Category: Gardens

A New Age of Elegance

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Not since the 1970s when Laura Ashley’s love affair with all things Victorian/Edwardian has there been quite so much interest in this decorative era. Ruth Eaton, Coco Conran, Anna Mason and Sarah Vanrenen are in the vanguard of fashion and interior designers creating a new age of elegance for the 21st Century. To find out what is so appealing about late 19th/early 20th Century design, the blog invites you to visit The National Trust’s Lanhydrock House in Cornwall.

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Pembrokeshire colour and light

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With inspiring art as well as luxurious woollen textile designs and dark wood antiques, Pembrokeshire offers interior design a unique weave of Welsh style. The longish journey to this coastal region of West Wales makes the arrival (and lack of crowds) all the sweeter. You can be assured of incredible colour and light, from textural landscapes with medieval field patterns to pretty wildflower hedgerows and colourfully painted buildings. And that’s not to mention some of the best sandy beaches in the UK …

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RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023

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It’s the start of the summer season and that can only mean one thing, it’s showtime for some of the UK’s top interior and garden design shows. Reporting from SW3 at the Press Day for The RHS Chelsea Flower Show, 23 to 27 May 2023 (sponsored by The Newt), the blog takes you deep into the borders of the world-class show gardens – with a little reminder of other not-to-be-missed design events this summer.

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15 Open Gardens in Beckley, Oxfordshire

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Blessed with a series of ancient wells, Beckley is one of those quintessentially Oxfordshire villages with irresistibly pretty country cottages, a manor house (or two), community pub and a medieval church that dates back to Norman times. It is the type of village where well-established English roses and wysteria command exterior walls and where exuberant cottage flowers find their way between the cracks to greet you. On Sunday 19th June 2022, Beckley will be opening their garden gates and welcoming visitors to 15 private gardens for charity.

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The RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2022

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Since I was last at The RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2018, the world has of course become a very different place. To say that plants and flowers have become a huge trend for interior decoration is perhaps an understatement. From small scale print designs to grand scale florals, the health benefits of plants and flowers and how we garden for the planet is now key.

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The Old Rectory garden opens for The National Garden Scheme in Berkshire

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Members of the wonderful National Garden Scheme are generously opening their garden gates for charity this summer, just when we need them most. The sheer joy of a visit to see some of Britain’s private gardens is going to bring a lot of happiness to many. The variety of gardens you can visit range from secret city rooftops to cottage and manor house gardens. The season starts for us on Sunday 23 May (2 – 5 pm) with a visit to one of Berkshire’s finest.

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Collage of images of Jo Beavan's Oxfordshire farmhouse home on Charis White Interiors blog

House and garden tour: Polkadot Parsley

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Are you the sort of house hunter who knows straight away whether it is ‘the one’ or not? This was very much the case for Jo Beavan who runs her successful online ceramic oven to tableware business Polkadot Parsley. Jo and her husband Simon who is a chartered civil engineer, have a long-standing love of France and of period homes. So when Jo spotted an Oxfordshire farmhouse for sale with a Georgian frontage and a French-style walled garden, the contracts were as good as signed. The only slight sticking point was that their own family house wasn’t on the market yet…

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Garden design at The Newt, Somerset

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If like me you are drawn to colour, pattern and texture in all its forms, I hope you might enjoy this snapshot of some inspirational garden design ideas from a recent visit to the gardens at The Newt in Somerset. The garden had been on my radar for a while so I was excited to be able to take the opportunity to make a flying visit.

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Interiors staying connected

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‘Staying In’ has offered unexpected positives, one of them is having time to think about what’s important. In these very difficult times, it has been lovely to see so many acts of human kindness and creativity. It has also been inspiring to see the interiors industry getting supportive with webinars and even a new charity aimed at giving NHS heroes, interior designed havens to come home to. I thought I would share with you some of the creative Staying-In inspiration that has caught my eye these past few weeks.

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English secret garden

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One of the sweet spots of the summer season is the moment when our calendar gets filled with dates to visit gardens open for charity on behalf of The National Garden Scheme. More exterior than interior I suppose but fairly inextricably linked for floral/botanical design inspiration and for the patterns found in imaginative landscaping. These are usually private gardens and there is often exceptionally fine, freshly baked cake from precious family recipes. If you are lucky, proper tea cups and saucers with the odd plant to buy and a bit of bunting. Heaven really.

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