Wealden Times | WT226 | March 2021 | Interiors supplement inside

Above left: The simply decorated shower room mixes monochrome tiling for pleasing detail and pattern Above right: The ground-floor
bedroom’s walls are painted a mid-green (Farrow & Ball’s Green Smoke) two thirds of the way up, then cream, with the back wall finished
with tongue and groove panelling
trove beloved of home designers in the South East – what
made this difference was that Francesca took Georgina and
Gareth with her on the shopping expeditions for the house.
“I like to take clients with me to antique fairs, to be involved
with choices, because it’s more efficient – and it means we
don’t come back with anything they might not like. That’s
not to say that Georgina and Gareth weren’t sure about some
of the things I chose at Ardingly, but when they saw them in
the house, they got it. So that really helps to build trust.”
One of the items even Francesca wasn’t sure about at first
has turned out to be an anchor piece for the whole scheme – a
large chest of drawers painted such a distinctive bright blue,
I assumed she’d bought something bland and repainted it
for effect. “It was that colour when we bought it,” she says.
“I thought it might be a bit much, but it works so well.”
With two striking vases on the top and a round mirror
over it, as well as providing very useful storage for linens,
the chest gives the landing instant impact and character.
And is also the first sight of what then became another of
Francesca’s themes for the scheme as a whole. There are
three more blue-painted chests of drawers in the bedrooms.
“I just happened to find three more blue chests of drawers!
They were perfect and I didn’t paint any of them.”
It makes a tour of the house very satisfying, as you
keep seeing these lovely blue chests, with interesting
gatherings of objects atop them – and usually a
round mirror somewhere in the vicinity.
Walking around Elmley Cottage, it almost became a
game for me, to spot Francesca’s clever themes and notice
how they popped up and changed between each room.
Round mirrors, bamboo frames, valances, Roman blinds,
ticking, linen, wall hooks, glug jugs, framed bird prints,
mustard yellow velvet… With ticking blinds and linen
headboard in one room, linen blinds and ticking valance
in another. Another theme is a wonderful striking pink, as
Farrow & Balls’s Setting Plaster in one bedroom, popping
up elsewhere as cushions and chair covers. “Having a
simple palate and some themes as a running thread, makes
a house flow and makes it seem bigger,” says Francesca.
Put like that, it sounds simple, but the total
effect is much greater than the sum of the parts
and creates a sense of stimulating harmony – the
perfect complement to this unique setting.
Address Book:
To find out more about booking a stay at Elmley
National Nature Reserve, visit elmleynaturereserve.co.uk.
Ardingly Antiques Fair iacf.co.uk/ardingly
McCully & Crane mccullyandcrane.com
Merchant & Mills merchantandmills.com
Rowan Plowden Design rowanplowden.com
priceless-magazines.com
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