LIGHT & SPACE

Space was a priority when Sophie Head began looking for a new family home, so when not just one, but three, light, bright barns presented themselves she prepared to roll up her sleeves and bring them back to life

Sophie Head knew she was asking a great deal from a house when she began looking for a property in 2016. She needed room for her interior design studio as well as to suit the different needs of her three children.

The key words were space and light and her new home also had to be a period property out of town.

Not only did she manage to meet her demanding requirements within a few weeks of searching, but she also fulfilled her dream of living in a barn. The property was in a village Sophie loved and it comprised not one but three linked barns dating from 1793. ‘When I walked into the barns, there was the most incredible light pouring in,’ she recalls. ‘Then I noticed the beautiful beams, untouched by varnish or paint.’ In other ways the interiors of the barns, converted for living in the mid-1990s, were tired and dated, and the layout was impractical for her family. That did not trouble designer Sophie, and her offer was accepted.

The central barn of the three, known as the banqueting hall, is the star and is more than 100ft long. The other barns link to it sideways on, to enclose part of the garden of nearly an acre. Sophie knew it was an incredible space and couldn’t wait to bring it to life. The barns were in good repair but there were changes to plan for wiring, plumbing, heating and layout. The barn on the east wing was where she could introduce a wall across the section furthest from the family space to give her a spacious design studio. On the other side of the new wall she created a more formal drawing room, with the rest of this ground-floor wing taken up by bedrooms, en suites and a self-contained annexe apartment.

‘I knew a detailed lighting plan was incredibly important through all three barns,’ Sophie explains. ‘I was taking down a false ceiling in the banqueting hall so here the beams now rise to a 30ft apex and the whole space is lit from below both for efficiency and drama. I remember coming in one day when the new lighting system was being installed and surprising the electrician, who was taking time off to have fun hanging from the newly revealed beams like an Olympic athlete!’

Creating a mood board for each room is something interior designers do for themselves, not just for their clients, and Sophie included lighting and wiring requirements as well as paint colours, flooring choices and fabrics. ‘It also helped me to be creative with my budget,’ she explains. ‘I knew I wanted to allow spending on flooring and lighting as years of experience have made me realise how crucial they are to enjoying living in a house.’

The kitchen Sophie inherited was dark with a low ceiling and brown cabinets, but she decided against replacing the John Lewis of Hungerford fitted kitchen as it was well made. ‘By painting the cabinets and changing the worktop and handles I could afford to invest in a beautiful limestone floor,’ she explains. ‘Removing another intrusive low ceiling in the kitchen also revealed the full vaulted effect of the space and improved the quality of light in the room as if by magic.’

The kitchen opens into the family room where everyone gathers to eat, chat and relax, and also adjoins the banqueting hall. Besides a new lighting arrangement here, Sophie’s other investment was to lay a wood floor. ‘This room is magnificent and needed a floor that followed the theme of wood in the beams and is also practical for how we use this amazing space,’ she explains. ‘We entertain a lot as a family, including when Ed’s children come and friends visit, and if we’re having a party there’s room for dancing. In summer with the link to outdoors it becomes an extravagant garden room.’

Most of the walls are painted in a soft white.

‘It’s a wonderful backdrop for art,’ says Sophie. ‘I arrived here with a lot of large paintings and they dictated how the look of each room has developed,’ As for the furnishings, she adds, ‘I love to mix antique, vintage and contemporary pieces to add depth and interest to each room.’

Soft white, however, is not Sophie’s final word on colour. ‘Orange is my favourite colour,’ she laughs, ‘and my children’s response is to say

“No way”.’ The children have had an input in the decoration of their rooms and orange has been given its special moment in Sophie’s bedroom suite. When designing for the family everyone is allowed to have their say.

The thatched roof with its tiled apron keeps the indoor space cool in summer and, with the east single-storey barn, encloses the garden terrace. A pair of antique urns from Haddonstone flank the steps to the garden

Above: An old granary in the corner of the garden houses outdoor furniture, and the table outside is where Daisy, Max and their friends often sit and chat in the summer Below: Pink is one of Sophie’s favourite colours and she describes this drawing room as a cosy pairing of pink with grey, echoed in the muted tones of the antique French and Swedish furniture she finds at Maison Artefact. The two Minster sofas from George Smith are upholstered in Hornbuckle Pebble by de Le Cuona. Sophie says the Emerald side chairs from William Yeoward are the most comfortable chairs she has ever sat on, here upholstered in Diamond Watermelon by Galbraith & Paul at Tissus d’hélène. The coffee table in glass and Perspex was made to Sophie’s design by Carew Jones and adds the small shock of the new she likes to introduce into a room Right: Sophie loves to style summer meals outside as much as she loves sitting down at a well-laid table

The banqueting hall is the middle of the three connected barns and the only one that has not been divided. Sophie removed a false ceiling and added a floor from Natural Woodflooring. The coffee table and club chairs are by William Yeoward, the vintage French swinging hanging chair is from Maison Artefact, and the leather sofas are vintage Ralph Lauren. The abstract oil painting is by Emma Alcock

The sofa in the family room is from The Conran Shop and the side chair is Sophie’s favourite Emerald design from William Yeoward. All cushions are covered in William Yeoward fabrics. Sophie found the driftwood coffee table at an antiques fair

Left: Sophie kept the existing kitchen but took down a false ceiling and painted the cabinets in Elephant’s Breath, and the island and stools in Rectory Red, both Farrow & Ball. The blind fabric is Cactus Flower Ruby from Christopher Farr Cloth. Limestone flooring from Artisans of Devizes introduces a warm, subtly reflective surface This image: The family room next to the kitchen is the most used space in the house. Dining chairs are a mix of vintage Arne Jacobsen and Philippe Starck Ghost chairs. The Palm Tree and Monkey wall light is by Richard Taylor Designs and the painting, Kerala, is by Paul Treasure. Walls are painted in Quiet White by Papers & Paints

Above: The bedspread in the master bedroom is made from fabric Sophie bought in Sri Lanka. The drawers and chair are from Maison Artefact Top left: The Gustavian sofa came from Maison Artefact Right: A ladder over a low beam in Daisy’s room, where the chest of drawers is from Knowles & Christou, with lamps from Porta Romana Top right: The orange plaster finish in the en suite is by Will Foster Studios, using Farrow & Ball’s Charlotte’s Locks. Tiles and marble from Artisans of Devizes; fittings from CP Hart