items that are used, at best, on a monthly basis but could be less than that – the ice cream maker, the large Tupperware container, the Christmas cake tin, cookie cutters, a fish kettle – and these don’t need to reside in the kitchen cupboards that are much better used for day to day items. If you have storage in the house other than the immediate kitchen cupboards, you will avoid filling your kitchen to the brim, allowing it to function better and not to be overloaded with storage units.

There has always been a saying that when planning a kitchen, you should think of the oven, fridge, sink triangle and it is about how they are positioned and how the chef moves between them. I think their relationship is important but there seem to be more modern equivalents. For example, I think the dining table, dishwasher, plate and cutlery storage is pretty vital, and you could also throw in the sink to that journey. Also, the sink, kettle, fridge, mugs, tea-bag storage is worth a thought if you like a cuppa, and would I be revealing too much about myself if I mentioned the fridge, wine glass, crisp storage relationship?

Whilst planning these routes, it is also worth thinking about where those allowed into the kitchen when the cook is at work, can perch. Bar stools seem to be de-rigueur in the modern kitchen but I always wonder if those four bar stools in a row are a good idea. Certainly for the chef having an island unit between them and their guests keeps them out of the work area but most of us like to face each other (possibly not directly but on a corner or at least so that eye contact is comfortable) when chatting and eating. It’s worth figuring out where on-lookers in the kitchen are to be made comfortable, and whether breakfast or pre dinner drinks or other will be served in the kitchen.

When thinking about a new kitchen, it is tempting to head straight for kitchen showrooms to see what is available. I would strongly recommend doing the vast majority of your planning before visiting. However much help is available at such places, the chances are that the planners won’t ask you about other areas of your home, how much you really like to cook and whether you could manage with less units, worktops or appliances – their job is to sell those and however honourable their intentions, it’s going to be down to you to work out how much, or little, of their products you really need and want.

My final thought on your kitchen is to not regard it as any different than the rest of your home, and with that in mind, I would consider incorporating things that you might consider to be for other rooms in your home. I mean things like bookcases, rugs, accessories, lamps, chairs, artwork and so on, depending on your taste. Your kitchen has a different functionality to the rest of your home, but it doesn’t need to exclude comfort, an aesthetic layer or indeed to look or feel like a different space.

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Garden life

Cate Burren of Angel + Blume interior design considers the advantages of a well though through garden gazebo.

There seems to have been much talk during lockdown, and in fairness prior to it too, about carving out additional interior space in the garden – call it what you will, home office, garden studio, man-den, she-shed (there must be a better term) or summerhouse – but the outside space that I personally covet most is the open fronted gazebo. I am not referring to the highly useful plastic pop-up variety that has been seen outside many drinking venues as lockdown eased in the bitter winter weather of May, but to the enviable garden structure that is highly inviting, provides views, fresh air, shelter from all sorts of weathers and that, if done well very well, is a place to inspire conversation, contemplation and tranquillity away from everyday life.

In countries with sunnier and more consistent climates, this sort of open yet undercover space is much more common and may come in the form of a veranda, pergola or simply an awning over a seating area which is useable for much of the year. Our British weather used to mean that we considered a place in the garden as a fully enclosed affair but I think that the indoor smoking ban in bar and restaurants helped to develop our thinking on this. As a non-smoker, I felt very much the injured party when friends left the dinner table to go to the smoking hut where the party really seemed to be at. Indeed Hotel du Vin jumped stylishly on the band wagon with their cigar shacks that feature underfloor heating, comfortable seating, antique furniture and WiFi access – really it’s a wonder that anyone ever returned to the dinner table.

The delightful Monterey gazebo from Garden Affairs offers shelter and privacy
whilst allowing fresh air and a view as required

In order to get the design of your gazebo right, the first thoughts should be what you actually want to use it for. Is it for smoking, is it for eating outdoors or barbequing when the weather isn’t quite up to it, do you want to avoid the intense summer sun in favour of a quiet snooze or an hour with a book, or do you want to get some fresh air during the rest of the year without perishing in your own garden? Once you have an idea of the use, you will know better what the structure needs to achieve and whether you require something quite simple, or whether electricity, drainage, a water supply or a flue for a fireplace or barbeque are required.

Which way your structure faces is also important. The direction of the sun (are you capturing the sun or providing shelter?) and whether you face into the wind will make a difference. Also, do you have a view to incorporate, or do you want (or not want) to be seen from the main house. There are also some practical things to think about like how much storage do you want – what will you bring from the main house and what could be on hand – will you need lighting (surely some fairy lights at the very least) and will any or all furnishings in it stay there all year round?

Once you know what you are aiming to create, the joyous process of working out what it will look like both inside and out can begin. I don’t wish to be negative, but I would advocate that the word plastic should be outlawed from the start. Whatever your structure is going to do for you, the one thing it needs to do is embrace the exterior space that it is in – otherwise it might be best just to go inside again. Here, the elements are not to be braved but to be enjoyed, and indeed relished.

This fantastic hip hangout was created by Shackadelic for one of their clients. It incorporates a barbeque, a log burner and space for a tree to grow through the roof

If you are lucky enough to have something in your garden that could be turned into a gazebo, this is a perfect place to start. Do you have a wall, or indeed corner area that could be used to build the structure against? Do you have an outbuilding or garage that could be converted or opened up? If not, do you want to create something with reclaimed building materials that looks like it has been there for ages, or do you want something pristine and new? Neither are right or wrong, it is a question of what really appeals to you and the wonderful thing is unlike areas within your home, you are not restricted by what is already there – you can create something from scratch which means you can decide on the building materials, the roof you prefer, whether you want windows or not, or whether you want to avoid or work around plants or trees that are there already, or indeed incorporate new planting.

The trick with the interior is to get the balance of inside and outside right. Some feeling of an interior space will make it inviting and comfortable but you also want it to be robust enough to not feel you have to take off muddy shoes to enjoy the space. I would advocate that whatever interior style you go for, keep it relaxed, for yourself and everyone who uses your garden gazebo. It doesn’t have to be the same look as your home, but I would suggest that a completely different look will require work, whereas something that evolves in the style of your home, could absorb any additional furnishings or accessories that you have in your home.

The level of protection from the elements that your gazebo offers will dictate to a certain extent what furnishing you opt for but I would try to avoid using only products designed for outside use. Cushions and comfy seating, artwork, accessories such as books, lamps and ornaments make an indoor space attractive and it is no different outside. You may want to bring some of these things inside (or cover them) during the winter but you are much more likely to use the space when there is some early spring or late autumn sunshine to be enjoyed if your outside space is ready and waiting for you.

Whatever it looks like, I think that the more love and attention you give your new indoor/outdoor space, the more you will use it and appreciate it.

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Lamp love

Cate Burren of Angel and Blume Interior Design discusses the beauty and usefulness of lamps in our homes – an article in Velvet Magazine May 2021

I was completely seduced by a table lamp this week. It was displayed in the ‘new in’ section on one of my favourite lighting company’s website and as soon as I saw it’s beautiful emerald green ribbed base and the wicker shade it was paired with, I knew without even considering where I would put it that I had to have both it and its shade. It arrived the next day (yes, really) and immediately made itself comfortable on a side table next to an armchair in the kitchen. I am delighted with it but much more than that, it has transformed the corner of the room. The pool of light that it throws on to the table and chair really does change the feel of the whole kitchen and makes the chair more inviting to sit in, not to mention being able to actually see what you are reading, even if you are using a back lit device. I should be more embarrassed that I didn’t identify the need for a light there before but I am so pleased with the result that I think we need say no more about that.

Lighting is one of the most powerful elements of an interior scheme and has the ability to completely alter the functionality and the feel of a space. When planning a lighting scheme, it is crucial to have a pretty good idea of how the space will be used because the best lighting lights things – artwork, furniture, decorative features, a dining table, a desk and so on – rather than just randomly providing light. That is why when you see a really well lit space, there tends to be pools of light that draw your eye and provide contrast with other less well lit spaces.

If you are at the stage of planning your lighting scheme from scratch, you will have the luxury of using different types of light – ceiling lights, wall lights, concealed lighting and so on. But if you are not, lamps are your best friend because they can provide a lot of these effects if used cleverly. Depending on the type of lamp you use, they can provide very focused light directed onto a piece of furniture or an accessory for example, but they can also provide quite widespread up-lighting if your room is lacking light higher up in a space. The height of the floor or table lamp makes a difference but more important is the direction that the lamp projects the light. You can get some lights that really do only throw the light upwards onto a ceiling, with very little light, if any, falling down onto the space below.

The brand new Boster light with wicker shade from Pooky.com

If you are planning a brand new lighting scheme, or willing to make adjustments to location of sockets in a room, think about where you would want your lamps in relation to furniture you have and allow for sockets accordingly. Better still, think about installing a 5 amp lamp circuit which all your lamps can be plugged in to allowing you to control them from one (dimmable) switch on the wall. If you have a particularly big room, you might also want to think about floor sockets so that you can place a lamp next to a chair or sofa without having a wire trailing across the floor from the wall. (A word to the wise here, just to avoid confusion with your contractor – when you discuss lamps with your electrician, (s)he will assume you are taking about bulbs which they call lamps – bulbs apparently are for planting in the ground.)

The style of your lamp depends on your own interior taste and there are plenty to choose from. Not all your lamps need to make a statement, some of them can just provide light in the background, but some lamps are so beautiful that they are artwork pieces in themselves. Consider where you want to make a statement and where you just need light and pick your fittings accordingly. As well as there being a huge selection of new lamps ranging from the very traditional to the ultra modern, there are also some fantastic antique lights available with iconic collectors pieces being in very high demand. ‘1000 Lights’ published by Taschen is a great guide and contains something for every taste.

Some lamps are there just to bring joy. There is a lovely lamp originally from Porta Romana that has a highly feathered shade with a base made in the style of a long pair of birds legs and webbed feet which really never fails to get a smile. It has been copied by others but not executed quite as well or humourously as this version.

It sounds a very obvious thing to say but you need to see a lamp when it is lit, as well as when it is not, as they are often sold both online and in the flesh without the ability to see the lamp illuminated. A shade also makes a big difference to this effect – a colourful shade will affect the colour of the light that is emitted, as indeed a very dense shade will reduce the amount of light given off. My new wicker shade gives a lovely broken-up light, and from most angles you can see the bulb so an attractive bulb also had to be acquired.

An elegant tripod lamp from Chaplins is a stylish statement and provides useful task lighting

The amount of light that you want in a room will change during the day, at dusk and at night so it is worth thinking this through when you are selecting the position and style of your lighting. During the day you may need no lights on, or just a couple to light darker spaces. You will probably want a few more lit when it is dusk or during the winter months of gloomy weather. At night, all lamps might be on, but it will depend on what you are using the room for at the time. Also, I am sad to say having experienced this first hand, you do tend to want and need more light as you get older.

The number of lamps that you have in a room, and their positioning, will affect the amount of light in a room, but also the bulb that you use will too. Selecting a good bulb does make a difference and at the very least, think about the amount of light that a bulb emits and the colour of light (warm, cool, daylight etc.) when selecting your fitting.

The good news is that huge changes can be made to the feel of a room and the way that it works for you just by changing some light fittings. An overlit room is as bad as an underlit room, and a poorly thought out arrangement of lamps and light fittings will also mean that you are not doing justice to your interior. I have quite literally had a light bulb moment this week and I can highly recommend it.

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Plant power

An article from Velvet Magazine that appeared in February 2020, to hopefully distract us for a few minutes from Coronavirus!

Cate Burren of Angel and Blume Interior Design shares her enthusiasm for incorporating flora of all types into our homes.

I am currently rather in love with a giant fiddle leaf fig tree that is sitting in the Colefax shop in Pimlico. Like a splendid work of art, it catches my eye every time I go in there and it is fortunate that it does not seem to be available for purchase as I have neither the cash nor the space in my home to buy a plant that is significantly taller than me and heralds from the heart of Chelsea. However, it is magnificent (and it knows it) as is the beautiful oversized basket that it lives in and it has single-handedly reminded me of what a great addition to our interiors plants of all descriptions can be.

The first things I would say is, because I can hear the mutterings already, is that if you really aren’t green fingered (I am not, an orchid once died in my car on the way home from the shops), there are some very hardy plants around and if that is still too much to entertain, there are some fantastic artificial trees, plants and flowers to be had. Artificial no longer means dusty silk roses that can be spotted as fakes at a hundred paces, modern artificial is almost impossible to call until you touch it and even then, you can be fooled. My own personal choice is to have a number of good fake plants and flower arrangements in my home and to also have a few real offerings that can be replaced as and when death occurs.

The trick with real is to know your plants – I would not insult you by offering horticultural advice but getting the right plant in the right place, and looking after it, I am told, will result in almost guaranteed success. I am currently carrying out just such an experiment with a Swiss Cheese plant (purchased from Homebase near the Beehive Centre in case you are wondering) in the front window of the office where there is plenty of indirect light and as I write, the Swiss Cheese is thriving. However, if you pass by and it is gone, please assume that I have moved it into another room, rather than unwittingly murdered it.

As important as selecting the plants that will thrive, is finding plants that fit with your interior style. The chances are that the flora you are drawn to will naturally work within your home but it pays to consider what you might want before turning up at the garden centre. If you have a modern feel to your home, you will probably want plants with a more contemporary feel – a snake plant or aloe vera for example. A traditional interior may call for something more in keeping such as lavender, hydrangea, cyclamen or camelia.

There are a few very natural fits in the home where plants are concerned. Citrus trees in conservatories or rooms where there is a lot of glass look very at home, as do herbs in a kitchen where they seem ready to leap into a recipe at a moment’s notice. I also think plants look great near a window that looks onto greenery of some description as they seem to naturally blend with the view, blurring the lines of inside and outside.

How you present your plants or flowers will have a significant effect on how they work within your scheme. Pots and vases come in endless shapes and sizes and making sure their look fits with the plant is as important as how they work in an interior space. Try to be creative with your container, thinking about both the plant and the surrounding it will be in. Remember that if you go for something non water or soil proof such as a basket, a plastic pot inside the container is the key. In fact it is often better as it makes watering easier. Remember in addition to look at the scale of the container relative to the plant – an over or undersized pot, basket or other will look odd, so try to get a balance between the two.

While we are on the subject of size, the overall height and width of your plant and pot needs to work with the space that it is in. An oversize plant can look fantastic (particularly in a large posh shop) but the minute it is even vaguely crammed into a space, it will look odd. Similarly a very small plant and pot probably needs to be arranged with other things (books, photos, lamps, other plants) so that it doesn’t get lost. If it is going to work on it’s own, it will probably need a window sill or other smaller space so there is something around it. Grouping plants together can work well but such an arrangement does quite quickly create a small jungle feel so I think it is better to try to find the right size plant for the space in question unless there is a good reason to do otherwise (a collection of herbs for example).

I haven’t intentionally avoided the subject of cut flowers here – my love of the big fig tree has only very temporarily distracted me – I think flowers in a home are wonderful and actually, similar rules apply. Artificial are now very good and it is great for both your time and wallet to invest in some good artificial and treat yourself to fresh when you can. I would also suggest sticking mainly to your style rules about modern or traditional blooms and having a collection of vases that work with your interior. Scent from cut flowers is one of the most delicious aromas in a home so find what works for you and place your blooms in a location where you will enjoy them most.

So as we edge into Spring and outside spaces come to life, think about bringing a bit of that green growth into your homes; it really will add a fresh new feel to your interior spaces.

 

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Anyone for a Dry Martini?

I thought this article might be appropriate for New Year’s Eve or for anyone contemplating Dry January. Happy New Year everyone!

 

Cate Burren of Angel and Blume Interior Design considers the art of the bar cart

I’ve recently been trying to cut back on my alcohol intake (not for any particular reason than the obvious ones, and it’s not going too badly thank you) and as with cutting back on anything, it does make you slightly obsessed with what you are trying to avoid. What I have particularly noticed is just how many references there are to our supposed love of a tipple in our modern world. Greetings cards seem to be particular offenders – it feels that every other card in the shop has a humorous, or otherwise, reference to celebrating almost any occasion with an elegant aperitif, or by getting completely hammered, depending on what section of the shop you find yourself in. Our interiors are not immune either. There is a sea of opportunity available to pronounce yourself a fan of an alcoholic beverage. I was recently in a largish department store where I saw, all in close vicinity, a money box with ‘Mummy’s Prosecco Fund’ written on the side, a cushion proclaiming ‘Champagne is the Answer’ and a framed poster which somewhat aggressively instructed its audience to ‘DRINK MORE GIN’.

Drinks trolley from Graham and Green

I am certainly not going to make a (mildly) reformed person’s judgement on the content of these declarations but it does strike me as odd that we don’t celebrate other forms of high living with quite such gusto. You don’t often see a fridge magnet for example that says ‘It’s Steak O’Clock!’ or a birthday card saying ‘Lobster Thermidor Makes Everything Better’.

Given our great love of a little drinky, we do seem to be surprisingly coy about how we house our habit. Wine racks and wine fridges are much more present in our houses than they used to be but other drinks are often still relegated to the back of a cupboard. I grant you that few of us want a Del Boy style bar in the corner of our living room but there can be something very glamourous about a selection of drinks, glasses and accessories that are well-displayed and ready for use.

I think drinks trolleys (or bar carts as the Americans call them) can be very good edition to a sitting room or other interior space as they make such a heartening display. Although they have wheels, they are not designed to be pushed round the room like you are serving on an intercity train although a quick trip to the dishwasher at the end of the evening (or the following morning if we are being honest) is quite handy. They are often rather marvellous pieces of furniture in themselves and look great when fully loaded up and ready to serve.

Cocktail cabinets are more discreet and can look very innocent from the outside. What you find inside can be anything from utilitarian to utterly fabulous. They often feature a rack for hanging glasses, mirrored back or sides, slots for your accessories and sometimes more – mini fridges, a pull-out serving ledge, lighting etc. David Linley, the master furniture maker has a ‘Techtonic Bar’ which is a piece of art as much as it is a piece of furniture and incorporates secret compartments (for your bootleg liquor) revolving columns and a cigar humidor. Its utterly beautiful and should be at a price tag of £130,000.

Gin glasses from Graham and Green

There are also some fantastic antique cocktail cabinets to be had and many of them have a least a whiff of lost days of high living. Unsurprisingly many of the really good ones have an Art Deco flavour about them and look great when either discreetly closed or party ready. I could be wrong about this but I personally think that no good can come from having a world globe that opens into a drinks cabinet but perhaps I am no fun.

Whatever style you prefer at home, it is hard to argue against a large, smart tray that quietly does the job of a drinks trolley or cabinet. This is not to serve the drinks but to keep all your beverage paraphernalia in order. A lovely tray, well curated, on top of a sideboard or occasional table works both functionally and aesthetically and is certainly a good place to start if you are initially dipping your toes into the home bar arena.

Whether you opt for a bespoke piece of furniture or a humble tray, the contents are key. Good glasses, an ice bucket, your desired bottles and mixers, condiments (citrus fruit, olives, tabasco sauce, cherries if you must) and other essential tools – ice tongs, cocktail shaker, cocktails sticks, swizzle sticks (come on, you know you want to) – can all play a part and there is lots of style choices available from grown up glamour right through to party lover.

I think it is important, both in terms of the look of your house but also for your own sanity to remember that you are not actually a bar, neither boutique hotel nor local boozer – you do not need to have every spirit, mixer, soft drink in the world to offer your guests. I think serving a drink or two that is appropriate for the time of year and day, that goes with the food you are going to serve, plus a quality non-alcoholic alternative or two, is perfect. Having a wide selection of dusty bottles, some with questionable sell-by dates, is a bit grim. After all, you select a meal for your guests rather than offering them a menu of choices (I hope) so why would you not do the same with the pre-dinner, and indeed during and post dinner, drinks.

And whilst we are talking about planning your drinking, quantity is as important as quality – sending your guests home plastered is not doing them, or you, any favours. Of course you want to have a great time and be a marvellous host/hostess but part of that is keeping an eye on the intake – serving four large G&Ts before feeding anyone will end badly. In addition, taking as much care over your Mocktails as you do over your Moscow Mules will encourage enjoyment over drunkenness. Lots of people don’t drink alcohol at all, or are restrained, and non-alcoholic drinks really can be delicious but it does take both effort and imagination.

So on that note, and before my best laid plans to drink less and behave better are too challenged, I would like to say it isn’t hard to glam up your drinks stash, so have fun, let your hair down and here’s to all our good health.

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Happy Christmas!

Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas and all good things for 2020

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The love of books

Have you noticed how many things that were absolutely finished have proved to be anything but obsolete and are now really rather fashionable in our lives and homes? Remember how cinemas were going to die out when the DVD (or VHS machines for those of us of a certain vintage) came along, or when records were taken over by tape cassettes and then CDs and then music was just simply downloaded. And finally the beloved book was going to be replaced with a kindle or tablet or phone. Thank goodness that none of these predictions have come true and indeed we seem to now have the best of all worlds available to us as LPs make a huge comeback, cinemas thrive (in fact most of us seem obsessed with not only going to the pictures but trying to recreate both the surround sound and the size of the screen at home) and books sales, including eBooks, flourish. How wonderful to have choices and to not lose the old, whilst embracing the new.

I am well aware that I am a sucker for books. I have always loved them and seeing a well presented, personal collection of books really does lift my heart. Just occasionally I encounter a home without books – more often this is a holiday cottage or a guest room where the owners just haven’t thought to leave any books – and I am surprised how characterless it can feel without them.

Presenting your books is a somewhat trickier business than you would imagine. I like to think that being able to access your books (by which I mean comfortably taking them off the shelf) is crucial to good usage of your collection so you need space in front of them to get to them, a good orderly system that means if you remove a few tomes, the whole row doesn’t fall over and some sort of order to where things go (subject matter, alphabetical etc. – but more of this later). The late lamented Karl Lagerfeld was a notorious book collector with purportedly over 300,000 books in his collection. He claimed that he had no room left in his house to collect anything other than books and he stacked them high and sideways (if you look at ‘Karl Lagerfeld book collection’ in google images, you will see what I mean). Whilst this was typically dramatic, I can’t think that if you are searching for that one book that you need, you are going to be able to easily lay your hands on it, or indeed extract it from the bottom of the pile should you stumble across it.

Displaying books so they look good is a different matter (and I suspect presentation was high in Karl’s mind but I could be doing him a disservice). I think books of similar heights work well on bookcases and not having too much wasted height between the top of the books and the shelf above is generally an aesthetic bonus. Fortunately, types of books (novels, cookery books, gardening books etc.) seem to have approximately similar heights as I have witnessed regularly in bookshops so you can make your collection look good and still have some sense of order. I have occasionally seen books arranged by colour of spine (in overly stylish interiors magazines) and this seems a step too far, unless of course you really can remember the colour of the spine of all the books you own so you can find them again, in which case you may need to get out more, as indeed does the arranger of books by colour.

On a more practical note, a client of mine made a very good and obvious point, when you think about it, that if you put children’s books low down where they can reach them, or better still use a bookcase where they can see the fronts of them, they are more likely to be tempted to get them out and read them. And not just in their bedrooms, in communal household spaces too – it may be a long shot to think that a book would catch their eye and they might end up reading rather than watching telly – but it is surely worth a try.

For similar reasons, I am a very big fan of books in bathrooms and kitchen – we tend to think that books don’t really live in either room (apart from the collection of current trendy cookbooks arranged ostentatiously within an open wall unit) but I think they should. I have an ever-changing selection of books in my bathroom which I browse when bathing and a large bookcase in my kitchen which I like to think distracts me from eating, although unfortunately this is one bit of multitasking I do seem to be good at.

Of course, an actual library in your home is a wonderful thing – to have a calm space, surrounded by books, comfortable reading chairs, appropriate lighting is a slice of heaven, but I think that libraries can be created even if you don’t have a room to allocate to it, as most of us don’t. A dining room can double up beautifully as a library, as can a spacious landing or hallway, or sometimes just a corner of a room with well-designed built in bookcases can give a library feel and add interest to a room. Thinking about how best to house your collection of books – precious or otherwise – will mean that you get the most from them and they will add character and familiarity to your home.

And just a final thought for you which is perhaps not totally interiors related but is a reminder to you from me, just as a book lover. We all love Amazon. We like the speed, the price and the Amazon delivery person arriving on our doorstep with exactly what we ordered. However, I am going to say to you what I regularly say to myself. Try to resist, or at least, try other approaches as well. Bookshops are magical, wondrous places and feeling the book in your hands, sampling its contents at your will and looking at its pictures will lead you to books that you would not necessarily be drawn to online. And whilst I am doling out advice that I am not qualified to give, I am also going to encourage you to think about second hand books – a book with a rich history, an interesting smell, a heritage is an individual object that only you have. Really, I would defy any who truly loves books to enter the Amnesty bookshop on Mill Road and not leave clutching a purchase that feels like an absolute treasure.

This article first appeared in Velvet Magazine 

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The Chapel, Harrogate

Somehow Rightmove knows that I like looking at properties that I can’t afford and they recently sent a real peach of a home in their weekly email. I have spent rather too long gazing at it and googling it, so I am now passing on that baton to you. It is a glorious Grade II listed converted Methodist Chapel and I think someone has done a great job on the restoration and creating a beautiful and creative dwelling within.

A balcony from one of the bedrooms overlooks the main living area

I love the pendant light which has just the right proportions for the space

A brave and beautiful colour that emphasises those glorious windows

You can just see parasols hanging from the ceiling – I love it!

The Chapel is currently for sale through Strutt and Parker and there is also a website with yet more delicious pictures to view at thechapelhg1.com/

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Home Front

The February edition of Velvet Magazine is out and it is looking lovelier than ever! Here is a little taster with the contribution from Angel and Blume.

Drowning in stuff? Cate Burren reflects on the ever-increasing number of possessions we have in our homes.

‘I tried hard to resist the temptation to raise the topic of decluttering our homes at this time of year – it seems as big a cliché as offering diet tips or holiday ideas – but then I read a truly compelling article about the average number of things we have in our homes and it has stayed with me ever since. Go on, guess how many (think books, DVDs, shoes, teaspoons, general stuff in drawers – each thing counts) keep going, keep going – ok, I will tell you. 300,000. My initial reaction without really thinking about it was that I don’t have nearly that number of items but when I started to count, I was less sure. In the name of research, I have been testing the number out on those around me and several people have been unsurprised, or guessed a higher number. One of my colleagues was utterly unmoved when I revealed the answer to her and announced that she thought her husband had 100,000 items in his shed alone.

Of course the right reaction would be to think that we can’t possibly need 300,000 items in our homes and the truth is that we don’t, in our modern world most of us have just ended up with too much stuff. Before I move on, I’ll just hit you with a few other eye-openers along the same lines. These are my favourites but there are loads to choose from:

• The average American home has more TVs than people (2.86 sets v 2.44 people) and I’ll bet we are only fractionally behind them.
• British children have an average of 238 toys but regularly play with just 12
• 1 in 10 Americans rent a storage locker, some of which are abandoned and dismantled when the rental invoice isn’t paid. (My husband did this before he met me – twice – and I am ashamed to say that I am far more obsessed with what was in the storage lockers than I am on questioning him about any other parts of his previous life).

Image by Peter Bennett Photography

I think I have made my point. The question is, short of binning much of what we have worked so hard to accumulate, which doesn’t really seem to address the problem anyway, what can we usefully take from this for the future? I have pondered this recently, mainly on the way to the Milton Recycling Centre, and my thoughts are as follows:

1. Much has been said already about the throw-away society we are currently in and I think that this in absolutely true in our homes. Shops like Ikea, Homes Sense and T K Maxx allow us to buy things for our home cheaply, which is good, but does lead to us to not buying the right item in the first place, something which will last, can be repaired/mended in future, that we can to take to future homes and then pass on to others. We buy items on the basis that we will probably throw them away when we find, or can afford, the item we actually want. It is hard to wait, save up, make the right choice and then keep the item for a long time, but it is much the best way to do things. Buying quality and keeping things doesn’t de-clutter our homes but it is ultimately cost effective and better for the planet. It also means that we have something we like in our homes rather than an interim piece which we don’t really like and will probably stay with us for longer than we originally intended.

2. If you have decent quality items (and sometimes even if they are cheap to start off with), you can have them mended when they are worn or damaged. I am constantly amazed and delighted to find craftspeople who can undertake repairs to items that we think are beyond help. In Cambridgeshire alone, we have Restorers, French Polishers, Seamstresses, people who will repair enamel on baths, people who will repair metal work and so on. Just as it is worth buying something you like to start off with, it is worth repairing something you like rather than immediately thinking of buying a new one.

3. I think we often buy something new because it makes us feel better – it’s a treat – but we justify it by saying we need it. As an example, I constantly buy books (interior design books, cookery books, novels etc.) when I have shelves heaving with books of each type that I haven’t read yet. Stopping ourselves before we buy anything – books, clothes, toys, tellies – and asking ourselves if we really do need it or whether we have something in the home already that could be used – may produce surprising results.

4. Often we have things in our homes that we feel we can’t get rid of because they have sentimental value, or because we are storing them for other people (children are a primary example). It is hard but I think you have to be strict on this. The home should be for the people in it, not a place to store items that are not wanted by the inhabitants. Be creative with how you do this to avoid upset. e.g. ‘We are going to sell Great Auntie Margies sideboard that she loved but is not quite our thing and buy a picture we do like to remind ourselves of her’ or ‘We love you and support you but we don’t want to house your childhood teddy bear collection any more – can we help you to move it to your (trendy minimalist) flat?’

5. Don’t immediately bin things – so much can be released back into the wild. Many things can be sold if you take a little time and make the effort to find the right place. It doesn’t have to be Ebay, which is useful but labour intensive, places like The Curtain Exchange, Willingham Auctions and Cheffins Antique sales will all give you honest advice on the item and will do the work for you, for a fair share of the proceeds. In addition, giving decent quality items to charity shops (try think of which charity could make best use of the item you are donating) will make you feel good and will genuinely help others.

I am sometimes guilty of giving advice that I don’t always follow myself (do what I say, not what I do) but I was actually so shocked, and frankly depressed, by what I read about the amount of stuff we have that I am determined to make changes to slowly reduce what I own. I have a feeling it will be rather liberating.’

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