Inside a 16th-Century Farmhouse Nestled in The English Countryside | Design Notes

I'm an interior designer based in London and this is my home near Oxted which I share with my partner David. Two dogs and a couple of horses. When I first came and saw the house I was struck by its location. It's in such a tranquil sort of isolated spot which we both loved and the scenery was pretty spectacular so I thought that ticked that box. And the house and garden I thought was a blank canvas really so for me and what I do I thought it's a great opportunity to design a garden and to really work on the interiors. The house is about 500 years old. The advice I'd give somebody taking on a project such as this, sort of a centuries-old house that needs quite a bit of work, is just to appreciate its quirks and the various nooks and crannies and little gaps and creaking floorboards and all the little foibles and because they're the plus points really. This seemed like the right place for the kitchen to us because it had the French doors leading to the garden. We're in and out with the garden, in and out with the dogs, going backwards and forwards with the horses. So everything just needs to be wipeable, washable, moppable. I think a country house kitchen is freestanding, not even units, it's sort of freestanded cabinetry. It's utilitarian, yes, it's a bit sort of Downton Abbey but like the staff quarters which I quite like. But I can't resist a bit of decoration and when I see these sorts of tiles, they're antique tiles, I can't resist something like this. They're Portuguese, early 1700s. To me it's sort of that carpet effect. The paintings are still lives which I think are quite appropriate for a sort of kitchen dining space. The wood burning stove was here when we arrived and it was made by the blacksmith in the neighbouring village. If I get the fires really going, it's pretty toasty and warm. Colour is very important to me as an interior designer. In this case of our sitting room, I definitely took inspiration from the garden and the flowers that we've been growing. The outside now moves seamlessly into the interiors which I like. I was inspired by Nicky Haslam and his work, I think his work is amazing. He had a country house where he had a very soft pale pink sitting room. There's so many different shades of pink growing in the garden and I tried to use a few of them here. On the walls, the colour is from Papers and Paints on Park Walk. The sofa which is a Claremont sort of cotton linen fabric. We've got the Fortuny sort of hand-blocked cotton fabric over there. All different shades, pink on pink and there are even shades of pink in the carpet but I quite like layering the colour like that. The choice of paintings, they're all quite country in style and substance. If I see a nice horse picture, I'm quite partial to it and the other sort of favourite subject for paintings are lurches. I think this room came with quite a few challenges. It's low, it's quite narrow, doesn't have as much natural daylight as the other rooms, quite small windows and they're east-facing. My approach was to go in quite strong and make it almost darker and go in with some heavy textures and patterns and really give it some character. I think almost over-furnished, sort of bringing it in and making it feel extremely sort of cosy and enveloping, particularly in the evening when the curtains are drawn, the candles are lit and all the tables are set. It does become so much more atmospheric and intimate. I kept hold of some sentimental pieces. There are some paintings in here of the Lake District where I used to spend a lot of time with my family, my parents. This was my father's and he liked Art Deco. I probably wouldn't go out and buy it myself but of course it's sentimental and I'm not going to get rid of it. I wouldn't say I'm a knowledgeable collector of anything in particular. I'm more of a magpie. If it sparkles or glistens then I'm in. I find beauty in a lot of objects. I just know what I like. My approach to decorating this space was to make it feel like another room, a part of the house rather than the bathroom. So freestanding pieces of furniture, paper the walls, more decorative mirrors than your typical bathroom and paintings and these sort of embroidered banners. The bath ended up having to be on a raised platform which was a bit of a last-minute shocker because the bath is cast iron, a huge weight. We had to put a load of bearing steel in here and then sort of conceal it with the tinder floor. But again it worked out better for head heights, for the view. The blinds is Colfax's Eaton Shack which has been around forever. The wallpapers GP and J Baker. It's a bit nuts but I thought why not? I'm not in here all day. People say well you can't put wallpaper in a bath and it's all going to steam and peel off. I think what makes a good bath is you've got to be a bit different. When we first walked into the bedroom and looked up we saw this Tudor hand-painted mural. There's dog roses, chrysanthemums or dianthus, daisies and Tudor roses and then these up here are meant to be sort of abstract cloud designs. It's quite breathtaking and it's really something very special. The owners all those centuries ago were doing the same sort of thing, bringing the garden into the interior decoration. The mural was definitely a starting point for this room. I like the strong indigos and those reds and I picked those out in the carpet and also this old cruel work which I discovered on Dürer's sale room. Straight after I finished my diploma at the School of Design I went to work for Chelsea Textiles. It was there really that I got an appreciation for cruel work and all those hand embroidered fabrics. When I saw this in auction it's kind of the original thing I was pretty keen to get it. I think it went perfectly with this painting and it really suited the house in terms of period and style. There are differences between this project and my typical interiors project. I work very closely with my clients to really create something unique and special for them. Every project is very very different. This one I have a very very relaxed way of living and it's a very country way of living. Dogs, horses, a lot of sort of outside inside. I think as the years have gone by I find myself getting bolder and wanting to sort of mix and match and be a bit more eclectic. I think probably most designers start off a little bit on the safe side, a little bit on the conventional side and as they get more expertise and the years under their belt then they sort of spread their wings a bit.