Your life made easier - every day. 25 Beautiful Homes is a magazine for readers with a sense of personal style. Aspire to your dream house and enjoy looking at other people's homes, designs and styles for inspiration.
Traditional red and gold, white and silver, natural, bright, Scandi, vintage – the list goes on for the descriptions there are for Christmas decorations. Our house falls into the white, silver and natural group, so each year I buy a few extra decorations to add to our collection. Last year’s additions were mad colourful fish with feathers, which don’t fit in at all, but I’d generally say don’t be swayed by this year’s colour look if it doesn’t suit you. You’ll always find decorations to add to your collection and don’t forget that they’ll hold memories for you and your family. When my brother, sister and I shared out my mother’s baubles after she died, we didn’t want the ones she had bought recently but the ones from our childhood…
1 SWEET CENTREPIECE Chocolate house, £22.50, Bettys 2 SIGN OF THE TIMES Christmas plaque, £2.50, Wilko 3 IT’S A WRAP Robin stocking, £20, Lorna Syson 4 A WINTER’S TAIL Wooden cat decoration, £6, Poppy Treffry 5 FESTIVE FOLKLORE Nutcracker bauble, £5, Marks & Spencer 6 BERRY NICE Snow Berry tree topper, £14.99, Wyevale Garden Centres 7 SMALL WONDER Light-up rattan cone, £9.99, Dobbies 8 DECK THE HALLS Best 7ft Canadian fir tree, £80, Wilko 9 PARTY PIECE Botanical paper plates, £4.50 for 12, Talking Tables 10 GO WITH A BANG Crackers, £19.95 for six, Liberty…
1 SCENTED TREASURES Christmas cracker, £33, Jo Malone 2 FALLING STARS Numero 74 stars garland, £24, Smallable 3 EXOTIC EMBELLISHMENT Shangri-La Patricia peacock tree topper, £12, John Lewis 4 STAR QUALITY Glass bauble, £7, Marks & Spencer 5 STATELY STYLE Crown tree topper, £17.99, Very 6 PERFECT PLUMAGE Peacock feather wreath, £65, Liberty 7 FAUX FABULOUS Gold tinsel slim 6.5ft tree, £30, Wilko 8 SUMPTUOUS SET Peacock votives, £15 for three, Debenhams 9 FROST FAIR Antique jewelled snowflake ornament, £30, The White Company 10 GILDED CAGE Gold glitter crown key tree decoration, £3.50, National Trust…
BUTTON-BACK SOFA I’ve been looking for a buttoned grey sofa (maximum width of 165cm) that will not look too bulky in my bedroom. I spotted the lovely design in the home of Cassia Morris (p25, April 2016) but I think that will probably be too wide. Can you help? JEAN HAY, BY EMAIL That sofa came from Bardoe & Appel (01483 511477, bardoe andappel.co.uk) and is no longer available, but I can suggest a couple of compact options. Sofa Workshop (0800 230 0048, sofaworkshop.com) has a model called The Hunter (shown), which sits lightly in a room thanks to its petite proportions. It comes in a number of fabrics and measures H81 x W160 x D89cm, from £1,953. Primrose & Plum (01372 750648, primroseandplum.co.uk) has a grey button-back, two-seater chair…
INSPIRING HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY Part of a listed farm building, built in 1868 LOCATION East Netherlands ROOMS Hall, sitting room, dining room, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, barn PURCHASED 2009 PREVIOUS PROPERTY ‘We used to have a colonial-style home just across the border in Germany,’ says Jacqueline. The notion of spending Christmas in a rustic, welcoming house among the forest greenery proved irresistible for Jacqueline Kasten and her husband Jochem. The couple had both grown up in this same area of the eastern Netherlands, near the German border, and making the move back to the wooded landscape in 2009 was a happy homecoming. However, when Jochem said he had found the perfect home, his wife’s first reaction was less optimistic. ‘He had said the same thing many times before,’ explains…
UNIQUE HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY Detached Victorian rectory LOCATION The Cotswolds ROOMS Hall, sitting room, dining/billiard room, kitchen-diner, snug, garden room, four bedrooms (two en suite), bathroom PURCHASED 2015 PREVIOUS PROPERTY ‘I have a house in Hertfordshire, and Andrew also has a place in central London,’ says Estelle. There are few better places to spend the festive season than at Estelle Morris and Andrew Moss’s home. With far-reaching rural views, a warm Aga in the kitchen and fires lit from dawn, their rambling country cottage is the perfect setting for Christmas celebrations. Both divorced and with four children between them, the couple were looking for the ideal home for their newly blended family. ‘I work in Hertfordshire, while Andrew is in central London,’ says Estelle. ‘We couldn’t find a place…
