Indholdsfortegnelse for September 2022 i Homes & Gardens

‘This sandy shade has such depth to it. It makes a room feel warm so is good for north-facing rooms and those that don’t get a lot of natural light. It works really well with both crisp whites and also colours closer in tone, such as burgundy and olive green. It also makes stronger colours like a royal blue pop against it. It’s so versatile.’ LAURA STEPHENS, founder, Laura Stephens Interior Design ‘We feel this tone is perfect for domestic spaces, such as kitchens and pantries, where you don’t want the colour to be a protagonist. A client chose it for a recent project and it works really well in rooms that don’t benefit from lots of natural light, as it manages to be warm and welcoming without overpowering.’ BRUCE…

STATEMENT SEATING A buttery hue introduces brilliant colour to an otherwise neutral scheme. Opt for look-at-me upholstery with a gathered skirt and contrasting piping. Add to the whimsical look by opting for scalloped edges like this rug from Tigmi Trading. MAKE AN ENTRANCE The deep rich Bengal yellow from Graphenstone on these grand double doors brings a modern edge to this classic space. Confining a bold colour in such a way avoids overwhelming a space while also ensuring the doors offer a striking focal point. Such a rich tone works beautifully with a paler shade, Graphenstone’s Lovat, as seen here on the walls and columns. PATTERN PLAY To introduce texture to a space, choose fabric for your walls instead of wallpaper. This decorative design – Hydrangea Lace in Sunflower and…

The joyful and life-affirming tone of Paolo Castellarin and his husband Didier’s Milan turn-of-the century apartment owes much to the restrained lockdowns of the preceding years. ‘We’d been staying in the countryside during the pandemic but returned to find this property on the market and although we weren’t looking to move at the time we knew we had to view it,’ Paolo recounts. Mesmerised by the four-metre-high coffered ceilings and stucco work, the pair immediately identified its potential. ‘The floor plan had been broken up to provide smaller bedrooms for the two children who had lived here and we realised we could open up the reception rooms and dispense with the corridor to create a more palatial sense of flow,’ Paolo explains. ‘I had just completed a course in industrial…

Above all, I was looking for natural atmosphere and personality – a mix between rustic and minimalist style,’ says Nani Marquina of the criteria for her second home. She and her husband Albert Font found just that on Spain’s Costa Brava, in the shape of a two-storey house, nestled into a rugged hillside a short distance from the coves and beaches of the Mediterranean. ‘It was built in the 1970s and responds to the basic lifestyle of the local inhabitants,’ says Nani. ‘It’s very simple and very white, with an unbeatable ocean view.’ Previously owned by a visual artist, the house/workshop concept already in place chimed perfectly with the couple’s vision, providing not just a holiday home but also a space in which to enjoy their own work. Albert is…

FITTING IN ‘A garden pool area must be designed so it is part of the scene, complementing the architecture of your home and surrounding landscaping. Consider the shapes, lines and forms in the wider garden – the swimming pool needs to be sympathetic to that master plan design. For instance, if the garden has lots of organic lines, then a rectangular pool will look out of place,’ explains garden designer Marcus Barnett. POSITION WISELY ‘It should be in a discreet or hidden area, not seen immediately from the house, as pools are not attractive in winter when all one sees is a cover, but also consider the views from the pool,’ advises garden designer Libby Russell. ‘It is good to get afternoon sun on the main seating area, but also…

FRENCH AND ITALIAN MODELS ARE THE HEIGHT OF LUXURY WHY THESE COOKERS? France and Italy have long been known for delicious cuisine, which is probably why they are also known for manufacturing range cookers that can deliver superb results, making them beloved by chefs and home cooks alike. Timeless, robust and reliable, and offering a wealth of cooking options – from gas burners with precise temperature control to large oven capacities – these ranges are engineered to help you cook easily for large groups. They are investment pieces designed to last for years. ‘Our philosophy is to offer the potential of the professional cooking range for home use,’ says Manfredi Conforzi, designer and commercial director of Officine Gullo, the Italian company that handcrafts its cookers in Florence. ‘The aim is…

WHY A SAUNA? ‘As the bathroom is increasingly seen as the centre of wellbeing in our homes, where we can go to relax and rejuvenate, a sauna can make an enjoyable and luxurious addition to the room,’ says Louise Ashdown, head of design at West One Bathrooms. Typically, a small cabin clad in natural timber, such as Canadian hemlock or traditional Swedish pine, the sauna can reach temperatures of up to 100°C, but with very low humidity (20-30%), so that perspiration evaporates and the skin does not get too hot. It is this dry heat that distinguishes a sauna from a steam room (also known as a Turkish bath or hammam), which features humid heat. BENEFITS ‘Warm, dry air and the fragrance of natural wood combine to create a calming…

I HAVE always had a love for fabrics – even as a child I had Pierre Frey motifs decorating the walls of my room, which has deeply influenced my style. Their texture, colours and patterns are the essence of my designs, helping to make each of my projects unique, because with fabrics, the possibilities are endless. Usually, I don’t look for a specific fabric so much as for an ensemble of them, which I can combine and blend elegantly while harmonising with the other furniture and accessories in the room. In my new Paris gallery, for example, I have used Schumacher fabrics to create a cosy ambience: the sofa is upholstered with a Palermo mohair and cotton velvet to lend softness, the walls covered with Tarnby Stripe in a deep…

BAKED PEARS WITH FRESH RICOTTA, HONEY & PINE NUTS SERVES 4 4 ripe red pears2 tbsp honey25g butter4 rosemary sprigsA squeeze of lemon juice100g fresh ricotta cheese20g pine nuts, toasted in adry pan2 tbsp honey and rosemary,to serve ■ Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas 4. ■ Core the pears and cut a horizontal sliver from the bases, then stand them upright in a dish small enough to fit them snugly. Drizzle with honey, dot with butter, then tuck the rosemary sprigs in and around them. Add a squeeze of lemon juice and a splash of water. Cover with foil and bake for about 35 minutes until the pears are soft, but still holding their shape. Serve with juices from the dish, spoonfuls of ricotta, a scattering of toasted pine nuts,…

ON THE RIVIERA Design duo Emil Humbert and Christophe Poyet of Humbert & Poyet have created the Villa Riviera collection of indoor-outdoor fabrics and furniture for Nobilis. Characterised by art deco motifs, the fabric, starting from €180m, has geometries, curves and stripes in a range of muted tones, while the furniture, from €3,000, includes a garden lounge set consisting of an armchair and a small two-seater sofa, available in iroko or white lacquered wood. ART WALLS ‘Live with the art you love’ is the idea behind Graham & Brown’s collaboration with Tate and the result is the launch of a collection of 32 wallpaper murals. Shown here is one created using Bathing from 1911 by the Bloomsbury Group’s Duncan Grant. Each mural is priced at £40sq m and can be…

INTRODUCING A PEDESTAL I LOVE decorating with a pedestal in a scheme, which is something that I think not many people consider but it can do so much for a room. It brings your eye up, it adds another layer of interest, and it means that you can change what you have on display and it can bring an element of materiality if you find one in stone, marble or even a faux paint effect. ■ Pedestals work equally well in a sitting room as in an entranceway or dining room, and they add a certain understated drama. If you imagine a beautiful pedestal in green marble, topped with a Murano glass vase, a plaster bust or a large shell, it can change the look and feel of the room.…

NATURAL CHARM Patterns can be subtle and sophisticated, particularly when decorating with natural materials in neutral colourways. Jo le Gleud, co-founder of interior design studio Maddux Creative, says the marble references for this London townhouse were from Villa Planchart [the house Gio Ponti designed for his clients Anala and Armando Planchart in Caracas, Venezuela]. ‘We use marble patterned like this for any high-traffic areas; the colours chosen resonate with the antique mosaic on the wall in this entrance-meets-boot room,’ says Jo. ‘All other areas are so much softer with the Parquet de Versailles, which was the default throughout the rest of the lower and upper ground floors of this house.’ CLASSIC CHARACTER In a kitchen adding a patterned floor is a wonderful way to bring another decorative element to a…

It is perhaps no surprise that when the new owners of this 1970s villa in Saint-Tropez enlisted interior designer Stéphanie Coutas to help with its modernisation, at the top of their wish list was a desire to create multiple areas for socialising. ‘The setting is beautiful with its striking sea views, and my clients were keen to capitalise on that,’ says Stéphanie. ‘They wanted to bring nature into the heart of the property by creating indoor and outdoor spaces that are perfectly interconnected.’ What particularly struck Stéphanie when she first visited the two-storey villa was its somewhat glitzy décor, a throw-back to the 1980s: ‘It involved a lot of chrome and shiny handrails,’ she says. ‘This was an aspect that we needed to counteract and balance by introducing natural tones…

FABULOUS FEATURES MANY Mediterranean gardens include pools. Water in the garden gives real value to the quality of space, we feel soothed and without the presence of water we are soon baked by the summer heat. Pools are in themselves very alien environments to the landscape, so we try to include them by using natural materials and colours. ■ Even in the driest of landscapes water emerges, typically at the base of walls at the end of slopes. We are drawn to water and so we incorporate it into gardens – as fountains or ponds – to help bring energy and life to areas. The water features that we create often have a brimming quality – this also helps create a general sense of abundance. ■ Pergolas and places in…

ON DISPLAY No space for a dresser? Glazed wall cabinets are just as beautiful and the display possibilities just as strong, albeit on a smaller scale. Steer clear of a fitted-kitchen feel by opting for a standalone unit that’s more focal point than functional storage – perfect for walls without windows. Fill with colourful crockery and artisanal packaging as the mood takes. Splashback in Carnaby Yellow satin paint, £24.95 for 750ml; wall in Carnaby Yellow wall paint, £55.95 for 2.5ltr; cabinets in Amsterdam Green chalk paint, £6.95 for 120ml; ticking in Graphite, £34.95m, all Annie Sloan. RAISE YOUR GAME On maximising the potential of statement ceilings, architectural practice SPPARC has the drop. ‘Ceilings featuring interesting shapes and materials can be used to achieve an articulation and rhythm with architectural features…

EARN YOUR STRIPES Looking to zone a larger bathroom without losing the sense of space? The design set are turning to power tiling to divide and conquer, and the results are beyond beautiful. ‘The key is to create some drama without making the bathroom feel busy,’ explains interior designer Orla Read. ‘Here, we wrapped tiles over the ceiling to mimic the cocooning comfort of an enclosure. I especially love the hand-painted green stripe on these tiles. You see the paint lines and the movement in colour, so the pattern doesn’t feel flat.’ DECO DETAILS British bathroom design powerhouse BC Designs has launched its first furniture collection, Victrion. The capsule collection of art deco-influenced vanity units comes in four shades – Nimbus White, Forest Green, Earl’s Grey and Dark Lead –…

BEHOLD this architectural eye-catcher, the shiny new face on the CÔte d’Azur brought to you from the owners of Claridge’s, The Connaught and The Berkeley. Perched on a cliff edge looking down at the pretty French town of Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, it is somewhat of a design temple, featuring interiors masterminded by five heavyweights: Bryan O’Sullivan, André Fu, Pierre Yovanovitch, Michelle Wu and Rigby & Rigby. The interiors take on a modernist aesthetic, which feels deeply appropriate given the hotel’s proximity to Eileen Gray’s E-1027 house. Iconic classics abound and natural light is paramount, with large windows allowing you to drink in the endless sea views. Impact here doesn’t stop at the fixtures and fittings, far from it; as you’d expect from this hotel group, the restaurant scene is starry to say…

MUNG BEAN HUMMUS SERVES 8 GENEROUSLY 300g mung beans 3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped 2 tbsp light tahini, well stirred 100ml extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling Juice of 1 lemon, plus extra to taste Salt and black pepper Handful mung bean sprouts ½ tsp paprika ■ The day before your meal, cover the mung beans with plenty of cold water and soak for at least 8 hours or overnight in a cool, dark place. ■ Drain, rinse and cover with cold water in a saucepan. Bring to the boil and simmer for 45 minutes, until the beans are completely tender but still holding their shape, then drain well. (The cooking time can vary slightly depending on the age of the mung beans.) ■ Blend the beans…

GIN & ROSEMARY FIZZ MAKES 400ML OF SYRUP 300g caster sugarZest of 1 lemon4 sprigs rosemary, plusextra to serve150ml lemon juice FOR EACH SERVING 25ml ginIceLemon and lime slicesor wedgesSparkling water ■ To make the syrup, put the caster sugar in a saucepan with the lemon zest, rosemary sprigs and 300ml water. Gently heat through, stirring, to dissolve the sugar. Bring to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes. Set aside to cool then strain and stir in the lemon juice. ■ To make each individual drink, pour gin and 20ml of the rosemary and lemon syrup into a tall glass with plenty of ice, citrus wedges and a couple of rosemary sprigs. Top up with sparkling water. FRUIT & HERB COOLER MAKES 12-16 SERVINGS 20 ripe but firm plums450g…

RUBELLI is widely regarded as a bastion of fine silk work, tradition and artistry. The fifth-generation, family-run company makes upholstery fabrics and textiles that are beautiful enough to frame and hang on a wall. But what’s surprising about the celebrated Italian firm is that it doesn’t stand still nor rest on its laurels. This year, it has released its designs in eco yarns made from mill waste. It follows from the 2021 launch of its first collection of eco fabrics produced with bio-sourced fibres extracted from castor beans, a renewable resource which doesn’t require large quantities of water. Design collaborations Rubelli has a long tradition of design collaborations, including, among others, a snappy polka-dot ciselé velvet called Dotted that Gio Ponti created for Rubelli in 1934 right through to creating…

AS a serial homemaker Heather Chontos is adept at improvisation, her ‘make-do and mend’ attitude to decorating resulting in a gloriously individual space where rules don’t apply. Heather found her latest abode in the tiny hamlet of La Tour-Blanche-Cercles, Nouvelle Aquitaine, France. This home, a couple of ancient rustic stone buildings, is where Heather, a mother of two daughters, has been able to combine family life and her work as an artist. 1 ARTIST’S MARKS Due to the pandemic, when Heather moved here she wasn’t able to shop for furniture. However she made friends with the owners of Ali Baba, the local vide-grenier, full of things gleaned from house clearances. No wall or surface escapes Heather’s embellishment. A particularly striking piece is this monochrome armoire, upcycled and transformed by Heather’s…

At first glance, the home of interior designer Carlotta Oddone is full of contradictions: an urban apartment with a rustic garden; a colour-saturated space that has the effect of being deeply mellow; a floral laden interior that also feels contemporary. But linger here and a sense of harmony emerges – the result of a quick and confident eye. ‘Yes, I am very sure in my decorative choices, even if not always in other areas of my life,’ says the Turin-born interior designer, whose 1930s home occupies a busy street in the Piedmontese capital. ‘I’ve always liked to be unconventional.’ Carlotta has long had a fascination with colour and pattern, evident in the fact that she is also a textile designer and a colour consultant for influential fabric producers. ‘My mother…

1 MOODY MATERIALS The ethos of modern French country kitchen design is all about evoking a relaxed, welcoming atmosphere, without going full rural Provence. Here, interior designer Jessica Summer sets the scene with earthy tones and plenty of texture. ‘The cabinetry is minimal and contemporary to allow the materials to stand out, but also to balance the traditional features like the antique butcher’s block and open shelves,’ she explains. Bespoke kitchen, from around £25,000, London Design Collaborative. Project by Jessica Summer. 2 MOVEABLE FEAST Inspired by the classic French pâtisserie table, this perfectly positioned unit sits on four lockable wheels and is poised to move out of the way for entertaining. The end drawer is designed for napkins and cake forks, while the marble worktop is perfect for…

MOROCCAN MOVES Forget perfectly flat gloss tiles, shimmering zellige designs yield a more sophisticated way to bring texture into your bathing space. ‘Zellige-style tiles provide a subtle shimmer that undulates rather than dazzles,’ says Louisa Morgan, creative director, Mandarin Stone. Celebrated for their imperfect, artisanal appearance, Moroccan-influenced zellige tiles pair well with other rustic materials, such as untreated timber and raw concrete. ‘If you’re using zellige-style tiles to create one dramatic feature wall, be sure to pitch it adjacent to a window, or wash with downlights, to emphasise the light reflecting and refracting across their irregular surface contours,’ adds Louisa. TOUCH STONE Textured surfaces are not solely about looks; functionality also comes into play. ‘For bathrooms especially, it’s important to approach materiality from both a practical and aesthetic perspective,’ agrees…

ARANCINI WITH SPINACH & RICOTTA MAKES ABOUT 14 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil1 onion, finely chopped1 celery stalk, finely chopped400g carnaroli rice1.5ltr hot vegetable stock1g best-quality saffron50g butter100g Parmesan, grated250g baby spinach leaves200g ricotta FOR COATING & FRYING 2 eggs2 tbsp whole milk200g dried breadcrumbs150g plain flour500ml sunflower oil ■ To make the risotto, set a pan over a medium heat and add the olive oil. Add the onion and celery and cook for 3 minutes. Tip in the carnaroli rice and cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Begin adding the stock, a ladleful at a time, until the rice is covered by about 2.5cm of stock. Add the saffron and keep adding stock, stirring from time to time, for about 15 minutes, until the rice is al dente.…

NECTARINE SALAD SERVES 6-8 200g pancetta 6 ripe nectarines 1 cucumber Zest and juice of 1 lemon 1 red chilli, finely sliced 200g green beans 1 shallot, peeled and finely chopped 1 tbsp Dijon mustard 1 tsp honey Small bunch tarragon, chopped 50ml rosé wine 50ml olive oil ½ medium bunch mint leaves ■ Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas 6. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and lay the pancetta on it. Bake for 15 minutes until crisp. ■ Heat a large griddle pan over a high heat. Halve, stone and quarter the nectarines. Char on the griddle for a couple of minutes on each side, then transfer to a large platter. ■ Cut the cucumber in half lengthways and scrape out the seeds with a teaspoon. Cut into…