Chelsea Flower Show 2026: The art of the hand and why it is so precious

Country Life Magazine, Chelsea Flower Show Stand drawing 2026 by George Saumarez Smith — (Image credit: George Saumarez Smith)

One of the many joys of collaboration is that the whole is always greater than the sum of the parts. So when Country Life asked the architect, George Saumarez Smith, to design a garden lover’s library at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show, it precipitated a chain reaction.

First, he drew all three elevations by hand, complete with architectural detailing, wallpaper, and artwork on the walls, creating a trompe-l’œil that included a long view through a window to an imaginary folly. The result celebrates his love for both drawing and classical architecture, as well as his fiancée, Jane Kennerley's, passion for plants.

George Saumarez Smith's home — George Saumarez Smith, the designer of the 'Garden Lover's Library' for Country Life at this year's RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

To bring the space to life, he worked with Watts 1874, the furniture brand Munders Skiles and Artorius Faber, the specialist in British stone, who gave shape to his designs for a floor, fireplace and a pair of magnificent obelisks.

If there is a theme that is central to this project — and which George Saumarez Smith expresses so eloquently — it is the creative possibilities of the human hand. Everything in the space was conceived with both pen and pencil, an art form that is becoming increasingly rare with the rise of digital technology.

Drawing is at the heart of his work, both designing new buildings and bringing old buildings to life — as well as recording the grammar of classicism that he explored in Sketchbooks, which was published by Triglyph in 2021. The result is an exciting project that draws together the passions he shares with Country Life as we approach our 130th year.

The Country Life ‘Garden Lover’s Library’, designed by George Saumarez Smith of Adam Architecture, is at stand PW215 at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, May 18–23.

To celebrate, you can buy a year-long subscription for £150 and save more than 40% on the cover price. International offers also available. Until May 31.

The first 200 subscribers at Chelsea will receive a bottle of The Grange Classic Sparkling NV, worth £39. Rated 94 points by Decanter magazine, this premium sparkling wine from Hampshire was described in Country Life as ‘the connoisseur’s choice’. Offer available with subscriptions for UK delivery only.

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Giles Kime is Country Life's Executive and Interiors Editor, an expert in interior design with decades of experience since starting his career at The World of Interiors magazine. Giles joined Country Life in 2016, introducing new weekly interiors features, bridging the gap between our coverage of architecture and gardening. He previously launched a design section in The Telegraph and spent over a decade at Homes & Gardens magazine (launched by Country Life's founder Edward Hudson in 1919). A regular host of events at London Craft Week, Focus, Decorex and the V&A, he has interviewed leading design figures, including Kit Kemp, Tricia Guild, Mary Fox Linton, Chester Jones, Barbara Barry and Lord Snowdon. He has written a number of books on interior design, property and wine, the most recent of which is on the legendary interior designer Nina Campbell who last year celebrated her fiftieth year in business. This Autumn sees the publication of his book on the work of the interior designer, Emma Sims-Hilditch. He has also written widely on wine and at 26, was the youngest ever editor of Decanter Magazine. Having spent ten years restoring an Arts & Crafts house on the banks of the Itchen, he and his wife, Kate, are breathing life into a 16th-century cottage near Alresford that has remained untouched for almost half a century.