Mad about the HOUSE
Kate Watson-smyth, interiors expert and Red columnist, on whether our environment affects our design choices
Viewing a property website the other day, I was struck by a house in Scotland decorated entirely in heathery Highland tones – soft lavender and green with pale yellow and flashes of blue. It connected the house and its landscape in a way that seemed to enhance both and I wondered how much of an influence our environment has (or should have) on our interior design choices.
That’s not to say that everyone in the city should decorate in 50 shades of grey. Nor does it mean that country dwellers should go floral – but what we see around us can influence our choices.
When I launched madaboutthehouse.com, my blog, in 2012, my mother, who lives in a rural village, commented that it was all a bit urban. But if you live in a Victorian terrace and decorate like Queen Victoria’s chambermaid, it can end up more museum than modern family home.
Perhaps this is why I was drawn to that Scottish house – as it stylishly avoided the tartan cliché so often seen north of the border.
Last year, I realised a long-held dream of buying a property in Italy and threw my usual (London) colour palette out. In place of my trusty chocolate browns, plaster pinks and rusty reds came a collection (launching soon with Graphenstone) of 12 colours in shades of sky blue, forest green, hydrangea pink and soft yellow. I surprised myself but it felt so right for the house. The inside now connects to the outside in a way that enhances both.
Some styles are more versatile than others; maximalism, rooted in English country house and popularised by the American Nancy Lancaster, who bought Colefax & Fowler in the 1940s, works equally well in town and country. Minimalism, however, requires straight edges and perfect finishings, so is much harder to achieve – especially in a farmhouse or barn.
And, if your house was built in 1980 rather than 1880, please don’t add panelling. There are more effective ways to add character to modern homes, such as half-painted walls and decorated ceilings. For a more industrial finish, take inspiration from both urban factories or old farm buildings, depending on your location.
For most of us, I suspect the solution lies somewhere in the middle – an ornate Victorian house works beautifully with the pared-back sensibilities of mid-century furniture – but, if you live in a house on the beach, avoid a sea (ahem) of blue and white with seashell vases.
There’s a fine line between embracing your environment and full-blown cliché and, when you get it right, everything in your home will look and feel better.
Home: The Way We Live Now (Pavilion) by Kate Watson-smyth is out now; madaboutthehouse.com