A Suffolk Farmhouse

This is an ancient, timber framed farmhouse in Suffolk, which in the early 18th century had been given a ravishing new ‘polite’ front of soft red brick and sash windows (with deliciously thick glazing bars).  The house had been taken over by new owners, who were carrying out a sympathetic and sensible restoration.

We were engaged in a consultancy role to assist with the decoration of key rooms and to advise generally on building works, as well as to engage Historic England on the aspects of the renovation which required listed building consent (the house is Grade II*).  Over a period of some years we worked slowly through the rooms to create a house that has a gentle, quiet and untroubled atmosphere, all brought together by the owners’ lovely collection of paintings and antique furniture.

Tucked away in a hidden valley, it is a house that time has forgotten – a wonderful place and the happiest people to work with.

A Cornish holiday house

This house is the first phase of a much wider project, restoring the estate around a Grade I listed castle on the south Cornish coast. A former estate manager’s house was to be remodelled to provide extended family accommodation suitable for the owners to live in while the main house was being restored – and then to form a beautiful holiday home for longer-term guests.

Our work started with significant exterior remodelling, and obtaining planning approval for two new ground floor extensions to improve the balance of accommodation. The house was in very poor order and we ultimately took a decision to re-wire and re-service the building entirely. New windows were installed throughout.

Our new rooms were completely remodelled, creating, in the process, one of our favourite kitchens of all time, as well as a new glazed garden sitting room, new bathrooms and boots and laundry room. The decoration is intentionally simple and robust, with a quiet palette enlivened by flashes of rich orange, olive and turquoise blue.

The house sits in an extraordinary position overlooking an estuary. Beautiful new gardens planted by Julian and Isabel Bannerman draw one to the landscape beyond.

A Welsh Farmhouse

This interior was designed for a development project at the Coed Darcy regeneration scheme in South Wales. The architectural practice designed a cluster of simple, elegant vernacular houses, which you can view here. We were subsequently commissioned to decorate one building with a brief to create a warm, lived in, show home.

These interiors, therefore, have no specific owner or client, but have a real personality and a sense of timelessness that perhaps belies the fact that these rooms were assembled and put together just days before they were photographed here. We loved working with this project, one of our very first decoration adventures.