Home is where the heart is.

About two years ago a customer was in the shop and enquired if our home was decorated in the style of the shop/boutique. At that point we still had a long way to go before we could finally relegate the last tin of paint to the cellar. The customer happened to be a magazine editor looking for interesting period properties. Undeterred that we weren’t in a position to be featured, she left asking us to make contact when we were ready. Eighteen months later I made contact and the photographer ‘Di Lewis’ arrived to shoot for ‘Period Living’ February 2011 issue.



The photographs were beautiful and captured the essence of our home. The magazine focused on the kitchen and as a result some of the interior shots were not used. As I have most of the work I thought it would be nice to share them with you. As you will see the colours we have used are strong & earthy - not to everyone’s taste I know, but they work in this old property. Personally I loath bland, safe, colourless interior shades which prevail at the moment. To some, our style is eclectic, this has been toned by observation & travels over the years. Interesting details can be found by just looking up at a building, be it door pediment/window frame/render colour etc. Old interiors provide endless inspiration for colour. I love and admire the work of French designer ‘Jacque Garcia’ best know for his contemporary interiors of Paris.

Snowy Bath

I recently enjoyed a Sunday off with a visit to Bath - a favourite destination for us as it’s only 35 minutes by car from Tetbury. That particular day it had been snowing, luckily the drive down the A46 was clear, but side roads were impassable due to ice

On arriving we found Bath relatively quiet considering it was almost Christmas & able to park straight away. In need of sustenance we headed over to the ‘The Fine Cheese Co’ in Walcot Street for food and refreshment. This venue has a lovely unpretentious atmosphere - friendly knowledgeable staff, good coffee, excellent food - the Crayfish tail, rocket & sun dried tomato sandwich is divine.

We spent the afternoon wandering around Bath; one can’t fail to be inspired with the glorious architecture here. A recent BBC2 programme presented by Amanda Vickery ‘At Home with the Georgians’ went behind closed doors and illustrated what it was really like to live behind those gilded facades. Even allowing for the 1960/79’s ‘rape of Bath’ when some areas were misguidedly cleared for the so called modernization, and bland soulless buildings erected. These now sit like sore thumbs against their Georgian neighbours. The ugly example for me is the ‘Hilton Hotel’ above the podium car park - surely it could be refaced to make it easier on the eye.

 

Devotees of the marvels of Bath are usually drawn to the Royal Crescent or the Circus, but I prefer ‘St James Square’ which sits just below Lansdowne crescent. It is a haven of peace & quiet after the buzz of central Bath - also the ‘Mangia Bene’ café, just off the square, has good food & pavement seating. Perfect place to stop after walking and taking in the delights of this beautiful Georgian city.