Derbyshire is updated with a moody palette HIGH DRAMA Monochrome schemes and

H I G H DRAMA

A monochromatic palette and striking artwork inject a bold look into Sophie Bland’s family home

FEATURE RACHEL LEEDHAM PHOTOGRAPHY EMMA LEWIS

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SITTING ROOM The starting point for this neutral scheme was the arresting portrait printed onto a canvas. Womb chair and ottoman by Eero Saarinen for Knoll Studio, £7,764, Nest. Similar nesting coff ee tables, Aula, £399, Made. Chair upholstered in Fab 4 Medium Taupe tapestry fabric, £250 per 143cm repeat, Andrew Martin. Bespoke canvas, 60LondonRoad

home truths

THE PROPERTY

Detached house, parts of which date to the 1930s LOCATION Hampshire ROOMS Hallway, sitting room, dining room, kitchen-diner, offi ce, seven bedrooms (two en suite), dressing room, two bathrooms PURCHASED 2019

PREVIOUS PROPERTY

‘We were living in a converted barn nearby,’ says Sophie.

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HALLWAY Woodwork painted black enhances the glamour of the chequered floor. XXL Ledbury lanterns, £725 each, Fritz Fryer

DINING AREA Keeping the windows bare gives this space a fresh look. DSW plastic side chairs in Deep Black by Charles and Ray Eames, £375 each, The Conran Shop

last word ‘I’m one of those people who always lugs back pieces from their travels, including an entire dinner service from Vietnam!’

KITCHEN The existing country-style scheme was updated with black walls and a new tiled splashback behind the Aga. For a similar kitchen, see the Classic range by John Lewis of

Hungerford. Almond honed limestone, from £41.99sq m, Mandarin Stone, is a comparable stone floor

DINING ROOM

Sophie has deftly mixed dramatic antiques with more modern-classic pieces. Henley dining chairs, £430 each, Neptune

LANDING An antique Chinese bench offers a striking symmetrical display.

Vinterior has a large selection of sunburst mirrors

Walking into the rather impressive chequered marble hallway of this Hampshire house, Sophie Bland was immediately struck by its sense of space and grandeur. ‘It ticked so many boxes, not least the fact that it would enable each of our four children to have their own bedroom for the first time,’ she recalls.

The only problem was that Sophie’s husband, Toby, and their children –Jemima, now 17, Lucy, 15, Jordy, 13 and Fergus, 10 –weren’t quite so taken with the space. ‘They loved the converted barn we were living in nearby, which we had originally bought when we were based in Hong Kong,’ Sophie explains. ‘They were reluctant to give up the large living area.’

In order to bring her family round to the idea, Sophie, who trained as an interior designer and ran her own business in Hong Kong, took the unusual step of treating all her family members as her clients. ‘I interviewed each of them at length,’ she laughs. ‘I asked them detailed questions about what they loved about the old house and what they wanted from the new one. I came to the conclusion that we needed to open up the ground floor to recreate the feeling of flow we had in our former home.’

Originally, the key spaces were all accessed individually from the hallway, so Sophie decided to knock through from the kitchen to the dining room and from the dining room to the sitting room, giving the sense of an enfilade.

For the first time, Sophie decided it was time to embrace colour –notably black. ‘I had always wanted to decorate with a monochromatic palette,’ she explains. ‘This

house has so much natural light that I felt it could carry the look really well.’

The result has proved transformative, with black walls turning the dining room into a dramatic –and intimate –entertaining space and adding an edgy feel to the existing country-style kitchen.

Fortunately, the family’s possessions lend themselves beautifully to the new schemes. ‘We had so much furniture that we really didn’t need to buy anything,’ says Sophie, who has deftly mixed the old with the new, and the quirky with the classic. Many of the antiques are oriental, nodding to the Blands’ 20 years spent living in Hong Kong.

Sophie has not only given these antiques a new chapter but also this home, imbuing it with a bold new look that is both refreshing and chic. ‘We all love it now,’ she says. ‘It is amazing what a bit of dark paint can do.’

MASTER BEDROOM A vintage G Plan dressing table picked up at Sunbury Antiques Market brings a retro touch to this restful space.

Henrietta bed, from £2,200 for a king size, Feather & Black

MASTER E N SUITE The serene and elegant proportions of this room are enhanced by a mirror from Lots Road Auctions. The Millbrook double ended cast iron bath, £925, The Cast Iron Bath Company, is a comparable piece