Wealden Times | WT256 | September 2023 | Education & Kitchen Supplement inside

Above: Paintings by Scottish artist Margaret Smyth were the starting point for the decoration scheme for the ground floor reception rooms
the starting point for most of the
decoration scheme for the ground floor
reception rooms. I bought one of them
for Giles when we got engaged as a gift.
Some years later the artist rang us and
told us she had a partner piece so we
got that one as well. We have had to
remove walls and chimney breasts in
previous houses to get them both in,
but the two paintings fitted perfectly in
the library, and we didn’t have to take
anything down!” The rich colours of
the artwork have indeed provided the
colour source for not only the red velvet
stools from Lots Road Auctions that
surround a reclaimed and re-stained
centrepiece table, but a Cole & Son
‘Cabaret’ wallpaper and dark red F&B
woodwork in the downstairs loo, the
William Morris wall lights and the
blind in GP & J Baker with trim by
Samuel & Sons. However, despite the
dramatic flourishes, Nicki has been
careful to use calmer tones across the
rest of the walls and woodwork across
the downstairs areas, including Farrow
& Ball Setting Plaster and Mouse’s Back,
Paint & Paper Library Truffle and Little
Greene Portland Stone. A stunning oak
parquet floor adds a sense of continuity
leading from one room to the next.
A beam-lined spacious opening leads
down some steps into the sitting room
where again, a piece of abstract art
has given Nicki her colours. “We were
lucky to inherit some nice pieces of
French 20th century art from Giles’s
parents who lived in France. This is
quite a bold piece with yellow, green
and orange and it looked so different
in Giles’s parents’ house, but I paired
it with the coral pink velvet sofa and it
really looks perfect. It has completely
adapted to its new home,” says Nicki.
A pair of reclaimed louvred doors give
another nod to France, while pattern
and texture is again fed into the room
with Andrew Martin and Mulberry
cushions and throws, a large sea grass
rug and sofas from Sofa.com. Curtains
feature trim by Samuel & Son and
fabrics in Osborne & Little and GP & J
Baker. Lamps are from Porta Romana.
The large stone fireplace, again
with a distinctly continental feel, gives
the room an impressive focal point.
“This fireplace needed replacing so we
got a local stonemason called Elliott
Brotherton to create a new surround
for us. It’s such a great feature and
41
priceless-magazines.com