Vintage Country - 2nd Ed

Vintage style is baked into the bones of country homes. You’ll see it in the patinated and pitted surfaces of furniture; in the worn and weathered materials of reclaimed wood, brick and stone; in the much-loved linen and decorative pieces passed down through generations, or chanced upon in the treasure-trail trawl of an antiques fair. Vintage may mean charming and traditional, or it can be a characterful counterpoint to the most contemporary country home. And that’s what makes vintage style so wonderful – it brings unique warmth and personality to any situation. It’s this we’re celebrating in this first edition of Vintage Country, from the creators of Country Homes & Interiors and Homes & Gardens magazines. Look inside to find beautiful country homes decorated with an eye for vintage style…

Vintage-style patterns brings charm to every room – including the kitchen. Add in some plain fabrics for balance Cottagecore dreams start with a velvet quilt, applique flowers and a canopy bed. Plus, a pretty pom-pom pouffe!…

The views from Jen Bernard’s family holiday home are so striking that the bedrooms have been named after them, inextricably linking the house and landscape. ‘We have Cheviot, after the hills, Spring Hill, after the farm nearby, and Bamburgh, for the view of the castle,’ says Jen. But aside from the views of famous Northumberland landmarks, one of the house’s greatest trump cards is its nearness to the sea, a few hundred metres away – a mere pebble’s throw. Jen’s family has a strong connection with the region. ‘We’ve had properties in Northumberland since I was a small child,’ she says. ‘We had a house on a farm near here and whenever my sister Pippa and I were cycling past on the way to the beach as children we’d stop…

Giselle De Hasse never intended to move to the country. ‘I’ve always liked living in town,’ says the interior designer. But a need to downsize forced her to look beyond pricey Tunbridge Wells in Kent, to the surrounding area. ‘This village in neighbouring East Sussex was picturesque and the views were amazing. Once I’d viewed the cottage I didn’t look at anything else,’ she says. The small house had been neglected. ‘The rooms were pokey and dark and the garden was overgrown. But I knew I could make something of it,’ she says, ‘even though the doors didn’t shut, the radiators were rusting and the heating broke down the week after I moved in.’ Giselle created space and light by taking out the ceilings and exposing the rafters. ‘ It…

Alix Walker, an award-winning editor, never set out to build a house from scratch. Nor did she ever plan to hire an interior designer. But on moving from north London to Hertfordshire in 2021, the property she and her husband Matt found required so many changes, a builder suggested it would be simpler to pull it down and start again. ‘We got swept up in the idea,’ says Alix, who was expecting her fourth child at the time. Matt, a chiropractor by trade, turned architect as he drew out the family’s perfect home on graph paper; on their wish list was a guest annexe downstairs, and a boot room with drawers and cupboards to keep the family’s many coats (and football boots) stashed away. To improve the chances of their…

After a decade living in their home, interior designer Lucy Dickinson, founder of Woolhouse Designs, and her husband, property developer, Mark, decided that it was time for a kitchen refresh. ‘The cabinets were here when we moved in, so they had seen plenty of use and were looking very tired,’ says Lucy. ‘We also love to cook and entertain, but the existing layout wasn’t very efficient.’ The couple’s home is a former wool merchant’s barn. They have three adults sons, and there is plenty of animal life, too – they have two dogs, Olive and Orla, cats Zelda and Tigger and a flock of chickens. After working with local company Burlanes Interiors on the fitted furniture for her study, Lucy asked the team to create a bespoke design for the…