Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2025 i Homes & Antiques

Tell us what inspires you in this issue of H&A. Tag @homes_antiques on Instagram or use the email address, right If Team H&A are anything to go by, it seems that, no matter how long you spend in the interiors world, the decorating itch never goes away. This past month, endless chatter has been abundant around our desks: what’s the perfect shade of plaster pink? Should skirting boards and banisters always match? And is it really worth the money to bring in the professionals? (Senior Production Editor Rachel argues, yes). Regardless of whether you wield your own paintbrush or delegate the manual labour, we’ve plenty of ideas to inject your home with character. Vivienne Ayers begins with step one, uncovering industry secrets to help you master every interior designer’s go-to: the moodboard…

Circle back British brand Ercol is synonymous with sleek and sinuous design and its new Highmoor dining table follows striking suit. Celebrating the patina of natural oak, circles carved into the legs emphasise the wood’s rich grain. Highmoor (£2,750) seats six to eight and can be paired with any of Ercol’s ash dining chairs. ercol.com THE DEPENDABLES Luxury paint brand Mylands has partnered with Beata Heuman to create an edited palette of 24 considered colours. The Dependables are your go-to for walls and ceilings that pop or gently shimmer, helping you create an interior that sings. mylands.com Scent to remember Fans of William De Morgan’s decorative tiles and lustre pots can enjoy his oeuvre in a fresh way. Drawing on the artist’s designs, a set of four room fragrances has…

Fabric Wallpaper Layer the bed with floral textiles beneath a cosseting, striped canopy to create a restful and inviting bedroom. Keep to a soothing palette for the walls and flooring to achieve a consistent and harmonious scheme throughout…

Having recently renovated our hallway, my immediate temptation has been to kit out the room with a full complement of furniture, fabrics and objets. And this is so often the way when decorating – we want to see a room ‘complete’ and feel we can tick it off the endless to-do list. But is this really the way we should approach our homes? The advocates for slow decorating say not. This concept is all about taking your time to find the right pieces, working on the assumption that a home is a constantly evolving entity, slowly and thoughtfully put together to create an authentic reflection of the lifestyle and tastes of its owner, within an enduring, salubrious space. There are multiple benefits to slow decorating, and the concept has been…

What would you expect the home of an artist and former art curator to look like? The apartment of Christopher Peter, longtime curator-director of the Irma Stern Museum in Cape Town, more than lives up to expectations: within its compact frame, it reflects something of his enduring passions, as well as his art-immersed past. It’s a bijou space with a big heart. Christopher’s artistic sensibility was shaped from childhood, which was spent between the family farm in the Eastern Cape and school in Qonce (formerly called King William’s Town) and Queenstown. ‘I used to love looking at the fashion plates in fashion magazines,’ he says. ‘I devoured them – that lavish style, the beautifully coiffed women with hats and gloves, the dresses…’ For 40 years, Peter lived in a cottage…

Designers are sometimes inseparable from places. Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Glasgow, Antoni Gaudí and Barcelona. Archibald Knox should be synonymous with the Isle of Man, but the connection is too often forgotten, thinks Chris Hobdell, founder of the Archibald Knox Forum. ‘He was born in 1864 and lived on the island for most of his life until his death in 1933. His designs are so strongly influenced by the unique Manx landscape, history, culture and spirit, you really can’t understand Knox without the Isle of Man. But people tend to think of Knox as just a Liberty designer, even though his time working for the London retailer was relatively brief.’ It’s not just the links between Knox and Man that have been glossed over. For decades, Knox himself was invisible…

Even if you don’t think you’ve come across Bauhaus before, you almost certainly have. The steel tubular chair you perch on nervously in the dentist’s waiting room? Bauhaus. The nesting tables you picked up at Habitat? Bauhaus. Your drip-free teapot? Quite possibly Bauhaus too. None of these things are likely to be 1920s or 1930s originals, but they might be designed by Bauhaus members, such as Marcel Breuer, Josef and Anni Albers, or Marianne Brandt, or the subsequent generations of designers inspired by their radical vision. Bauhaus-influenced design has become so ever-present, so synonymous with sleek modern living, paradoxically it’s now almost invisible. In 1919, in the devastating aftermath of the First World War, German architect Walter Gropius established a new, interdisciplinary school of art, design and architecture – the…

Fibres from flax that we weave into linen were the first mankind took from a plant and used for textiles. Proof has come from woven scraps dating back many thousands of years, with a more documented history from ancient Egypt finding flax growing beside the River Nile, and most people wearing linen clothing. Linen didn’t make its way to Europe until the 8th century but, by the 12th century, flax was being grown in Britain, with some households growing, spinning and weaving flax to sell and clothe their families. Qualities that distinguish flax fibres for weaving linen include its 80cm-long stems. Linen is cool to touch, naturally anti-bacterial and highly absorbent, but also dries quickly. Its drawbacks are a tendency to crease and a lack of elasticity, making it more…

Charbonnel et Walker This year is a big year for Charbonnel et Walker, as 2025 represents its 150th anniversary. Its founders, Madame Charbonnel and Mrs Walker, were introduced to one another by Edward VII, while he was Prince of Wales, and opened their first London store on Bond Street in 1875. Since then, more London shops have launched – plus a northern branch in Leeds – and Charbonnel has amassed an army of sweet-toothed fans. Noel Coward even had a box of the shop’s finest selections delivered to his home every fortnight. The main anniversary celebrations begin in September, so look out for new launches and designs. charbonnel.co.uk Baravelli’s Baravelli’s in Conwy has garnered more than 50 awards for its chocolate, and this Welsh bean-to-bar chocolatier has designed and produced…

1 Barrois Antiques If you love neoclassical-style brass-and-glass drinks trolleys from the 1940s, look no further than the inventory of Barrois Antiques, which has a collection of superb examples. The French antiques business, based in northern France close to Lille, specialises in 20th-century furniture and lighting – and ships worldwide. barroisantiques.com; @barrois_antiques 2 D J Green Antiques Among the collection of decorative French, English and Swedish antiques from this dealer based on London’s Lillie Road are a few drinks trolleys. Currently, there’s a c1900 French walnut hotel trolley and a pair of Danish teak 1960 trolleys. djgreenantiques.co.uk; @d.j.greenantiques 3 James Worrall This family business, run by James and Kate and based in the Marylebone Antiques Quarter in London, sells art, furniture, ceramics, glass and lighting. The odd drinks trolley finds its way into…

THE JEWELLERY Cartier 12th April – 16th November The V&A is putting some sparkle into springtime this month, as it charts the evolution of Cartier’s art, design and craftsmanship from the turn of the 20th century. Marking the first major exhibition dedicated to the celebrated jewellery house in almost 30 years, ‘Cartier’ will feature more than 350 pieces, including precious jewels, historic gemstones and iconic watches and clocks. Themes will include the creativity of Cartier and emergence of its signature style, and the legacy of its technical ingenuity and craftsmanship. vam.ac.uk THE DEEP DIVE Undersea 29th March – 14th September Completing the trilogy of exhibitions curated by art historian James Russell, ‘Undersea’ follows ‘Seaside Modern’ (2021) and ‘Seafaring’ (2022) to explore the myths, mysteries and lives that lurk beneath the…

If you’re planning a spring makeover, a bright idea is to harness the interior designer’s trick of the trade. ‘A moodboard is a board or surface that contains a mixture of paint and material samples, inspirational images and any other physical references that evoke the mood and style of your scheme,’ explains Tash Bradley, director of interior design at Lick. ‘It can be overwhelming if you jump straight into choosing colours and materials before you’ve worked out what look and feel you want to create, so this is a really important step.’ A moodboard is also an invaluable tool in helping you streamline your ideas. ‘Never underestimate the importance of using a moodboard to capture and refine your design vision,’ says Andy Greenall, head of design at Paint & Paper…

Few would have enough to say about paint to fill 27 books, but British artist, designer, author, colour expert and inventor of ever-popular Chalk Paint, Annie Sloan, isn’t running out of ideas any time soon. Her latest offering, Annie Sloan Colourful Living: 30 Creative Upcycling Paint Projects for Your Home, does what it says on the (paint) tin, in the best possible way. Overflowing with ideas for giving preloved furniture a unique second life, the book is primed and ready to inspire. Annie commences with a practical guide to sourcing furniture that’s well-suited for upcycling -focusing on spotting potential and saving pieces from landfill – before unearthing the tools and materials to have on hand. From paints and brushes to waxes and lacquers, Annie’s expertise will ensure that your projects sport…

Historic vases are something of an obsession for ceramic artist Amy Jayne Hughes. Since her first significant encounter with them about 16 years ago, they have become the starting point for her creative process, providing both inspiration and something to react against. Exploring her responses to them and reinterpreting their decorative characteristics has led to the much-admired bold, bright, contemporary pieces that she is making today. Amy’s most recent creations are her ‘After Alhambra’ and ‘After Amphora’ vases, inspired respectively by Islamic vases made in 14th- and 15th-century Spain, and the black and terracotta storage vases of Ancient Greece. In these pieces, Amy honours the forms and decorative motifs of the originals while adding doodled lines, painted sweeps of colour and stuck-on appendages in her distinctive collage style, to simultaneously…

'Both of my parents have greatly influenced my style. They’ve been antiques dealers for 50 years, so I grew up surrounded by unique and beautiful, timeless pieces,' says graphic designer Alice Merritt. ‘Antique furniture is so well crafted. I love finding things that tell a story; they add an interesting layer.’ Alice’s home, which she shares with her husband, Rhys, seamlessly blends classic – and sometimes quirky – antiques with carefully chosen contemporary pieces, resulting in a space that feels both timeless and personal. A case in point is the kitchen worktop, transformed from an old science bench, complete with gas valves designed for Bunsen burners. Paired with new plywood carcasses, it’s now a functional, industrial-style kitchen. ‘We love this juxtaposition of old and new,’ says Alice. ‘The kitchen now…

Opening on the 5th April at the Manx Museum on the Isle of Man, ‘Knox: Order and Beauty’ will be the world’s largest-ever showcase of work by Archibald Knox. The exhibition takes its name from a principle that Knox encouraged his students to follow: ‘Aim at order, hope for beauty’. It will feature more than 100 artefacts from Manx National Heritage’s own archive, and around 100 exceptional objects generously lent by museums and private collectors, most of them not usually on show to the public. Chris Hobdell, founder of the Archibald Knox Forum and an island resident, has taken a leading role in organising the exhibition. ‘It doesn’t just celebrate Knox as a brilliant designer, but celebrates his association with the Isle of Man,’ he says. The show will also…

Anthony Barzilay Freund, editorial director of 1stDibs, explains why, in its annual survey of interior designers, Bauhaus was picked as the trend most likely to shape the way we live in 2025… ‘Bauhaus represents the forward-thinking and optimistic approach that designers were taking at the start of the last century. Modernism and technology held so much promise and freed people from the strictures and traditions of the 19th century. For anyone who cares even just a little bit about art, design and beauty, the Bauhaus will always feel not just relevant, but inspiring. Never before in modern times had you seen the coming together of artists, designers and artisans in such a deliberate and well-intentioned collaboration, and all in the interest of creating an entirely new aesthetic that was accessible…

1. Dressed for best Estimate £10,000-£15,000 Sold £60,000 Kerry Taylor Auctions in London is the place to buy top-quality antique and vintage fashion by designers such as Yves Saint Laurent, Hubert de Givenchy, Paul Poiret and Gabrielle Chanel. In the last sale, a range of 18th-century dress, which had been kept in the same family and handed down from generation to generation, created huge excitement. Consigned from the Green-Armytage & Wace collection, the lots included satin shoes lined with kid leather, pattens (leather outer shoes, which protected fine shoes from mud), and an ivory silk wedding robe à l’anglaise, dating to 1773, with a fitted bodice back in the English style. All these beautiful items were bought by museums, but the star of the show was a fine striped Spitalfields…

Vintage Market at the Mansion It’s spring, and that means the Vintage Market at the Mansion returns to Beckenham Place Park. In its ninth year held in the grounds and rooms of the 18th-century house, the market brings together 50 vintage traders from the local area, as well as from further afield. The market this spring falls on Easter Monday, 21st April, and outside and inside the mansion you’ll find mid-century furniture, lighting, homeware and ceramics, original posters, prints, books, records, antique maps and charts, vintage clothes, and more. There will be street food and a coffee van, plus a bar and cafe will be serving craft ale and lunches. Some of the resident artists will have their studios open, plus the market band, The Alvar Treefrogs, will be busking…

What first sparked your interest in antiques, and how did it grow from there? I grew up surrounded by antiques. My grandmother loved collecting, and my mother and father have a keen eye for antiques too, so home for me has always been full of them. My mother specialised in gold boxes, and used to lecture at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Apsley House and The Wallace Collection. As a child, I was often dragged around these beautiful buildings and taken to the antiques shows at Olympia. It wasn’t until I grew older and left university that I really started to love and appreciate how antiques add such a brilliant dimension to an interior. They tell a story, hold lots of secrets and memories, and give the patina of time,…

At Sotheby’s Royal & Noble Jewels sale in Geneva last November, the atmosphere was electric as around 50 bidders crowded into the saleroom, and hundreds more joined in online and via the telephone. The main draw of the prestigious auction was a single-owner collection entitled ‘A Tsar’s Treasure’, jewellery amassed by Tsar Ferdinand of Bulgaria and his immediate family in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. It contained pieces once owned by the greatest royal families of central Europe – Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha (of which Ferdinand was a prince), Habsburg, Bourbon-Parma, Württemberg and Savoy. Amongst the 114 lots were glittering diamond tiaras, bejewelled bracelets, brooches and rings, and a cascade of cufflinks, tie pins and sleek cigarette boxes from Ferdinand’s personal cache of male jewellery. ‘Even within the realm of jewels, where you…

1 BIOPHILIC BEAUTY From adding houseplants or maximising natural light to mimicking the natural world in our decor, introducing elements of biophilia can significantly help to improve our home environment. Using organic materials, such as wood, stone and natural fibres, in favour of synthetics, can help to further enhance this effect, grounding us and engendering a connection to nature. Chloe Bullock, founder of Materialise Interiors and author of Sustainable Interior Design, explains that the concept is far from a new fad: ‘In Florence Nightingale’s book, Notes on Hospitals, published in 1863, she shared her extensive knowledge of hospital design, which included biophilic design principles in which nature promotes recovery, with headboards positioned close to windows for views of nature and reading by daylight.’ 2 ART FOR THE HOME If you feel a…

Create a home that excites and inspires you with moody shades and kitsch elements…

THE AUCTION Cartier Curated 29th April, Lyon & Turnbull, Live Online As the V&A’s new blockbuster show ‘Cartier’ opens, Lyon & Turnbull is hosting an auction dedicated to the celebrated jewellery house, as specialist Sarah Duncan explains: ‘Amongst all the French jewellers, Cartier has the edge in the antique and vintage market, and every year we see high demand for Cartier items. In this sale we’re offering everything from jewellery and watches to objects, clocks and even pens.’ Founded in 1847, Cartier wasn’t an overnight sensation, but built steadily, opening its first London boutique in 1902. The early-20th century was a time of great innovation for the family firm, then led by brothers Louis, Pierre and Jacques Cartier. ‘They were at the epicentre of the aesthetics revolution of the Art…

Antiques, alas, are often not what they initially claim to be. Take the ‘cricket’ table, which has nothing to do with the game of cricket; the ‘Armada’ chest, which is entirely unrelated to the Spanish Armada; the ‘cock-fighting’ chair, to which cock-fighting is irrelevant, or the ‘witch’ ball, which, despite its romantic association, is more likely to have been used as a Christmas decoration in 19th-century Germany. The same can be applied to the historic dummy board, which people with active imaginations sometimes describe as 17th- and 18th-century burglar alarms. As much as I like that theory, I’m taking that one with a pinch of salt. In truth, I suspect that dummy boards were no more than fashionable, whimsical diversions – elaborate jokes, popular in an age very different from…

Nine Ladies, Derbyshire This Bronze Age stone circle gets its name from the belief that nine women were turned to stone as a punishment for dancing on a Sunday. english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/nine- ladies-stone-circle/ Mên-an-Tol, Cornwall A formation of three upright stones – including a circular one with a hole in its middle – near Madron in west Cornwall. cornishancientsites.com/ancient-sites/ men-an-tol/ Avebury, Wiltshire This Neolithic site is the largest prehistoric stone circle in Europe. nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/wiltshire/avebury Brane Barrow, Cornwall An ancient burial chamber, near the hamlet of Sancreed in west Cornwall. Small but perfectly preserved. cornwalls.co.uk/history/sites/brane.htm Stonehenge The most iconic of the UK’s pagan sites is this Megalithic monument near Amesbury in Wiltshire. english-heritage.org.uk/visit/ places/stonehenge/ Calanais Standing Stones, Outer Hebrides Until 1857, when they were excavated, these stones -which pre-date Stonehenge – were hidden…