Innehållsförteckning för December 2015 från Homes & Gardens

WITH ALL THE HUSTLE AND BUSTLE of the festive season now upon us, it’s worth remembering that a little bit of planning can make life so much easier. Once I know who will be where on the important days, I can work out how many beds will need making up and the numbers of people to cater for. Then, the practicalities decided, I relish the next step of gathering ideas for decorating the house and finding festive recipes that help to make Christmas so personal. In our evocative feature on page 55, we’ve created seasonal suggestions using accents of burnished gold and nut brown. One of my favourite items in the piece, is a garland of pecans, which caught my eye as I know it will be easy to make.…

STAY I love a quiet experience that is relaxed and casual, so The Bay Hotel, thebay.co.za, just across from Camps Bay Beach, fits the bill perfectly. Rooms have simple wood furnishings and pared-back décor and doubles cost from £161 a night with breakfast. For classic luxury and colonial style, you can’t beat the Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel, belmond.com, at the foot of Table Mountain. Rooms cost from £208 a night with breakfast. The Alphen, alphen.co.za, is a boutique hotel on a 17th-century estate in the Constantia Valley and has 19 individually decorated suites, from £130 a night with breakfast. EAT Cape Town is my hometown and when I return I always head off the beaten track with my foodie friends. I like to go to The Pot Luck Club, thepotluckclub.co.za,…

A plump chaise longue with sumptuous upholstery and cushions in deep berry tones creates a cosy, cosseting mood. The feeling of warmth is enhanced by a copper side table, while the grey-green of the artwork offers a refreshing counterpoint. Plush textures and a variety of understated pattern are key to the relaxed air in this living room, while fabrics and furniture in shades that shift subtly from grey to green soften the contrast with the damson red wallpaper. For a sophisticated take on festive décor, a row of candles burns twice as brightly against an antique-style mirror. The intricate detail of the damask is tempered by the masculine looks of the leather-clad chest of drawers. On the stairs, a eucalyptus garland is a modern spin on the traditional holly and…

THIS MONTH, discover traditional country style with a twist at a converted coach house in Oxfordshire (page 94) and the relaxed British charm of a London townhouse (page 104). Metallic accents bring festive cheer to this contemporary Danish home (page 112), while a series of rural buildings have been transformed into a versatile living space in Hertfordshire (page 124). In our Tasmanian garden, plants and sculptures combine to stunning effect (page 120).…

Good-quality appliances will help you enjoy your new kitchen, delivering great cooking results or helping you speed through the clearing up with ease. At the beginning of your project, take some time to think about the kind of appliances you would like to include. This is especially important when it comes to large items, such as an American-style fridge-freezer or range cooker, as these will have a big impact on the layout of your room. If you are a fan of cooking a Sunday roast for all the family, you may want greater oven capacity, while keen cooks might benefit from all the features that a multifunction oven has to offer, including a choice of fan and conventional settings. Pyrolytic oven programs burn off dirt and grease at very high…

WHERE IS THIS BATHROOM? It is the main bathroom in Benita and Dominic Barretto’s home, which is a lovely Georgian terraced property in south London. Benita had seen one of our bathroom designs in Homes & Gardens a couple years ago and asked me to come and take a look. At the time she was working as a city banker, but she enjoyed renovating her home so much she has since retrained and set up her own interior design company. CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE SPACE? The room was very dated with rotten flooring and cheap fittings. The shower enclosure was particularly small and unpleasant, with large cracks in the tile grout. At 2.1x3.2m the room’s dimensions were not expansive, but it had a seriously high ceiling, which made the space…

EXPERT ADVICE CHOOSING AND CARING FOR YOUR TREE • The most popular tree in the UK today is the Nordmann fir, a variety with excellent needle retention. Norway spruce was the tree beloved by our parents and it is still a traditional favourite, especially for its fragrance, but it will drop its needles if allowed to dry out. There are other more unusual varieties, such as blue spruce, Fraser fir and Scots pine, which offer different colours and shapes, but these may be harder to find. Prices vary across the country but, as a general guide, expect to pay from £30 for a 6ft Norway spruce, and from £45 for a 6ft Nordmann fir. • A cut tree should be fresh when purchased. Brush it gently with your fingers or…

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Busy lives mean that food can sometimes be more about providing fuel than having fun, but it’s often the case that Christmas and New Year offer the luxury of a little more time and a chance to experiment with new flavours and styles of cooking. With this in mind, we have brought together a collection of recipes suited to a variety of occasions, including relaxed lunches, formal suppers and celebratory parties. Since entertaining is about so much more than just food, we have also collaborated with Neptune to suggest decorating ideas that capture the magic and drama of the festive season. Neptune’s growing number of showrooms all over the country, as well as its website, are a wonderful source of tableware, accessories and furniture for living rooms, dining rooms and…

NORTH AFRICAN VEGETABLE SOUP Serves 6 Rich and hearty, with a delicious balance of spices and sweet root vegetables, this is perfect for a cold winter’s day. 2 tbsp vegetable oil1 onion, peeledand diced2 sticks celery, diced2 parsnips, peeledand diced150g swede, peeledand diced2 medium carrots,peeled and diced75g dried apricots1 tsp ground cumin½ tsp ground turmeric1 tsp ground sumac1 tsp groundcoriander¼ tsp dried chilliflakes1 litre vegetable stockSalt and freshlyground black pepperJuice of 1 lime2 tbsp choppedflat-leaf parsley2 tbsp choppedcoriander • Heat the oil in a large saucepan and fry the onion over a medium-low heat for about 5 minutes. Add the celery, parsnips, swede and carrots, and cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened. • Add the apricots and spices and fry for 1 minute. Pour in the…

Interior designer Nina Campbell will be among the celebrity readers at a carol concert at St Luke’s Church in Chelsea on 8 December in aid of Place2Be, the UK school-based children’s mental health charity. Tickets cost £30 for adults and include free entry for one child (additional children cost £15 each). To book, visit place2be.org.uk/carolconcert. GREEN WITH ENVY Your front door is sure to be the most glamorous in the neighbourhood with this limited-edition festive wreath, diam46cm, which combines mistletoe and fragrant eucalyptus. It costs £95 and is available online from 1 November at Jo Malone London, jomalone.co.uk, and through the new boutique on London’s Regent Street. ON THE RIGHT LINES A contemporary take on traditional Christmas style, stripes are the perfect partner for eclectic tableware. Linum’s cotton Core tablecloth…

Drawing on her creative background and eye for sculptural design, Susie Reid Thomas set up Twilight Trees in 2013 to provide beautiful, life-like LED-lit trees in a variety of shapes, sizes and finishes. Used either as a permanent installation or to enhance a party or special event, the trees add an enticing decorative touch both inside and out. Can you tell us about your background? My family is very entrepreneurial; both my father and brother run their own businesses. I have always loved design and graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2000 with a degree in fashion communication and promotion. For a while I ran my own PR company, specialising in luxury goods. Then, after having our two boys, Alistair, now eight, and Rory, four, my husband and I…

PURE WHITE AND CLASSIC METALLICS ALL THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL…

The fleeting, unexpected delights of the changing seasons can soften even the most hard-hearted gardener. Who can remain unmoved by the sight of emerging snowdrops, the first, tentative primrose or the resplendent flare of autumn leaves? Karen Hall and Peter Cooper, the creators of Wychwood, one of Australia’s most celebrated gardens, were both brought up in Brisbane in the state of Queensland, where the temperature varies from warm to even warmer. However, a nine-month backpacking trip together through Europe in the 1980s convinced them that one day they wanted to live in a place with four distinct seasons. After much searching they decided that Tasmania fitted the bill, its cool climate being similar to that of Britain and, in 1991, fuelled by youthful zeal, they packed up their camper van…

Today’s kitchen is just as likely to be filled with friends and family as it is with food, so the details count: the worktop needs to look good while you chop and chat, and the sink and tap can suggest style as well as practicality. B&Q offers a great selection of options that are easy on the eye, at the same time as being functional and durable. Granite worktops have real wow factor, but if your budget doesn’t stretch that far, consider a quartz surface, which has similar impact with scratch resistance and a smaller price tag. A solid wood worktop creates a warm, natural look, and is supplied pre-treated with wax oil for protection. Or how about a laminate design? B&Q offers the latest high-definition laminate worktops with realistic…

CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE PROJECT? This is a bedroom in The Zetter Townhouse in Clerkenwell, London, a project that involved transforming two Georgian townhouses into a thirteen-bedroom hotel. In order to give the interior rich character and interest, the clients and I invented an imaginary owner, Great Aunt Wilhelmina, who we saw as an eccentric 18th-century Vivienne Westwood. We envisioned her as having once lived in a large country house but, due to her dastardly son gambling away all their money, being forced to move to a smaller house, hence the oversized pieces of furniture. WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE KEY TO DESIGNING HOTEL INTERIORS? I believe that I have a duty to give guests something they haven’t seen before; it’s important that they don’t walk into a room…

1| Traditional style. Artstone Christmas tree planter, H29x diam32cm, £45, Real Christmas Trees, 0845 604 8366, realchristmas trees.co.uk. 2| Novel idea. Personalised Christmas tree planter crate, H27xW36x D36cm,£36, Not on the High Street, 0345 259 1359, notonthehigh street.com. 3| Rustic appeal. Rattan Christmas tree ring, H27x diam57cm, £24, Cox & Cox, 0844 858 0744, coxandcox.co.uk. 4| Utility chic. Christmas tree foot, H13xdiam50cm,£59, Ferm Living, 0045 7022 7523, fermliving.com.…

WHERE CAN I BUY AN ARMCHAIR THAT CONVERTS INTO A BED? We have a lot of guests staying this Christmas and I am looking for a comfortable armchair that can be pulled out into a bed. Can you help? NB, London N3. Most chair beds with arms are wider than standard armchairs and are often described as snugglers. The English Sofa Company, 0161 736 5733, theenglishsofacompany.co.uk, supplies the Trafalgar 1.5-seat chair bed, which is 110cm wide and costs from £880. A little wider at 144cm is the Snooze Deluxe chair bed with sprung mattress, £849, from Furniture Village, 0800 804 8879, furniturevillage.co.uk. The Michigan from Next, 0333 777 8999, next.co.uk, has a good choice of fabrics, is 132cm wide and costs from £650. For a traditionally upholstered piece, look at…

1 SNUGINTERIORS are bed specialists offering expert advice and personal service to ensure you invest in the perfect bed with the right level of comfort and support to suit you. Delivering top brands nationwide, including Vispring and Hypnos Beds. www.snug-interiors.com 01730 894754. 2 JO LEE CERAMICS Jo Lee creates strikingly unique contemporary ceramics. Her slip-cast and sculpted porcelain figurines are decorated with fabulously original photographic decals, drawing and painting. Her three-part ‘TriBods’ (pictured), who wobble when tickled, illustrate this clever mix, and Jo’s wonderful imagination, perfectly. The ideal gift. www.jolee.uk.com 07815 814878 3 PULLMAN EDITIONS Designs striking original limited-edition posters that capture the enduring appeal of Art Deco. Their newly-commissioned posters feature glamorous winter sports and summer resorts around the world, as well as the world¹s greatest historic automobiles. There are over…

THIS CHRISTMAS… I’LL BE… at our home on the border of Gloucestershire and Wiltshire. Formerly the old village school, it’s nestled in a valley and is a wonderfully peaceful place to spend the festive season. It’s especially magical when there’s a sprinkling of snow or mist. We are lucky to have enough space to host all the extended family and spending the season together is the highlight of our annual calendar. I’LL BE WITH… as many family members as possible, including my husband, John, co-founder of Neptune, neptune.com, and our three grown-up children, Daisy, Betty and Billy. It’s open-house season for us, so there will be lots of family and friends, too. I’LL EAT… homemade mince pies and Christmas cake baked by my daughters. On Christmas Day we try to…

A clove-studded satsuma with a sprig of snowberries and a personalised bauble is a distinctive idea for a seasonal place setting. A crisp white linen tablecloth is a striking contrast to the dark walls and upholstery in this dramatic scheme. Generous use of glass and silver also helps to lighten the look. Rich textures of wool and velvet are warm and inviting, while dashes of deep orange create a luxurious contrast to darker colours. Grouping together glass and metallic candle holders of various heights makes for an elegant table display.…

Sparkling glassware with gold motifs and tiny fairy lights ensure a festive mood. Woven baskets tucked beneath a console are a great way to store take-home gifts for friends. A drinks trolley complete with ice bucket, decanters and a cocktail shaker creates an air of Fifties glamour and fun.…

For those in search of creative finishing touches to turn their home into the perfect place to entertain family and friends this Christmas, look no further than Neptune’s impressive new Chiswick store. From 11am to 8pm on 26 November, Homes & Gardens readers visiting the shop will be treated to a wealth of Christmas decorating ideas, including floral displays and stylish gift-wrapping. • Seasonal cocktails and canapés served all day. • Free demonstrations on Christmas decorating throughout the day. • Complimentary gift wrap on in-store buys. • Neptune gift with in-store purchases worth over £100 made on the day. • Gift bags for Homes & Gardens readers who sign up to the VIP list by 16 November at neptune.com/homesandgardens. A full schedule of events will be emailed out to those…

This harmonious scheme owes its success to the fact that the tree decorations and wrapped gifts all draw on a palette of gold, black and white, which echo the colours of the room’s décor, creating a unified look. Aromatic evergreens, such as eucalyptus, make wonderful garlands as they release their scent when brushed past. Delicate herb wreaths, hung as window decorations, will add further delicate fragrance. A metal tree hung with homemade cookies is a delightful way to offer after-dinner treats. It could also be used as an Advent decoration with a numbered biscuit for each day. Schemes with rich, luxurious textures are perfect for winter months. Here, heavy velvet curtains have a cosseting feel, while an opulent trimming dresses the piano stool to eye-catching effect. The gold disc garland…

RING THE CHANGES A frosted pine-cone wreath will make a statement on any door. For an extra touch of festive glamour, add your own detail, such as the shimmering silk rose and ribbon here. SEEING RED To create a cohesive look, use the same colour scheme for all the decorative elements. Here, the red ribbons on the wreaths, nosegays and lanterns echo the striking colour of the crimson glory grapevine. IN A WORD For a more contemporary treatment, battery-powered letters can be used to spell out the Christmas message of your choice. A string of large-scale mains-powered outdoor lights simply hung gives this playful look extra impact. LIGHT FANTASTIC Be inspired by the winter illumination of chalets in Alpine ski resorts and dress your home’s roofline with strings of icicle…

Lyn Black has a soft spot for Christmas in London. “I love the lights on the high streets and Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park,” she says. “There’s a real feeling of excitement and it starts so early, whereas in America everyone is focused on Thanksgiving until the end of November. Our children like to come over to London and enjoy the build up, and we always have a big tree and a wreath on the door.” This will be Lyn and her husband Steve’s third Christmas in Britain. The American couple moved into their Knightsbridge terrace house in 2013 when Steve’s work brought them to London. They now spend their time between London and their home in rural Connecticut. “The two lifestyles are like night and day,” says Lyn. “In…

For Alex and Graeme Ellisdon, the couple behind luxury leather goods and homewares company Osprey London, creating this family home, which they share with their children, Jack, Freddie and Harri, has been a long journey. It was 15 years before Alex could describe their Grade II-listed barn, coach house and surroundings buildings in rural Hertfordshire as “fairly sorted out”. However, the sensitively converted property and rich yet relaxed interiors have been worth the wait. Alex tells us more. What made you take on such a big project? Graeme and I are dreamers. Our friends probably thought we were mad, but we were able to see how it could turn out. We both find architecture and the materials used in the construction process fascinating. We’re inspired by the chance to give…

Carefully considered storage is the best way to make your kitchen work harder for you. Clever cabinetry interiors transform a scheme from one that not only looks good but also functions brilliantly, cutting down on the time required to cook a meal and clear up afterwards, and making the whole process far easier and more enjoyable. Start by thinking about what you need to fit into your new kitchen and how you like to cook. In addition to essential storage for pots and pans close to the hob and for china near the dining table, you might also want somewhere to display your favourite glassware or store your wine collection, stash your baking equipment or simply organise your most-used spices and oils close to where you cook. Your B&Q design…

CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE SPACE? This is the Gordon Bar in SIXTY SoHo, a luxury boutique hotel in Manhattan. Although situated on the same floor, the bar and adjoining lobby felt very separate from each other. Our aim was to create a space that marries the bar with the lobby, bringing energy and light by day, while making it a seductive place to sip a martini or two in the evening. WHAT WAS THE STARTING POINT FOR THE SCHEME? First, we looked at how we could improve the flow and architectural language of the space. We wanted to create an aesthetic that is indigenous to the area, so we used Crittall doors and windows, through which scenes from downtown New York are visible on one side of the room. The…

WHAT WAS THE GARDEN LIKE BEFORE YOU REDESIGNED IT? I had designed this garden about eight years earlier, but it had to be ripped out when the clients added an extension and renovated the rest of the house. The garden then became a building site and the extension made it smaller; it now measures about twenty one feet by sixteen feet. TELL US ABOUT THE DESIGN BRIEF The clients wanted the garden to be an extension of their sitting room, and to echo the feel and colours used inside the house. They asked for a simple yet structured design, for low-maintenance planting and somewhere to store bicycles. Lighting was requested, too, so that it could be used in the evenings, and the paving was to be set at the same…

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A kitchen filled with the scent of sweet spices, berries, citrus, butter and caramelised sugar is as comforting and evocative as a festive tree and a dressing of garlands. In these recipes, fragrance and flavour are more important than appearance, so don’t hold straight edges and perfect icing in too high regard. Jam biscuit sandwiches will appeal to adults and children alike, while spiced gingerbread mittens look adorable and are deliciously moreish. A Nordic-style wreath, a buttery pear cake and an army of miniature whoopee pies are surprisingly simple to make but wonderfully impressive. For those of you who prefer not to turn your hand to baking, try the pomegranate and black cherry jellies, which make lovely Christmas gifts. POMEGRANATE AND BLACK CHERRY JELLIES Makes about 60 cubes The pomegranate…

DUCK WITH MARMALADE AND WHISKY SAUCE Serves 8 Sweet, sticky and tender, this marmalade and whisky-glazed duck makes a nice alternative to turkey for a Christmas lunch main course. Add a splash more stock to the roasting tin to prevent the marmalade from burning, if necessary. 4 tbsp marmalade1 tbsp Dijon mustard1 tsp Englishmustard powder3 tbsp whiskySalt and black pepper8 large duck legs200ml chicken stock • Pre-heat the oven to 220°C, gas mark 7. Mix together the marmalade, Dijon mustard, mustard powder and whisky and season well. Score the duck legs and spread the marmalade and mustard mixture all over. • Arrange the duck legs in a roasting tin and pour the stock around. Roast for around 35 minutes until cooked through. PICKLED MUSTARD SEEDS WITH SMOKED TROUT AND CRÈME…

MINI JACKET POTATOES Makes about 25 Smoked salmon adds a sophisticated note, but you can make these cute little canapés with any combination of fillings you like. 600g (around 25)small new potatoes1 tbsp sunflower oil200g cream cheeseGrated zest and juiceof½ lemon, plus extrazest to garnishFew dill sprigs,chopped, plus extrato garnishSalt and freshlyground black pepper150g smoked salmon,cut into small pieces • Pre-heat the oven to 200°C, gas mark 6. Cut a small cross in the top of each potato then transfer them to a roasting tin. Toss the potatoes in the oil then turn them cross-side up. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until cooked through and golden. Leave to cool slightly. • Meanwhile, mix the cream cheese, zest, juice and dill and season well. Squeeze each potato to open slightly, then spoon…