{"id":2900,"date":"2024-10-18T12:04:45","date_gmt":"2024-10-18T04:04:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/2024\/10\/18\/a-classic-english-country-house-receives-a-mood-lifting-injection-of-color\/"},"modified":"2024-10-18T12:04:45","modified_gmt":"2024-10-18T04:04:45","slug":"a-classic-english-country-house-receives-a-mood-lifting-injection-of-color","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/nl\/a-classic-english-country-house-receives-a-mood-lifting-injection-of-color\/","title":{"rendered":"Een klassiek Engels landhuis krijgt een stemmingsverhogende kleurinjectie"},"content":{"rendered":"

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London interior designer Nicola Harding was the right person to turn to. Her clients, a couple with two young boys, were leaving London for rural Berkshire and life in a Georgian brick manse. They appreciated the grandeur of their house\u20148,600 square feet, seven bedrooms\u2014but how to downplay the stuffy formality and lend the spaces the right energy\u2014and functionality?<\/p>\n

First the layout demanded a rethink, says Harding, noting that more than a few spaces felt \u201cconfused and uncomfortable\u201d and that a relatively recent extension \u201csucked life away from the original part of the building. We kept structural work to a minimum but were able to rework the flow by blocking off doorways, making areas feel less corridor-like and more cozy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Equally importantly, Harding happens to be a master colorist: She is both deft and bold in her selections not only of paint but artwork and the many seating and lighting choices a dwelling this size requires. Join us for a tour of her transformative blues and greens and stealth pinks.<\/p>\n

Photography by Paul Massey, courtesy of Nicola Harding & Co.<\/p>\n


Above: The family, longtime Londoners, weren\u2019t sure rural living would be right for them, Harding explains: \u201cThe wife worried she was stepping into someone else\u2019s life, someone older and more sensible. So it was crucial to her that the house feel true to her. It needed to make sense as a country house, but also to feel exciting. It needed to be user-friendly, meeting their practical needs but also to be fun and sexy.\u201d <\/p>\n

Towards that end, the living spaces, including this corner of the sitting room, are furnished with soft places to flop, arranged, says Harding, \u201cto create a feeling of intimacy.\u201d The sofa and striped pillows are Nicola Harding custom designs. The trio of prints are by Hormazd Narielwalla via UK art site C&B Curates.<\/p>\n


Above: Harding balanced the upright and formal with the down-home: A set of found metal work stools surround the sitting room bar table next to floor-length linen curtains edged with antique lace dyed a deep blue. The dusty pink on the walls is Setting Plaster from Farrow & Ball (go to Steal This Look to see a grand kitchen in the same color by Harding).,

Above: The kitchen was opened up by removing what Harding describes as \u201can awkward wall that bit into the middle of the room.\u201d The built-in cabinets and large island with Silestone counters are by Remodelista favorite deVol. The arched window was existing.
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Above: Rather than fill the space with a large table, the family opted for an intimate setup: an OKA garden table and Rocket St. George chairs. The vintage bank of drawers provide extra storage: \u201cThey enabled us to limit the amount of built-in cabinets, which kept the cost down and kept the room from feeling too fitted kitchen-y,\u201d says Harding.
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Above: The adjacent garden room serves as a less formal living and dining area. The botanical prints are vintage; the sofa is from UK handmade-to-order source Sofa.com.,<\/p>\n

Harding says she planned the house\u2019s overall palette by \u201cmaking note of the natural light levels in the different spaces. Where the light was good, I opted for paler colors that would enhance the sense of space. Where the light levels were lower, I went for richer tones that would give a sense of warmth and drama, and provide an exciting, varied experience of color through the house.\u201d<\/p>\n


Above: Harding chose shades of green, both subtle and bold \u201cas a color thread linking the different spaces. Green is a brilliant color to live with, working well at all times of day and times of year.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cA trick I like to use is putting a darker color on the woodwork than on the walls,\u201d Harding adds. Here, the walls are painted in Tracery and the trim is Normandy Grey, both from Little Green. \u201cOne\u2019s eye stops at the lightest thing we see, so if you paint a window frame in a darker color, your eye is drawn beyond it to the view.\u201d The rattan Wengler chairs are from Sika-Design.<\/p>\n


Above: \u201cColor really is a very cost-effective magic spell that transforms the atmosphere of a space,\u201d says Harding. Here, she paired a 1950s painted kitchen cupboard from Vinterior with an abstract painting by Brighton-based artist John Goodison. <\/p>\n

Nicola\u2019s description of the house\u2019s palette as it was? \u201cVarious shades of beige, mushroom, and gray: safe and samey\u2014and bland and depressing.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Above: \u201cThis had been a dark intersection between hallways, with no natural light,\u201d says Harding of the former library that\u2019s now the dining\/reading room. \u201cWe closed off a doorway, added floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, painted it a bright blue (Stone Blue by Farrow & Ball) that has bags of personality, and overcame the low ceiling by painting it a similar shade so that it disappears. The combination of the books, the color, and the darker ceiling, as well as redirecting the flow, transformed what had been a really horrible space into one of the most inviting areas of the house.\u201d <\/p>\n

The brass table is a Matthew Cox design and the pendant lights are from Cox & Cox. The red velvet-upholstered Safia Dining Chairs came from Made. The OKA block-printed cotton carpet is actually two rugs sewn together.<\/p>\n


Above: The entry hall now has an Art Deco table, vintage Tuareg mat of woven straw detailed in leather, and a blue velvet sofa. The dark space is painted Chelsea Green II and the woodwork is Salvia, both from Paint & Paper Library. \u201cWhen Nicola suggested that green, all I could think of was Kermit the Frog,\u201d the wife told
\nUK House & Garde<\/em>n. \u201cI thought I would hate it, but it has become the color I like the most.\u201d
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Above: To create a flow between spaces, the adjacent home office is painted the same color as the entry hall woodwork: It\u2019s the aforementioned Salvia from Paint & Paper Library, which Harding describes as \u201can off-beat aqua green.\u201d She notes that what looks like blue velvet on the sofa is a corduroy from Brisbane Moss.,

Above: The wife\u2019s office doubles as the homework room: \u201cRather than just putting a desk in her study, we found a large kitchen-style table that we placed in the middle of the room, creating lots of space for her to sit with the children, spread out her own work, or wrap presents.\u201d
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Above: The parents\u2019 room has a custom upholstered headboard made by Naturalmat and walls painted Farrow & Ball\u2019s Setting Plaster. Vintage metal hospital tables with stone tops serve as compact bedside tables. Harding reconfigured the setup to include his and hers dressing areas\u2014the husband\u2019s room is visible on the right.
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Above: An antique chest of drawers introduces a patinated blue to the space.
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Above: The blue theme extends to the main bath: the walls are Sobek and the tub Samphire, both from Paint & Paper Library. The zellige tiles are from Emery & Cie. <\/p>\n

For more by Nicola Harding take a look at her collaboration with Howe of London:<\/p>\n