NEWS Our monthly digest of notable people, places and products.

NOTEBOOK

Our monthly edit of news, shopping inspiration and inside information

SPOTLIGHT ON…

Mulberry Home

Proudly celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, Mulberry Home was launched in 1991 following the global success of Mulberry’s beautiful leather bags and accessories. To mark this landmark event, Every interior designer’s little black book bulges with talented under-the-radar makers whose creations elevate a home from ordinary to extraordinary. Francesca Rowan-Plowden is sharing some of her most precious contacts through FRP Homestore, her new online shop.

The director and lead interior designer

Mulberry Home has launched the Long at Rowan Plowden Design and founder of Weekend collection, an eclectic mix of Design Havens For Heroes lives by the sea prints, stripes, embroidery and velvet. in East Sussex, where she scours vintage Decadent English country house parties markets. of the 1920s and 30s were the inspiration. FRP Homestore offers her careful These were held from Saturday to Monday curation, from cushions and glassware to and attracted aristocrats, artists, film stars tableware, soft furnishings, home and poets alike, with sporting pursuits, accessories, antiques, lighting,

dressing fabulously for dinner and amateur dramatics all part of the fun. The colour palette for the velvets in the collection was drawn from smoking jackets and sumptuous evening gowns of the era. This whimsical new range also embodies a sense of adventurous travel and escapism. gpjbaker.com/brands/mulberry-home 

Refined Rural

Chic homewares by artist Claire Haggas

After Claire Haggas failed to find an elegant yet vibrant silk scarf to buy, a chance meeting with a stranger – who turned out to be an English silk manufacturer – spawned a brand new business, turning her wildlife paintings into luxury accessories.

As well as making silk scarves, her home collection features an opulent range of velvet cushions entirely made in England, adorned with pheasants, horses, peacocks and more. Claire is based in Lincolnshire and started to paint as a hobby, never dreaming it might turn into a career. She says: “My influence comes from the countryside – we live in the middle of nowhere in the Wolds and we’re surrounded by pheasants, owls, deer and hares. I feel totally blessed to have all this on my doorstep.” clarehaggas.com

A Taste of Summer

New sloe gin from Buckingham Palace

Infused with botanicals from the Buckingham Palace garden, a new sloe gin has been launched by The Royal Collection Trust. These botanicals include lemon verbena, hawthorn berries, bay leaves and mulberry leaves.

The Trust, a department of the Royal Household, recommends that the gin is enjoyed as a Sloe Royale cocktail. Pour 25ml of Buckingham Palace Sloe Gin into a fluted glass, top with champagne or sparkling wine and garnish with fresh berries or orange peel.

This new sloe gin is available to buy at The Royal Collection Trust shops and online. All profits will go to The Trust to help fund the care and conservation of The Royal Collection – amongst the world’s largest and most important art collections, and one of the last great European royal collections to remain intact. rct.uk/shop

Exquisite Craftsmanship

Elegant chairs handmade by Jason Mosseri

Jason Mosseri’s creative journey included painting, providing the decor for nightclubs and even tattooing, but attending a chairmaking course at Westonbirt Arboretum unlocked a dormant burning passion. He says, simply: “I became hooked.”

His business, Hopesprings Chairs, is based in East Sussex. Jason works mostly with locally sourced ash and beech, using traditional techniques to craft chairs with a clean and elegant design. He also runs courses and teaches at West Dean College.

Thanks to The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST), he travelled to Tennessee to learn from master chair maker Curtis Buchanan.

“My chairs are built wholly within a tradition, yet I hope embody both my creative history and my artistic vision,” he says. hopespringschairs.com 

Divine Dining

Dreamy tablescapes from Mrs Alice

Alice Naylor-Leyland – who is also known as Mrs Alice – knows a thing or two about English countryside elegance. She and her husband Tom beautifully renovated and restored Grade I listed Stibbington House in Cambridgeshire, where they live with their three children.

Her mother Serena’s passion and flair for elegant entertaining and table decoration were a key influence, and having studied fashion herself, Alice has a finely honed sense of style. This has resulted in a successful blog, stylish collaborations, and most recently her own brand specialising in ‘tablescapes’.

Her enchanting and elegant tableware and accessories are designed to “take the hassle out of hosting”, with mix-and-match versatility and designs evoking her love of chintz and chinoiserie.

The Seville collection celebrates Alice’s love of dining outdoors and features hand-painted plates, fine appliqué linens and a range of block-printed tablecloths.

Named after and inspired by Alice’s mother, in her favourite colour palette of fresh blues and vibrant greens, The Serena collection was designed by mother and daughter together. With a range of blue-and-white chinoiserie ceramics, Serena’s favourite pieces are the hand-painted Lily of the Valley plates, which depict the flower held in her own mother’s wedding bouquet.

Joy abounds in The Nancy collection, the inspiration and name for which came from Alice’s daughter, with beautiful linens reminiscent of English rose gardens, patterned seat cushions, exclusive Murano tumblers in pale greens and rose pinks, and hand-painted plates, as well as outdoor furniture and delicate lanterns made of bamboo.

An in-house monogram service offers a bespoke final flourish.

“With these new collections,” says Alice, “I wanted to share the pleasure I get from those warmer months, lighter evenings and long lunches in the garden. For me, summer is all about entertaining outside, so I hope these joyful new pieces will get people eating together again with family and friends.” mrsalice.com 

Luxury Retreats

Blackdown Shepherd Huts celebrates its 10th anniversary

Historically, throughout the lambing season whilst a shepherd tended his flock, he would find shelter in a small mobile structure which he could move around the field, made from whatever he had to hand. Today, shepherd’s huts have been reimagined as luxury rural retreats, larger than the 6ft by 12ft original – and considerably more comfortable.

Blackdown Shepherd Huts, which is based in Somerset, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. The company was founded in 2011 by cousins Will Vickery and George Bannister.

George was working for Will’s building company, when a regular client wanted a shepherd’s hut. “He felt that we could do a much better-quality product,” they remember. “When we looked into it, we felt we could really improve on the materials and the quality of build, yet do it at a reasonable price.”

They “laboriously” (remembers Will) built their first shepherd’s hut using their 20 years of carpentry and bespoke building experience. In the decade since, Blackdown Shepherd Huts has become one of the top manufacturers of shepherd’s huts in the world.

After many improvements and refinements over the years, today the company makes a range of bespoke huts offering true homefrom-home luxury, including baths, fully fitted bathrooms and kitchens, comfortable beds, wood-burning stoves and lots of little details that make a big difference.

Quality and craftsmanship have both been key from the very beginning, using traditional techniques and staying true to the historical aesthetic with an oak chassis and cast-iron wheels and axels. “We want to make the best product we can and we’re very passisonate about the huts we send out,” says Will.

Locations such as nearby Dimpsey Glamping in Somerset, which has two Blackdown Shepherd Huts, offer potential customers the chance to ‘try before they buy’. Happy Blackdown customers include entrepreneur Theo Paphitis, formerly of Dragons’ Den. “From start to finish, the experience of buying a shepherd’s hut from Blackdown was quite amazing,” he says. “They held your hand from beginning to end, communicated, sent pictures through as the hut was being built, and it arrived on time and was installed perfectly.” blackdownshepherdhuts.co.uk Artisan homewares, textiles, ceramics, painted furniture and vintage finds from 50 exhibitors await at The Dorset Brocante on 30 August, set in the gardens of Deans Court in Wimborne Minster. thedorsetbrocante. co.uk

Wiltshire Game & Country Fair on 14–15 August promises country pursuits, arena displays, shopping, craft and cookery demonstrations, all in the stunning grounds of Bowood House. livingheritage countryshows.com

Find peace in the city by partaking in mindful activities staged at Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, with forest bathing, yoga, cycling, tai chi and Pilates on various dates. kew.org n

The greatest love begins with a little spark.

Ignite the fire within.

ELECTRIC GAS WOOD BURNING MULTI-FUEL