The sun is shining, holiday season is upon us and summer day trips are beckoning. Whether you’re looking for places to take the kids this summer or if you fancy taking a trip before the crush of the school holidays, the UK is packed with gorgeous stately homes, crammed with incredible interiors, paintings, art and history and open for visitors to have a snoop around.
The Angel + Blume team took a break from the office recently to take a trip to Hatfield House and we returned with our batteries recharged and our imaginations fired up by the incredible interiors and craftsmanship. Dating back to 1485 this house was taken over later by Henry VIII as a residence for his children Mary, Elizabeth and Edward; it’s definitely a house fit for royalty – just look at that gold ceiling.
If you’re a fan of minimalist interiors look away now. Every room in Hatfield House is bursting with furniture, paintings, sculpture and ornaments. Look at the walls of this room – not only are the ornate paintings jostling for space on every surface, but they are hanging on top of huge antique tapestries. And as for that fireplace…it’s so vast there’s even enough space for a full size statue on the mantlepiece.
Fancy a bit of light reading? How impressive is this double-height library. If there’s one thing that these rooms demonstrate it’s a total confidence and boldness when it comes to interior decorating. It’s a great example of knowing what your style is and then really going for it – there’s certainly no modesty or hesitation here.
Interestingly, the rooms that got the best reaction from the Angel + Blume team were the servants quarters. The large, airy kitchen was a lovely sunny space, with rows and rows of gleaming copper saucepans neatly lined up on shelves (our resident cake-baker Jenny was green with envy). Predictably these rooms were totally devoid of decoration and glitz but they had an entirely different charm as you could imagine life bustling along there at a frantic pace as food was prepared in great quantities for the banquets and feasts held in the rooms above.
And if you’re interested in garden design there’s no excuse not to visit, as the gardens are world famous. According the The Enduring Gardener the best time to visit the garden is June when they are ‘overflowing with roses’.
So if you have a spare afternoon this summer I heartily recommend hopping in the car and taking the opportunity to snoop around a seriously impressive house. You’ll return with heaps of ideas and inspiration for your own home.
Images 1 2 3 Hatfield House 4 FredsDaysOut 5,6 The Enduring Gardener
Hatfield, Hertfordshire AL9 5NQ
Tel: 01707 287010
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