Take to the floor
Colour expert Annie Sloan suggests matching a painted floor to furniture for joyful effect. ‘Turning traditional squares on a diagonal creates a particularly playful effect,’ she says of this harlequin design, created in her Honfleur and Old White Chalk Paint, £26.95 for 1L (01865 770061; www.anniesloan.com)
Inspired by the past
Based in Dorset, Rose of Jericho has been handmaking traditional paints, lime mortars and plasters for the decoration and repair of historic and period buildings since 1989, including distemper, limewash, emulsion and eggshell, £51.49 for 2.5L of Permeable Matt Emulsion (01305 237499; www.roseofjericho.co.uk)
Clay play
Earthborn’s Claypaint is a clay-based, breathable, flat matt paint, especially suitable for use over lime, and available in 72 shades, including (from left to right) Mittens, Rocky Horse, Tom’s Bakery, Cat’s Cradle and Paw Print, £54 per 2.5L (01928 734171; www. earthbornpaints.co.uk)
Subtle pattern
Featuring a delicate motif, Leaf wallpaper, £68 per 10m roll, is available in five colourways especially mixed by Susie Watson to complement the fabrics and paints in her collection (0344 980 8185; www. susiewatsondesigns.co.uk)
Drop-dead gorgeous
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Tales as old as time
By appointing writers-in-residence to landscape locations, the National Trust is hoping to spark in us a new engagement with our ancient surroundings, finds Richard Smyth
Do the active farmer test
Farming is a profession, not a lifestyle choice’ and, therefore, the Budget is unfair
Night Thoughts by Howard Hodgkin
Charlotte Mullins comments on Moght Thoughts
SOS: save our wild salmon
Jane Wheatley examines the dire situation facing the king of fish
Into the deep
Beneath the crystal-clear, alien world of water lie the great piscean survivors of the Ice Age. The Lake District is a fish-spotter's paradise, reports John Lewis-Stempel
It's alive!
Living, burping and bubbling fermented masses of flour, yeast and water that spawn countless loaves—Emma Hughes charts the rise and rise) of sourdough starters
There's orange gold in them thar fields
A kitchen staple that is easily taken for granted, the carrot is actually an incredibly tricky customer to cultivate that could reduce a grown man to tears, says Sarah Todd
True blues
I HAVE been planting English bluebells. They grow in their millions in the beechwoods that surround us—but not in our own garden. They are, however, a protected species. The law is clear and uncompromising: ‘It is illegal to dig up bluebells or their bulbs from the wild, or to trade or sell wild bluebell bulbs and seeds.’ I have, therefore, had to buy them from a respectable bulb-merchant.
Oh so hip
Stay the hand that itches to deadhead spent roses and you can enjoy their glittering fruits instead, writes John Hoyland
A best kept secret
Oft-forgotten Rutland, England's smallest county, is a 'Notswold' haven deserving of more attention, finds Nicola Venning
