Gardens & Interiors
The finest houses, gardens and interiors in Britain, and how to create the English country house look in your home, with advice from top experts.
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A Suffolk sitting room that's a perfect example of how to bring joy and warmth
Interior designer Sean Symington was asked to add character to the sitting room of this Tudor farmhouse in Suffolk.
By Arabella Youens Published
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Animals, obelisks and bare plaster: Country Life predicts what will be hot in interior design this year
Cocktail larders and bobbin fenders. Much of what lies ahead comes from the past.
By Giles Kime Published
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Soft colours and bold geometry inspire this Notting Hill sitting room
Stella Weatherall employed colour and pattern to bring her London sitting room to life.
By Amelia Thorpe Published
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Alan Titchmarsh: 'A stately pile in my part of Hampshire has been on the market for years — but one buyer didn't even make it to the door before getting back in his helicopter'
Silence is golden — and more readily accessible at this time of year than any other, says Alan Titchmarsh.
By Alan Titchmarsh Published
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Charles Quest-Ritson: Walnuts are one of the gardener's greatest pleasures — but you'll have to be ready for the squirrels
Once you are hooked by walnuts and want to grow more varieties, you find an extraordinary amount of choice. Charles Quest-Ritson explains more.
By Charles Quest-Ritson Published
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Mark Diacono: How to grow savory both summer and winter
The grow-your-own gardening expert on summer savory and winter savory, and making sure that whenever you can't enjoy one, you'll be able to call on the other.
By Mark Diacono Published
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The trees with fruits so sweet and delectable that badgers have been known to batter their way through iron gates to get to them
Garden designer and writer Isabel Bannerman doesn't normally advocate taking plants from one house to another — but her mulberry tree has been with her for years.
By Isabel Bannerman Published
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Alan Titchmarsh: Terracotta has been used for flowerpots for 2,500 years — and it's still by far the best thing to pot your plants in
Plastic pots might have conquered the industry — but look after terracotta pots and they'll last for lifetimes. Literally.
By Alan Titchmarsh Published
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The key to a great bathroom? Make it feel more like your sitting room — even to the point of having an armchair next to the bath
Flora Soames is on a mission to encourage more and more of us to embrace the concept of the decorated bathroom.
By Country Life Published
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'That first taste, six months later, was a quiet revelation': Mark Diacono on how he was inspired to grow his own vegetables
Our grow-your-own expert Mark Diacono looks back on the early days of his growing, and how things he'd never heard of such as salsify and scorzonera found a place in his heart. And his garden, of course.
By Mark Diacono Published
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'Other cultures celebrate the elderly. So why do we consign them to beige farms that smell of cabbage and wee?': Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen on Changing Rooms, retirement living and growing old disgracefully
30 years after finding worldwide fame as TV's most flamboyant interior designer, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen has a new mission: to turn retirement villages into places more like boutique hotels than 'oatmeal coffins'.
By Toby Keel Published
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Alan Titchmarsh's garden: No insecticides, no herbicides, just beautiful flowers, lawns, a statue of Repton and a swing seat that's impossible to resist
It’s always fascinating to see what a high-profile gardening personality does with their own home. Tiffany Daneff visits Alan Titchmarsh’s Hampshire garden, to find a place of endless delights and charm. Photographs by Jonathan Buckley.
By Tiffany Daneff Published
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A spare room so pretty and charming that you'll wonder why yours isn't as perfect
Interior designer Rita Konig infused this spare bedroom with a lively freshness. She explained the process to Arabella Youens.
By Arabella Youens Published
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Breaking the fourth wall: How Country Life's interiors editor redesigned and restored his own home
When he bought a tired 17th-century cottage, Giles Kime set out to discover if it’s possible to make an old house as comfortable as a new one.
By Giles Kime Published
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Asters: what they are, which ones to try and how to grow them
These late blooming plants 'promise future spring', making them essential for any garden.
By John Hoyland Published
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Event: Country houses for a new generation
On Wednesday November 6, leading experts will offer insights into the changing nature of the rural retreat at an event hosted by Country Life.
By Country Life Published
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Charles Quest-Ritson: Winter buddlejas, and the plant that might just cover the VAT on your children's school fees
Charles Quest-Ritson on the buddlejas that help see him through the winter — and the plant breeding idea that could help you grow a small fortune.
By Charles Quest-Ritson Published
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'It’s a slow-cooked, nourishing soup with 1,000 lovely ingredients swirling within it. Each has its own special contribution. The only thing none of us have ever been able to stand is when the ingredients are all new': Ben Pentreath on English style
One of the most important rules of English decorating is that there are no rules. Confused? Don’t be. It’s simply an aesthetic that requires a certain mindset, believes Ben Pentreath.
By Country Life Published
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Say no to boring walls: Six choices of paint and paper which will get people talking
Amelia Thorpe picks out some glorious alternatives to just painting everything white.
By Amelia Thorpe Published
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A English country garden that brings the four corners of the world to one corner of Wiltshire
England, Africa, Italy or China — it’s possible to travel the world without leaving this imaginatively designed garden, which divides into four distinct geographical sections, each with a resonance for the owners. Caroline Donald reports from the garden at Seend Manor in Wiltshire, home of Amanda and Stephen Clark.
By Caroline Donald Published
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The genius inventors who created the world's most important clocks
Early clocks had variable hours, but even in the golden age of British horology, when Thomas Tompion made his masterpieces, a man relying on public timepieces could end his walk earlier than he had started. Huon Mallalieu traces the evolution of British clock-making.
By Huon Mallalieu Published


