ALBERT & GRACE

At Home With Cheryl Carr

IMAGES AND WORDS BY CARIN GARLAND

Twenty years later, it was the views of the undulating green hills that roll out to meet the mountains of the Main Range that drew Cheryl back to the region, purchasing a converted Lutheran Church she now calls home with her son, Oliver, and their Orpington hens.

The little fixer upper had all but been forgotten until she realised it used to sit on the property adjacent to where she now resides.

“It’s funny how we feel connected to certain places and how they draw us back. Looking through the church windows that frame the landscape beyond, I feel such calmness here,” she says.

Cheryl, an interior stylist and all-round creative, is a collector. A curator of spaces and antique treasures - beautiful weathered pieces with history and stories to tell all of their own.

If you are a lover of publications featuring country houses, chances are you have seen her trademark styling work and the magic she creates woven into the pages before you. This woman truly is a magician and knows how to make editorial imagery standout.

Within her own home, changes have been well-considered. “I was very conscious of retaining the character of what the church once was. In the kitchen I added vintage shelves, old hooks, and an old railway cupboard for the pantry. I repainted both the exterior and interior of the church and would like to add some darker colours to the smaller rooms. Colour is so moodenhancing. I love the idea of cocoon-like spaces, and I feel that selecting darker colours in the smaller, more private rooms will do that, offering a nice contrast to the more spacious, light-filled areas like the kitchen and living room,” she says, revealing the depth of her expertise.

It is in her living room, the heart of this five-bedroom, light-filled abode, where her online store Albert & Grace began, a stunning collection of pre-loved and worn wares she sells to complement one’s space. So busy has she been with styling jobs however, she’d pressed pause on this hugely successful side-business.

“It’s something I would like to start doing again, as I really have missed it,” she says enthusiastically, though it will be a busy year, as work projects will take her across the Tasman Sea for a time, then over to France, as well as establishing her own onsite studio and much-desired veggie patch.

When asked what tips she has for others designing a home or restyling a space she says, “It is the natural world and connection to it that inspires me most of all. I feel as though it is how you want to feel in a space, and how you are inspired by nature – be it light, texture, colours, scents and sounds – that serves as a good starting point for many. Like life, inspiration comes in so many forms. I feel that everything really is one big woven tapestry!”

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To stay up-to-date follow Cheryl on Instagram @albertandgrace & @albertandgrace_shop