Homes & Interiors Scotland

Where do you want to go this summer? Chances are we can take you there. Let us transport you to Florida (on page 206) where designer Summer Thornton has given an impressive home real holiday vibes. How about Long Island (page 190), where a white timber Victorian house replete with wraparound porch has been resuscitated, in the best possible fashion, by designer Alfredo Paredes. He has turned it into a grown-up seafront retreat, the kind of place you could imagine Diane Keaton hanging out in a Nora Ephron movie. Staying closer to home, you’ll get your dopamine hit at Jay Jennings’ house in Orkney (page 176). Its pastel scheme, inspired by the films of Wes Anderson, is a treat for the senses and a clever lesson in the power of DIY. Travel…

“Art, like nature, can offer moments of connection to the universal, and that is something that brings solace and meaning and hope, ” believes artist Kirsty Lorenz. From her studio on the platform of Ladybank station in Fife, she has been busy exploring the healing properties of nature, researching herbalist recipes and botanical illustrations. “This piece was inspired by a 17th-century recipe for ‘Aqua Mirabilis’, said to restore vigour and refresh the spirit. Offering warmth and comfort, the tincture contains cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and galangal, ” says Lorenz. These are all supermarket staples nowadays, but the plants they come from, which is what she wanted to depict, are a lot harder to find. Research took her to the library and archive at Kew Gardens, the Royal College of Physicians and Edinburgh’s…

Margaret Howell HOW HAS YOUR STYLE EVOLVED? When I began designing, I searched for good quality men’s shirting. I wanted to create something softer and more casual than shirts traditionally produced at the time. Next came an unlined linen jacket, then cotton chinos. My interest was not only in the quality of fabric and make, but the informal attitude of the cut. Looking back, I was creating a man’s wardrobe at a time when women also wanted to wear these clothes. For me, design is a constant process of review and renewal. My style is a continuation of responses to my lifestyle and environment. WHO OR WHAT ARE YOUR BIGGEST INFLUENCES? My parents loved gardening, growing fruit and vegetables and flowers. They always enjoyed the countryside and remote places, which is where…

Memoirs can take many forms. Long-spooling novels; tell-all diaries; intimate songs. The sustainable homeware designer Petra Palumbo has painted hers onto Delft tiles. There’s the Citroen 2CV received from her father on her 18th birthday, which she still pootles around in on the country roads near her home on the banks of the River Beauly. A Lebanese flag that nods to her mother’s heritage. The cowboy boots that remind her of long, hot summers spent horse-riding. “It’s really my life in tiles, ” she smiles. “They’re sentimental, but they’re also a bit tongue in cheek, and I think that’s what I’m like too. It’s important to have things in your home that make you smile.” Palumbo, 32, grew up surrounded by beautiful things. Her mother, Lady Hayat Palumbo, owns Tapisserie, a…

SUMMER LOVIN’…

NATURAL BEAUTY Love Birds, shown here in Saffron, is a cheerful design from the V&A archive, available to purchase by the metre from Arley House. You can also buy it as a flouncy 48 x 48cm cushion, handmade to order, with the option of mixing and matching fabrics and picking frills in contrasting or complementary colours. £75. arleyhouse.com Snake hips Iconic mid-century designs from Vladimir Kagan are now available from luxury interiors brand Holly Hunt. The Serpentine sofa (pictured) is already a bestseller – no surprise, given its timeless quality. The curvaceous piece was originally released in 1950, designed to sit in the centre of a room and create space for clients or homeowners to appreciate their blossoming art collections. £POA. hollyhunt.com Wall street Richard O’Gorman (better known online as Househomo) garnered a following during…