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The best interior designers in Britain
The classic English Country House style is as relevant today as it's ever been — with the best in the business mastering the art of blending a timeless look with the needs of modern life. Here's our pick of the best interior designers in Britain.
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All the new entries in the Country Life Top 100 for 2025
Each year, our Country Life Top 100 is completely revised and updated — and several new names appear.
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The Country Life Top 100 2025: A triumph of timelessness, substance and longevity over throwaway style
Giles Kime's executive editor and interiors guru — and the man in charge of putting together our annual Country Life Top 100 — on what binds together our pick of the 100 best architects, designers and craftspeople in Britain.
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'I'm the expert who wrote the RHS's guide to roses — here's why pruning them right now is almost certainly a terrible mistake'
More roses die from over-pruning than any other cause so what’s the reasoning underpinning this horticultural habit? Charles Quest-Ritson, the garden expert who wrote the RHS Encyclopedia of Roses, takes a closer look.
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Historic England acquires 8,000-strong collection of early landscape photographs
Janette Rosing's collection of 19th- and early-20th-century photographs is ‘of national significance’ says Historic England.
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Forsythia: The spring flower that's a ray of sunshine — and a foolproof option for novice gardeners
Forsythia are often sniffed at for being too brassy, but there is a lot more going for them, says Charles Quest-Ritson, although don’t plant them next to clashing pink-flowering currants.
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Dawn Chorus: Meet Farrow & Ball’s new paint colours, shop the must-have hotel merchandise and find out what Tom Parker Bowles likes to order from Greggs
It’s time to redecorate because paint connoisseurs Farrow & Ball have added 12 new colours to their palette.
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Why size doesn't matter if you've got some decorating derring-do
A small space can be just as appealing as a large one — as long as you decorate with confidence, says a new book.
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How to make a gloomy city garden into a haven of colour and nature
Tiffany Daneff discovers how to transform a typically dark London back garden into a light-filled green haven that is always in use. Photographs by Clive Nichols.
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What this bathroom says about the return of the shiny surface
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The art of glass: Is this the ultimate greenhouse for family entertaining?
This versatile greenhouse, designed for a family in Kent, and our round-up of the best orangeries, garden rooms and glasshouses is the only indoor-outdoor space inspiration you need.
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The daffodil full of 'simple, dotty charm' that's the most generous of all Narcissus species
Charles Quest-Ritson looks at the endlessly cheerful hoop-petticoat daffodil, Narcissus bulbocodium.
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When London was beginning to establish itself as modern cultural powerhouse: The 1980s according to David Bailey
In his new book ‘Eighties Bailey’, ‘era-defining’ photographer David Bailey explores a time when London and the UK were at the centre of the fashion, art and publishing worlds.
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Reader event: Why Sir John Soane matters
Almost two centuries after his death, the architect’s work continues to inspire both classic and contemporary designers. At a Country Life event in March, four leading design experts will explore his creative legacy.
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This rare Picasso lithograph could be yours for £60,000
Picasso's 'David and Bathsheba' — printed on rare Chinese silk paper and intertwined with the artist's infamous and complicated love life — has come up for sale.
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Five of the National Trust's most outstanding paintings, as chosen by the curators who care for the charity’s world-class collection
As The National Trust celebrates its 130th anniversary, we asked five of their curators to choose a key artwork from the charity's huge collection.
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Isabel Bannerman: The year’s first and most abundantly cheery, uplifting and undemanding of winter flowers
Cyclamen coum is one of the plants that lights up our gardens at this time of year.
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Totally tropical Tresco: The English country garden that brings the tropics to the British Isles
A warm reception awaits visitors to Tresco Abbey Garden — the home of Robert and Lucy Dorrien-Smith — where the year-round temperate climate has created an extraordinarily colourful garden–even in winter. Tiffany Daneff reports, with photography by Clive Nichols.
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Freddie Mercury's London bathroom, perfectly recreated in a family home in Surrey
This Drummonds designed bathroom is a faithful replica of Freddie Mercury's London one, used on the set of his Bohemian Rhapsody film biopic.
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Alan Titchmarsh: The neat planting trick which means I almost never have to do any weeding
Alan Titchmarsh yields to no-one in his striving for garden perfectionism — and he's helped in his task by a cunning strategy that helps him avoid weeding almost completely.
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Injecting colour, pattern and character into a once-plain sitting room
Books, art and textiles transformed a once-characterless space into a warm, inviting sitting room.
