Period Living

Every New Year brings with it the inevitable list of New Year's Resolutions, which, despite our best intentions, sometimes never come to fruition. This year, however, top of my list will be looking at ways to make my old – and slightly draughty – Vic

We live in a Grade II-listed converted pub dating back to 1760. I was interested in the article in the October issue about wood-burning stoves, which inspired me to get in touch. We have an old range cooker in the kitchen but can’t use the fire due t

Mouse Martin had just completed on the purchase of her tiny Cotswold cottage, when lockdown restrictions were imposed for a second time in the winter of 2020. In many ways, however, it was perfect timing, giving her the opportunity to fully focus on

Scottish mill Johnstons of Elgin has teamed up with interior designer, Ben Pentreath, to launch a playful collection of lambswool interior fabrics and throws that blend weaving heritage with fresh colour combinations for a contemporary take on a trad

Whether you have a spare bedroom ready prepared for entertaining, or a multi-functional space that doubles as a guest room, offering a comfortable home-from-home for friends and family is a must. If you are designing a room from scratch there is plen

Dating back to the 16th century, floral stylist Willow Crossley’s Grade II-listed extended cottage is a wonderful ‘mishmash’, as she describes. ‘It’s very higgledy-piggledy and wonky. The walls and doors are anything but straight, but it has so much

With inspiration from deep oceans to velvety night skies, dark and navy blues are life-enhancing shades that have the power to enhance our feeling of well-being. With their wide appeal of serenity and calm, it is perhaps no surprise that dark blues c

Picture the quintessential country home and it will almost certainly feature a dresser. This much-loved piece of furniture is so instantly evocative of bygone times that it often appears as a character in period dramas in its own right. From the well

Garden designer Alasdair Cameron’s Devon farmhouse sits comfortably within its landscape of rolling hills and pasture. Accessed down a tiny hedgelined lane overhung with ancient oak trees, the Georgian property has an uninterrupted view of fields and

Nestling in rural Hampshire, along a peaceful country lane, designer Pippa Blacker’s muchloved home is the perfect place for her to celebrate a cosy Christmas and New Year with her family. ‘Our home has evolved over the years, and is a relaxed cottag

Blending the softness of wool and the durability of sisal, Sisool offers the best of both worlds. Retaining the original colour of the wool and sisal creates distinctive patterns and there are various weaves to suit different rooms in the home, from

Vanity units are an often overlooked part of bathroom design, with elegant baths, statement showers and ornate tiling stealing the limelight. However, as one of the largest pieces of furniture in the room, the vanity has the power to make or break yo

Regardless of the era or the status of a house, the kitchen was, and still is today, primarily a functional space. It is where meals are prepared and often eaten, and many essential household tasks are carried out. However, this is only part of its r

Retrofitting an old house to make it more energy efficient helps cut bills, reduces carbon emissions, and makes it more comfortable. Even so, we first need to consider how the building works to avoid any unintended consequences, such as condensation,

Comprised of wide wooden boards, scrubbed or polished for generations, imperfect and uneven from wear, an old floor adds much interest to any room in a period property. Old boards, however, are often abused badly: botched efforts to replace them are

Slugs are a gardener’s nemesis. After you’ve spent months lovingly raising seedlings and carefully nurturing crops, slugs can then make short work of munching their way through your plants, undoing all your hard work in one evening. Fear of this will

Sweet peas provide the scent of summer, and this old-fashioned cottage garden favourite, with its ruffled flowers, has graced our gardens for centuries. Relatively easy to grow, sweet peas have been called ‘the Queen of Annuals’ ‘and it would be hard

Portraits have been a genre since the very beginnings of art history with examples in existence from ancient Egyptian civilisation. Historically used to commemorate or celebrate an event or happening, the desire has always been to capture the likenes

Useful as a design feature in many styles of garden, from formal and traditional, to informal cottage garden or naturalistic planting schemes, topiary can take many forms. ‘It is the most useful garden design tool. Fashions in gardens fluctuate, but

Bright and crisp, the weather is ripe for foraging as Alison West heads towards her local woodlands on the outskirts of Chagford, a pretty market town in Dartmoor National Park in Devon. Into her hessianlined basket goes handfuls of beechnuts, acorns

When, in 1535, Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn arrived in state for a grand four-day visit to the magnificent Tudor mansion that is The Vyne, there must have been an anxious tsunami of activity – even more than usual for the hosting of a monarch. This was

YOU WILL NEED: ● Soy wax pellets ● Cupcake baking tray ● Cupcake cases ● Dried flowers ● Dried herbs ● Cinnamon sticks ● Dried orange slices ● Soy wicks Winter is the season of the fireplace – its radiating heat and gently flickering flames are key t