Surrey Homes | SH33 | July 2017 | Interiors supplement inside

Above left: In keeping with the grand, rich feeling of the whole apartment, Karen’s cooking utensils and cutlery are kept in a
collection of pressed glass jugs and vases Above right: The long hallway is lined on one side with round mirrors of assorted sizes
But while sources may vary from seriously grand
to canny bargains, one theme that weaves through all
Karen’s treasures is her love for European style.
The formerly mentioned wire angel is by French artist
Marie Cristophe, bought on a trip to Paris. “She does a lot
of work for the big fashion houses,” says Karen. “I saw the
angel in a gallery and knew I had to have her in my home.”
The industrial-style dining table at the windowend
of the room is also French, inspired by a
Paris trip, although not bought there.
“It’s a French army folding table. I saw one at Merci in
Paris, then searched on line until I found one. It weighs 80
kilos! I don’t know how it was ever thought of as portable…”
The chairs round it, though, are modern design classics:
Danish designer Verner Panton’s cantilevered plastic chair,
designed in 1960, bought by Karen from The Conran Shop.
The stuffed wild boar head – called Boris – mounted
over the table, was a find at the famous annual Braderie
flea market in Lille. He was wearing a bowler on the day of
our visit, but, says Karen “…he changes his hat often.”
The beautiful bird cage on the sideboard was also
from Lille: “I brought it back on Eurostar.”
The large armoire at the back of the room is more
genuine French Provincial – but sourced in the very
British West Sussex town of Arundel, an hour and a half
to the west of St Leonards, in an emporium specialising in
antiques from across the Channel, called French Loft.
Another, even bigger, armoire from there is one of
the major features of Karen’s bedroom. It’s so huge, I
wonder how they got it in there. Karen explains:
“Large antique French furniture like this can be
dismantled and put back together again, flat pack
67 wealdentimes.co.uk