Latest Arrivals
Shop Now
Now, as we know, the French have a long and proud history in the decorative arts – they virtually invented the idiom – but, more than any other, there’s one style that encapsulates le style Francais. You might know it as Art Deco. The French called it Moderne. Ah, Art Deco. Just mention it and images of sleek ocean liners, peopled by impossibly beautiful characters wearing Cartier jewels and sipping Manhattan cocktails spring to mind. Or maybe it’s the futuristic styling of Max Sterm’s Metropolis or even the gaudy delights of the Odeon cinema – those streamlined and chrome-plated ‘peoples’ palaces’ that brought Hollywood glamour to the depression-ravaged masses of the 1930s. Art Deco emerged as a style for the new century and an ever-changing, fast-paced world of motor cars, air travel, flappers, and syncopated jazz. It’s the style of the Chrysler building, of the Zigfeld Follies and, as it happens, Victoria Coach Station; an intoxicating mix that continues to beguile us as much as it did in the Roaring Twenties.
Has there ever been a style more luxurious, glamorous, more imitated and, perhaps, less understood? Let’s start with the name. ‘Art Deco’ was actually only first coined in the late 1960s as a sort of two-hander to Art Nouveau which had preceded it. Also, far from being a single recognisable style, there were, in fact, many different strands, depending on when and where it popped up.
Italy, Sweden and, of course, America all had their own particular ‘takes’ on it. But nowhere did the style emerge more coherently than in France. Many books will tell you that Art Deco first surfaced at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes, the world expo held in Paris in 1925. Except that it didn’t. The Moderne style actually began to appear in France much earlier, around 1910 and was well into its stride by the time of the exhibition.
So, having de-bunked a couple of myths, let’s look at what is it that makes French Art Deco, sorry, Moderne, so distinctive. It’s all down to time and place. The French interpretation of the style was extremely luxurious, relying on rare and exotic materials like Macassar, ebony, lacquer, shagreen and mother-of-pearl, to give a sheen of glamour. As the centre of the world’s luxury goods market, Parisian designers were well-placed to take advantage of the readiness of these materials and could also draw on the world-leading expertise that Parisian craftsmen had in working them.
So much for place, as for time, le Style Moderne sought inspiration not from the modern industrial world, instead, it looked back in time to the world of Marie Antoinette and the French aristocracy. For a style so synonymous with the twentieth century, the French Moderne style is firmly rooted in the grand traditions of the 18th Century ancien régime – the political and social system of France before the revolution of 1789 – and its time-honoured traditions of apprenticeship and guild training.
During the 18th Century, France established itself in the forefront of the luxury trades, producing furniture, porcelain, glass, metalwork and textiles of unsurpassed refinement and elegance with Paris becoming the style capital of the western world. The ebenistes of Paris became the acknowledged masters of furniture making in Europe, supplying the homes and chateaux of the French court and aristocracy.
Some of the most beautiful and refined furniture ever made, displaying the highest level of artistic and technical ability, was created in Paris during the eighteenth century. Rather than breaking with tradition, the great designers of the 1920s saw themselves as inheritors of a grand tradition stretching back over two centuries. Tradition, however, was not the only source of inspiration. So too were the exotic, avant-garde trends in the fine arts and fashion. The vogue for exoticism developed following the arrival in Paris of the Russian impresario Sergei Diaghilev and his dance troupe, the Ballets Russes, in 1909, with its wildly atmospheric and outré productions. Léon Bakst’s design for Schéhérezade (1910), for example, featured lavish orientalist sets and costumes. The unexpected colour combinations, vivid patterns and louche furnishings – billowing curtains, low-slung divans, piles of tasselled pillows – were immediately imitated in stylish interiors by Paris artist-decorators.
Paris in the 1920s had an abundance of places where objects in the Moderne style were sold and displayed, mostly galleries, showrooms and shops on the more voguish Right Bank of the city centre. What were called Ensemblier showrooms, such as those of Emille-Jacques Ruhlmann, Süe et Mare and Martine, not only displayed individual pieces for sale but presented fully furnished interiors that suggested the range of what the ensemblier could produce on commission. At the more accessible end of the market, the four big Paris department stores established specialised decorating departments and many speciality shops, including Jean Luce, La Crémaillère and Le Grand Dépôt, which sold a wide range of glass, ceramics, linens and other utilitarian and decorative goods. It was as if Moderne had entered the DNA of the French capital.
For those in search of the Moderne style, Paris is, of course, a mere hop and skip over the channel but for a taste of the style that’s a little closer to home, Eltham Palace near Greenwich is a capsule of 1930s Parisian-inspired sophistication. Stephen and Virginia Courtauld of the eponymous textiles dynasty bought Eltham with its semi-ruined medieval Great Hall, moat and bridge, and rebuilt it as a dazzlingly sophisticated semi-rural hideaway. The saloon is a vast Moderne interior, lined with Australian black bean wood panelling, topped with a dome and finished off with a vast, circular, abstract carpet, the effect is like entering the First Class Lounge of a 1930s liner. Not that everyone felt that at the time: one editorial in The Times likened it to a cigarette factory.
The stock market crash of 1929 saw the optimism of the 1920s gradually decline. By the mid-1930s, Art Deco was being derided as a gaudy, false image of luxury. Despite its demise, however, Art Deco made a fundamental impact on subsequent design. Art Deco's widespread application and enduring influence prove that its appeal is based on more than visual allure alone.
Vive la France!
Click here to visit our lookbook 'Iconic Geometry' for our take on an Art Deco inspired interior.
Or click here to shop our full collection of Art Deco pieces.
Edward Bulmer Natural Paint has recently opened the doors to its first flagship store in London. The pioneering paint company have long been admired in the pages of the interiors glossies, on the walls of beautiful homes and of course you will have seen how we at Lorfords use their exquisite colours.
Edward and the team are delighted to now have a ‘home’ in the design hub on Pimlico Road. More than just a ‘paint shop’, not only can you browse their range of colours on a huge colour wheel, Edward Bulmer Natural Paint is championing sustainable interiors, hosting exhibitions with creatives and exclusive, curated events.
Unsurprisingly the showroom is a colourful display of the natural paints throughout. Edward chose to paint the façade in his favourite deep, rich orange ‘Malahide’, paying homage to the area’s history. This eye-catching deep orange exterior, brilliantly inspired by Orange Square, where the showroom is located on the corner of Ebury St and Pimlico Road.
“Bringing further colour to orange square, we look forward to providing help with all things colour and paint in the heart of London’s greatest design quarter.”
Orange tones, Edward says ‘are having a revival – with distinctly nostalgic notes, Malahide fuses modern with timeless so effortlessly.’
Deep, magnetic and exotic all rolled into one colour, it certainly stops people in their tracks as they walk by the showroom. @Farstud.o also uses our ‘Malahide’ with ‘Jonquil’ (pictured to the left), creating a tonal yet fresh and light palette, as a more peachy scheme.
If you are thinking about where or how to use ‘Malahide’ in your home, Edward suggests it to be a great spot ‘to cheer up a boot room or a dark passageway, especially with a two-tone scheme or dare we mention – a feature wall’. With Edward going on to say one special rule for this orange colour… ‘Don’t paint sparingly – if you use it, mean it. You won’t regret it.’
Malahide as featured in a Lorfords Antiques and Lorfords Contemporary photoshoot.
The Edward Bulmer Natural Paint showroom will also be hosting a series of exhibitions throughout the year where they will be sharing some of their favourite sustainable, like-minded brands. From art exhibitions and installations to curated collections, talks and exciting pop-up events; there is going to be something for everyone.
The brand aims to champion smaller sustainable brands and artists by providing a platform in the heart of London to help them tell and sell their stories. Current brands on show in the shop are Haines Collection and Hum London lamp shades and the plastic-free wall murals from Beautifully by George.
The Autumn line up at Edward Bulmer Natural Paint is not one to miss with events during London Design Festival 17th – 25th September, leading British landscape artist Pete Beckett, Edward’s own book launch ‘The Colourful Past: Edward Bulmer and the English Country House’ and a Christmas shopping pop-up with Sharland England and Louise Roe.
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of London Design Festival, Pimlico Road is very much on the map as one of the design districts for the week-long celebration of all things creative and design. Edward Bulmer Natural Paint will be hosting an immersive and quite extraordinary exhibition from some leading young artists using waste to make art, including waste paint!
The Crossover Project brings three creative industries together to collaboratively tackle waste in a bid for a circular economy. Harnessing waste from design and fashion brands, the project is connecting artists to this waste who will work with these unfamiliar materials, transforming them into bespoke artworks and diverting them from landfill.
Alongside the exhibition, there will be lampshade upcycling workshops with artist Jemima Sara and the founder of Haines Collection, Jules Haines. With a further talk at the showroom in the evening, where Edward Bulmer will host a talk with journalist and co-founder of The Crossover Project Roddy Clarke, Aurelia Isliyme and Jules Haines.
If you'd like to join Edward Bulmer Natural Paints for their workshops or talks then book via the links below - spaces limited!
Workshop – Thursday 22nd September 10-12pm
Workshop – Thursday 22nd September 2-4pm
Talk – Thursday 22nd September 6pm
Visit their website and sign up to their newsletter, follow them on Instagram, pop into their London showroom or give them an email or call!
Website: https://www.edwardbulmerpaint.co.uk/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edwardbulmerpaint/
New London showroom: 194 Ebury St, London SW1W 8UP
Email: info@edwardbulmerpaint.co.uk
Call: 01544 388535
Edward Bulmer Natural Paint, creators of eco-friendly, breathable paint talk to us about colour trends and how to create timeless interiors.
As consumers, we are inundated with headlines on trends and new colours in glossy magazines and on Instagram. At Edward Bulmer Natural Paint we are advocates of simply choosing colours you love that will stand the test of time. Most of these trends are already recycled from a period in history or modern culture and many of us have seen several different iterations of such in our lifetimes.
When planning an interior, we all want to achieve the perfect balance – a space that feels fresh and will stand the test of time. Our founder, leading interior designer and eco-worrier, Edward Bulmer, believes there is both a science and art to creating colour. Edward has created a timeless collection where every colour has its place, and all have absolute relevance and resonance whatever the style of your home.
There are some principles of colour rules that won’t ever change, whatever the trend when it comes to colour. Uniquely, the Edward Bulmer exquisite range of 102 colours and the new ‘Shade Collection’ are all made from just 12 natural pigments. This creates a patina alive with pure colour and because they all come from the same natural sources, the colours are all in tonal harmony with each other.
Rather than whitewashing your home, it's much more interesting and personal to use a variety of paint colours and shades in different spaces. The key to clever colour is creating flow within your home or scheme, all the colours just ‘work’ together whether using the ‘Shades’ and creating neutral interiors or bolder designs full of colour.
So you can feel confident choosing colours, from the punchy ‘Pompadour’ to smoky pink ‘Nicaragua’, to ‘Ethereal Blue’ and ‘Lilac Pink’. The most important factor is to choose colours you love; you may start with a fabric or a piece of furniture and there are some colours which of course enhance those elements in a room. As far as trends go, the company are seeing a definite rise in customers choosing bolder colours and pairing them with other more contrasting colours.
Emma Bulmer, head of colour consultancy at Edward Bulmer Natural Paint, recommends pairing dusky pinks with deeper hues like ‘Pompadour’ or ‘Nicaragua’ as ‘it creates a high contrast and adds some drama while remaining soft and tonally consistent’. Wall to wall, room to room – the effect of natural paint is as remarkable in ultramodern interiors as in Georgian stately home and just as obvious in the neutral shades as in the bright, strong colours.
Of course, we should not discount the Instagram effect with the spotlight on different rooms and colours. The use of colour in specific rooms trends daily and there has been a massive rise in popularity of colours like plaster pink ‘Jonquil’, ‘Trumpington’ and ‘Invisible Green’, the latter two notably at the farmhouse owned by Rita Konig.
Image credit: Guiaro Design
Edward Bulmer also advises how yellows are a great hallway and passage colour for walls but it also depends on what pigment base the yellow is made up of – ‘Halls and passages work well with ochre-based tones while a bright mineral yellow can articulate the volume of a living room to great effect. Just bear in mind that starved of light, yellows can seem a bit green to the green. There are, however, ways to make this hue look contemporary: juxtaposed with clear white, it looks fresh and confident. Deep and slightly tobacco-like shades can lend a chic, suede feel to a room, especially if you tie it in with a complementary trim.'
The tobacco yellow ‘Trumpington’ is pictured in a hallway scheme by colour consultants Charlotte Crofts and Emma Bulmer. A classic look, with warmth and mood-boosting power of sunny tones for a vibrant feel.
A timeless colour pairing which must always be seen, Pink and Green! And in fact, Edward Bulmer’s favourite combination, as many know from his own music room scheme in soft green ‘Pomona’. Greens are very popular for creating calm interiors, Edward is known for his versatile greens from soft to the stronger ‘Invisible Green’, a modern icon! It creates the perfect backdrop for an eclectic mix of fabrics and textures and goes with any colour. This bold statement colour has an extraordinary softness and warmth and is packed full of pigment.
Apple Green, styled by Lorfords Antiques
Next, the blues which run the whole gamut of shades, from Prussian Blue ‘Ethereal Blue’ to our deep jewel ‘Azurite’, are chosen by many to create a classic or contemporary scheme and are never cold.
Pinks have certainly been amongst the most popular with bestsellers including ‘Jonquil’, ‘Lilac Pink’, ‘Cuisse de Nymphe Emue’ and the new ‘Mason Pink’ seen in the image below styled by Lorfords Antiques.
Edward’s top tip, use ‘Jonquil’ downstairs and ‘Cuisse de Nymphe Emue’ upstairs. But it is all down to personal preference and the aspect and size of a room.
Pink has long been used to great effect by architects including Robert Adam. The key to a timeless interior is to ensure they are neither too sugary, blue, babyish or garish. Emma Bulmer also says of pink and blue schemes, ‘another surprising pairing with pinks, are the deeper blues; the pink tones often darker ones such as Indigo, Azurite or the steely Cerullian Blue, a pairing often seen in fabrics designs.’
If you are choosing colours, whether a neutral and tonal scheme or using deeper colours you cannot go wrong with the natural paints from Edward Bulmer Natural Paint. The unrivalled response to light and pigment-rich colours are timeless and their truly sustainable provenance makes them the right decision for the future.
---
Find out about the NEW colour consultancy service, taking all the hard work out of choosing colours and creating that sought-after timeless palette: In Home and Virtual consultations are available. Your dream paint schedule is just a click away.
---
Visit Edward Bulmer Natural Paint's website or follow them on Instagram.
Having been immersed in the intriguing world of luxury rugs and carpets from a young age, it is no surprise to find Peter Page open his first eponymous studio. Peter's experience and forward-thinking have positioned him as the designers' choice for both advice and beautiful bespoke solutions. We caught up with him amongst his personally curated selection of rugs and samples as he was recovering from a very successful opening...
You recently opened your studio in April at London’s Chelsea Wharf, how did that go?
It’s been great. We had a soft opening and it’s had a lovely response. It’s been a wonderful encouragement and the clients we have spoken to have been really excited that we are back. Jo, my colleague I worked with at Tim Page Carpets, has come with me and we make a great team. We have different strengths and particular skillsets, especially within the sourcing and making process. It’s been a very exciting time.
Your inaugural collection has been designed by Turner Pocock. That’s a great collaboration, how did it come about?
By mistake really! I’ve worked with Bunny on numerous projects, she came in and we were talking about her various projects. We started talking about her home and then veered off onto other topics. So we ended up going through some initial ideas, going through samples, and identifying what they like and what we could create. They like a Moroccan-style rug, with an antique look and feel to it.
Was the aim of this collection to fill an antiques style whilst also working with contemporary living?
The key consideration for us all was having the flexibility of size. The difficulty with buying antique rugs is that you don’t know what size you can get. Often, Turner Pocock like to have a rug big enough to put the furniture on top, and often rugs come in sizes that are too small for that. So we absolutely loved the antique designs, whilst ensuring that we could create options that would fit within the designer's schemes.
Interior clients often have varied aesthetic preferences, do you offer bespoke options with different designs and/or colours?
The idea is that this collection keeps it simple. Of course, with everything we do, we are happy to chop and change. One interior designer client we have would like to change the material from jute into wool as they know their client wants something slightly softer and easier to clean. From a retail perspective, keeping it simple to the collection we have created means that clients can purchase their own Turner Pocock and Peter Page piece. It has been hand-woven and hand-crafted so the pieces are still all individually unique.
Your love for the tradition of weaving has been a life-long passion. (Peter’s father, Tim Page, launched Tim Page Carpets in 2003). Tell me a little about the art of rug making and why it has become such a passion of yours?
It happened by osmosis. As a child, I used to iron labels onto samples for my father’s shop in Sloane Square at that time. You pick up an awful lot by people talking around you. He used to have people who hand-painted the rugs in the office so it was an extraordinary place to be. I went to work in New York and ended up working in carpets, and that’s when I realised that I had picked up this knowledge and interest since childhood. I still, to this day, cannot believe how skilled and clever these people are who craft the rugs, they are following design graphs in front of them. It is a skilled craft and I am in awe of it all.
Where do your team of weavers and rug makers herald from?
We weave in India and a couple of other different areas depending on what we’re making. It depends on the project and lead times. I have found that different places can produce different end products. For example, people wash the yarn differently and clip it to create different textures. I find it all really fascinating. So much goes into each rug, trying to replicate certain colours. When yarn is washed and left in the sun to dry, it changes and brings out its lustre. If there is no sun, it is a different quality of project. This is why India is the perfect location! But if it’s a rainy period, then you have different problems! It’s fascinating how such small things can affect a project. You don’t get the same lustre to the yarn if they are dried in indoor drying rooms.
There is such a connection to the natural world, even in rug weaving. Is this what makes your rugs stand apart?
Yes, it is wonderful to see how little changes to anything – from washing to spinning, to drying, can affect a rug. It is interesting to see how all these small changes make each rug unique. Everything is a one-off piece and there is a charm to this.
---
Click here to read more L-Shaped interviews or click here to visit Peter's website.
---
We talk to ‘Antiques Roadshow’ expert Chris Yeo about collecting Mid-Century glass. He says ‘dancing with light and alive with colour, Mid-Century glass makes a bold statement, just try not to get too hooked’.
When I tell people I work in antiques the question I’m invariably asked (after “When do you hope to get a real job?”) is “What do you collect?” and my answer is absolutely nothing. Although I’ve lived, eaten and breathed antiques since childhood the idea of amassing a collection of any one thing or group of things has never held any appeal. With one exception, that is.
Roughly twenty years ago, on a typical Saturday morning mooch around an antiques market (remember them?), I came across something that stopped me in my tracks. It was a glass vase, a sleek, weighty number in rich shades of blue and turquoise. It was love at first sight and, of course, I bought it. About a month later I bought another piece of glass, shortly followed by another and another – you get the picture.
For the next few years, I hoovered up every piece of studio glass I could find. It was a labour of love and an obsession which bordered on an addiction. Put a piece of studio glass in front of me and I would find it near impossible to ‘just say no’. I won’t be too hard on my younger self. There is, after all, something undeniably seductive about mid-century art glass: a perfect marriage of art, craft and design that melts the hearts of even the most ardent minimalists. Richly coloured and beautifully made, fine quality glass introduces just the right note of luxury, colour and sophistication into any interior.
The Europe that emerged from the Second World War was a grey and dismal place. War-time shortages and rationing of “luxury goods” meant that people had been starved of colour for years. There was a huge demand for anything bright, fresh and modern, especially among young people setting up home for the first time. Ceramics, textiles and wallpaper manufacturers all ramped up the colour quota but nowhere was this appetite for colour better nourished than amongst makers of studio glass. And, when it came to glass, no one understood colour better than the Italians.
Italian design came of age in the post-war years with a welter of colourful designs in both glass and plastic, materials which share the same malleable qualities. The magical process of transforming a bubble of molten glass into a vessel or piece of sculpture is a test of skill and artistry but the Italians took up the challenge with gusto and, of course, style. Highly individualistic designers celebrated colour for its own sake, applying it in ever more bold and dramatic combinations. Italian glass is more properly Venetian glass. Venice has always been the heart of the Italian glassmaking industry with a history of glass-blowing unparalleled anywhere else in the world. From the thirteenth century onwards Venice had held a monopoly on glassmaking in Europe, and its products—often extravagantly coloured, enamelled, and gilded—were treasured luxuries. Originally, Venetian glass was made - as you would imagine - in Venice, but the workshops were moved to the small lagoon island of Murano in 1291, in part because their kilns constituted a fire hazard to the city, but also to keep the glassmaking process a secret by isolating the makers on their own well-guarded island.
Now, I think it’s fair to say that for many of us our idea of Murano glass will have been “coloured” by a trip to Venice. You’ll have done the circuit of St Marks, paid through the nose for a coffee and then, along with ten thousand others, you will have been funnelled off into the narrow alleyways that lead off the square. You shuffle along passed shop after shop – each one dedicated to relieving you of as much money as possible - crammed with all manner of gaudy clowns, fish, dolphins and more Mickey Mouse figures than even Disneyland would want - all sold under the banner “Murano”. If this has been your only encounter with Italian glass you’d be forgiven for wanting it to stay that way but there really is so much more to Murano.
From the 13th to the 18th century Murano glass was one of the wonders of the world with an unrivalled reputation for innovation, its glassmakers having developed, among other things, ways of incorporating threads of gold into their creations and techniques for the famous millefiori (multicoloured) and lattimo (milk) glass. Amongst the myriad workshops that make up the Murano glass industry the most highly regarded and arguably the best known is Venini.
The firm was founded in the early 1920s when an enterprising Milanese lawyer, Paolo Venini, established a new glass company on the island with a Venetian antiques dealer, Giacomo Cappelin. Their breakthrough innovation was to copy the French fashion industry’s tradition of appointing an artistic director to create new designs and then drive them forwards. This was a stroke of genius which instantly put Venini at the forefront of fashion. The firm collaborated with artists who transferred their skills from canvas to glass, combining bright vibrant colour with flair and confidence that’s the very essence of Italian style. As a strategy, it took glassmaking to new heights of excellence and kick-started the Italian studio glass movement.
By the early 1930s, Venini was attracting the cream of Italian designers including Carlo Scarpa, Gio Ponti and Tyra Lundgren. The post-war years were Murano’s most dazzling and creative period. With its bold palette, Italian glass of the 1950s and ‘60s is instantly recognisable. Shapes have an easy asymmetry and a looseness of form reminiscent of folded fabric. In fact, one of the most popular shapes was the ‘fazaletto’ or ‘folded-handkerchief’ vases first made by Venini in the 1940s.
With its vibrant colour combinations and top-quality design credentials, the Italians dominated the glass scene but they weren’t the only nation on the colour spectrum. In the UK the prestigious London-based firm of Whitefriars had been making glass since the 17th century and had a centuries-old reputation for restrained and elegant glassware but in the 1950s its fortunes changed when, like Venini, it engaged the services of an artistic director, Geoffrey Baxter (1912-95).
Baxter was a young graduate fresh from the Royal College of Art, at that time a powerhouse of ideas about art and design. At Whitefriars, Baxter took the forms of Scandinavian glass – thickly-walled, with curving organic shapes and highly sculptural vessels – but, unlike the Nordic versions which used either clear glass or subtle, muted shades – Baxter used bright, rich colours to create something youthful and very British. Colourful things were also coming from behind the Iron Curtain.
In Czechoslovakia, the glass industry was nationalised in 1948 and continued the centuries-old tradition of glassmaking in the Bohemian region. Bohemian glass had a reputation for excellence and the new Communist government did not deem glass to be an art form that was ideologically threatening, meaning that designers could work largely free of official control. This resulted in the creation of highly innovative modern designs that updated traditional methods of glassmaking and put Czech glass on par with the best that Italy had to offer.
Following on from its 1950s heyday, studio glass is once again riding the crest of a wave of popularity. If you’ve never thought of having glass on display, think again: the allure of light playing on coloured glass can be just as compelling as a strikingly painted canvas. That said, some people remain a little nervous about living with glass – “It’ll get knocked over and smashed!” Truth is, most glass is more robust than you think and, so long as you’re not flinging it against the wall, it’s no less durable than pottery.
Striking forms and colours make the piece a work of art in its own right and a real talking point. Art glass, displayed as a single statement piece or grouped together, brings warmth and colour to an interior as effectively as any painting and can also be a good way of introducing an accent colour into a room scheme.
The sinuous, organic shapes and jewel-like hues so beloved of mid-century glass artists work as a counterpoint to the tailored interiors of today. Arranging collections of glass in groupings of similar colours and shapes create a strong visual impact.
Remember, when it comes to glass, less is always more, don’t clutter shelves and tabletops with pieces. Instead, give each one space to breathe. You’ll find your art glass a source of inspiration as well as beauty.
—
Browse our collection of Mid-Century glass:
> Shop our Murano glass collection
> Shop glass and ceramics
Charlie Hibbert at Thyme has been telling us his secrets for success when it comes to barbecues. Check out these barbecue tips, they will make your summers sizzle.
You can try Charlie Hibbert’s food at the Ox Barn at Thyme and in the not-too-distant future, at the re-furbished Swan at Southrop (we’ll be bringing you more about that in a future edition) www.thyme.co.uk/eat or take one of Thyme’s cookery courses: www.thyme.co.uk/happenings/cookery-classes
To check out some of Charlie Hibbert's mouth-watering recipes for L-Shaped, please click here.
Sunday 5 June 2022, World Environment Day, is the biggest international awareness day for the environment. It is led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and held annually since 1974. The event has grown to be the largest global platform for environmental outreach, with millions of people from across the world engaging to protect the planet.
Protecting the environment and understanding our short roles as trustees of the natural world is important to us here at Lorfords. We are on our own journey to become as eco-friendly and sustainable as possible. Antiques, by their very nature, are reusable and eco-friendly. They are pre-loved items, regularly passed from generation to generation and often made from natural materials.
We work closely with like-minded brands, with a mission to create products that are for both people and planet. And none more so than our friends at Edward Bulmer Natural Paint who create beautiful paints backed up by ecological principles.
Edward Bulmer, founder of Edward Bulmer Natural Paint, has put 30 years’ experience into creating his paint brand. He is a self-confessed ‘eco-worrier’ (yes, worrier) with a drive to create paints that drastically reduce plastic pollution, carbon emissions and poor air quality. His mission is to change the paint industry with a solution for regenerative manufacturing based on ecology. The protection of nature’s biodiversity is at the core of all their product development.
As it is World Environment Day this week, we asked Edward and his team to take over our blog and tell us all about the natural paint world. We wanted to know what we should be looking out for and how we can help make our homes as sustainable as possible. So, over to them!
When choosing paint, it’s becoming evident that the contents might not always be exactly what it says on the tin! Many claim to be ‘eco-friendly’ or contain low levels of VOC’s (Volatile Organic Compounds) but when you look further, there is more to it than meets the eye.
Greenwashing is a big issue in the design and paint industry and at this present time it’s so important to get the facts right. We have noticed a rise in the practice of greenwashing which is extremely misleading for consumers. Like whitewashing, it is a device used to deflect ‘heat’, in this case to give the impression that something embodies an intent to be ecologically or environmentally responsible – the term many use is ‘eco-friendly’.
Basically, paint is called eco-friendly when it is water-based, despite almost all paints containing resin binders that are forms of acrylic, vinyl or alkyd – all polymers that are derived from petro-chemicals. Also, all paint is water based, that is how paint is made! So, while the world’s governments now accept that using fossil fuels, fossil sources and petro-chemicals must be reduced to be eco-friendly and address the climate emergency, the paint and coatings industry is not keeping up.
We have always strived to give our customers as much information as possible for them to make an informed decision. We are the only paint brand on the market that uses plant-based binders. The alternative is a polymer derived binder, which is full of micro-plastics and other nasties. We use our plant-based binder to bring all our natural ingredients together and then inject this base white paint with a combination of our mineral and earth pigments.
Using antiques in your home is the ultimate upcycling and celebrates vintage pieces that are unique and beautiful. Antiques are often made from natural materials which then change and evolve over time. Edward often thinks about antiques and paint in the same view. For example if you think about a wonderful piece of antique furniture, most people will enquire about how it should be looked after. If you have bought a lovely old house, isn’t it the same thing? Therefore, using natural and carefully created paints should be an easy decision!
To find out more, please read our interview with Edward Bulmer here.
Sign up to the Edward Bulmer Natural Paint newsletter to get 10% off your first paint order.
Visit: www.edwardbulmerpaint.co.uk
Follow: https://www.instagram.com/edwardbulmerpaint/
Meet us at our NEW Showroom: 194 Ebury Street, London, SW1W 8UP
In conversation with: Edward Bulmer
Eco-worrier, interior designer and founder of his eponymous natural paint brand
For 30 years, Edward Bulmer has worked in some of Britain’s finest buildings. As a leading interior designer, architectural historian and ‘colour expert’, he is renowned for restoring heritage buildings, and bringing his design ingenuity to the creation of modern living spaces surrounded by character.
Bulmer is an expert in conservation too. And it is this that motivates him. His years of interior and architectural experience have resulted in his creation of Edward Bulmer Paints, a natural paints brand that cares for the environment.
We joined Edward to talk about colour, his experience and passions. It has been a delight to gain insight into one of the most interesting interior design minds in the country.
“Really because first and foremost I am an eco-worrier. It pains me that interior design is so wasteful and disregarding of its impact on people and the planet.
I used to do my eco-worrying through charitable activity but realised that if I directed my energies to something I knew about from long experience, that I could make more difference. Modern paints are petro-chemical preparations. Our paints are plant-based preparations. Replace the former with the latter and you can have a major reduction in plastic pollution, carbon emissions and poor air quality.”
“All of life is there! They encapsulate the human endeavor of generations of occupants, craftsmen and designers. They are endlessly adaptable and repairable, so like antiques they are sustainable provided the associated energy use to maintain them is kept in check.”
Image by Lorfords Antiques
“On the whole, yes. I divide rooms between those of passage and those of dwelling. The former (halls, corridors, stairs, etc) were painted simply with ‘common’ colours in the past and I believe our default ‘evolutionary aesthetic’ is based on this – warm whites, greys, stones and pale pinks derived from earth pigments.
Rooms for dwelling would be treated more richly and fashionably with mineral pigments used to obtain stronger colours and wallpapers and fabrics introducing deeper hues.
Fundamentally though, colour is a preference but the tonality of the chosen colour is key and that is the service that I give and now our paint range provides.”
“Colour is the obvious answer – but it need not be wall colour – it can be on joinery or on pieces you acquire. Often the patina of an old painted or polished surface of an antique can punch above its weight in bringing your room a sense of calm and historic resonance.”
“Anything is a challenge if you are trying too hard! Don’t be too self-conscious. Use and buy what you like, but if you are combining pieces look for a tonal unity and try to ensure a similar level of design quality and integrity.”
“The last things I bought from Lorfords give me pleasure every day because I used them here at home rather than on a client project.
The first was a Louis XVI style writing table (see image below) with very chic geometrical marquetry and the second was a pair of large fluted Doric columns which now dress the frontispiece on the west façade of the house!”
Image by Paul Whitbread
“I sure hope so – whether new or old. For my work I have always sought to use native timber, traditional construction and the minimum of sheet material. But it is hard for cabinet makers to compete against producers who don’t do this because they can ‘outsource’ the polluting and exploitative effects of waste, poor labour conditions and manmade materials to offer us ‘cheap’ prices.
We are all culpable here! Recycling, repurposing, upcycling, antique collecting, bespoke commissioning would be the stuff of a bright future for interior design.”
“I started by using the paints on client projects with my own skilled painters. Gradually we launched to the wider market and realised that modern plastic paints had made builders and painters lazy with expectations of paint that were being met with a cocktail of petro-chemicals.
So we worked with our manufacturers to develop paints that could outperform modern paints but only require plant derivatives for their formulation. We have played a long game and that has worked in our favour as the market has professed ‘green’ credentials for longer than customers have really cared.
Now the worm is turning and the value of natural paint is being recognised as an easy win in reducing the carbon footprint and pollution impact of building projects. This month we open our first shop, though we continue to sell and supply our paints online, it will be great to have a place where customers and designers can come and see for themselves the revolution that is going on in house paint.”
“Aquatic is a great example of a colour that has weight and drama. It hovers between blue and green, providing a great backdrop for all sorts of pieces.”
Image by Lorfords Antiques
“The long history of paint making. With the exception of the last 100 years, we have used natural materials for 40,000 years. The basic 12 earth and mineral pigments we use have been known about for millennia. They are as useful today as they have always been and my work as an interior designer leads me to concentrate on colours that I believe work as part of successful productions, rather than seeking to be the main event.”
“As you will gather I believe that what goes around comes around. I do think that good mid to deep tonal browns may have a resurgence. They can create atmosphere, straddle the urban/rural divide and flatter your furnishings.”
Insert a Venetian window! Like this one at Lorfords for instance, or any ornamental reclaimed window.
Join Edward Bulmer on his Create Academy course
Edward Bulmer has teamed up with lifestyle learning platform Create Academy to launch a course on colour, teaching you how to achieve harmony and cohesion throughout any interior scheme. We have secured L-Shaped readers with 15% off the course ‘A guide to pigments, paints and palettes’ at createacademy.com. Use code ‘LORFORDS15’ when booking.
Leading image: credit Andrew Crowley
Edward Bulmer has poured over 30 years of experience into every tin, creating beautiful colours backed up by ecological principles.
The plant-based recipes offer more than just a colour choice; the paints are highly breathable, healthy with no harmful VOCs or microplastics.
Historically resonant yet robust for modern living, these pigment rich paints give outstanding coverage. They are easy to apply and create an unrivalled finish.
Beautifully, breathable colours are backed up by ecological principles which are kind to both people and planet.
All the paints are freshly mixed to order and delivered directly to your door. New flagship store open from 9th May at 194, Ebury St, SW1W 8UP
Nestled in Thyme's 'village within a village,' you will find The Ox Barn restaurant. Under the direction of Head Chef Charlie Hibbert, Thyme curate amazing dishes inspired by their rural surroundings. As we enter a cold and dark winter, the team have provided the perfect recipe for you to cook at home and transport yourself to the Mediterranean...
A Greek-inspired baked orzo dish, soaked in the juices of the chicken, fennel, olive and lemon. One to truly transport you to a Mediterranean island.
Serves 2
Prep & cooking time: 35 minutes
Difficulty: easy
2 organic chicken legs, separated into thigh and drumstick
50ml white wine
½ small red onion, diced
¼ head of fennel, sliced from root to tip
5 black olives, pitted and halved
1 bay leaf
½ lemon zest and juice
100g orzo
200ml chicken stock
1 tsp salt
½ tsp cracked black pepper
A handful of chopped parsley
Preheat the oven to 180°C (normal) | 160°C (fan) | gas mark 4.
Fry the chicken pieces in an oven-proof pan over a medium heat until browned and crisp on all sides.
Remove from the pan and set to one side.
Pour in the white wine and scrub off any brown bits with a wooden spoon.
Scatter in the onion, fennel, bay, lemon and orzo in the pan and stir together.
Place the chicken back in the pan and pour over the chicken stock.
Season with salt and pepper and bake in the oven for 20 minutes, until the liquor has been absorbed by the orzo.
Put the chicken onto a plate, stir through the parsley and serve.
Andrea, who owns and leads Last Drop Wines on the King's Road in Chelsea, recommends a sustainable Pinot Noir from Cordaillat. Read her advice here.
Thyme includes 32 bedrooms situated throughout the Georgian rectory, The Lodge, The Tallet and the buildings around the courtyard and gardens. Ox Barn (seats 62) offers a wonderful dining experience, with its own twist on seasonal British food.
Thyme also offers the Baa bar, meadow spa, pool, orchid house and botanical bothy. The piggery and balcony room boutiques stock Bertioli by Thyme's range of silkwear, tableware and bespoke homeware.
If that's not enough, their 'village within a village' also contains a cookery school, floristry and drawing classes, farm, kitchen gardens, orchards and water meadows. Cottages are available for private hire and you can also book the Tithe Barn for private events.
You can view our collection of Thyme recipes and our interview with Charlie Hibbert on L-Shaped.
Thyme’s room rates currently start at £335 (midweek) / £395 (Fri, Sat) per night. These are room rates include breakfast.
Thyme, Southrop Manor Estate, Southrop, Gloucestershire, GL7 3PW
www.thyme.co.uk | 01367 850 174 | reception@thyme.co.uk
A fresh and delicious winter salad that delivers a wonderful crunch. Charlie Hibbert, the Head Chef at Thyme's Ox Barn restaurant shares a light and refreshing salad recipe perfect for dinner parties or a light lunch.
'This is an easy, fresh salad with plenty of crunch from fresh vegetables and my favourite bitter leaves, full of interest. We buy our hams from a local Cotswold company – Saltpig Curing Co – and the speck is a wonderful stalwart on the menu, amongst other fine things from them. You will need a vegetable turner or mandolin for this recipe. If you don’t have one, you can use a sharp knife, but it is harder to cut the vegetables into wafer-thin slices which fold through the salad.'
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 eating apple
1 kohlrabi
1 fennel bulb
8 slices of speck
60g hazelnuts
Assortment of bitter leaves, such as puntarelle, castelfranco, radicchio, tardivo etc
1 lemon
Olive oil for dressing
Sea salt flakes and freshly cracked black pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 160°C (normal) | 140°C (fan) | gas mark 3.
Chop the hazelnuts and put them into the oven to toast for 8 minutes or until golden brown. Once done, put them to one side and allow them to cool.
Meanwhile prep and wash the leaves, allowing them to drain in a colander.
Now, peel the outer skin of the kohlrabi away. Using your vegetable turner, cut the kohlrabi and then the fennel into lovely thin strips and dink them into iced water.
Finally, halve and core the apple. Slice it into thin half-moons using a sharp knife.
Ensure all your salad ingredients are well-drained before assembly.
Place all the vegetable ingredients in a bowl and dress with lemon juice and olive oil, a good crack of pepper and salt.
Tear through the speck and scatter the nuts over the leaves then toss the salad.
Gently tumble the salad onto your waiting plates, serve and enjoy.
Andrea, who owns and leads Last Drop Wines on the King's Road in Chelsea, recommends two wines to accompany this fresh and delicious salad. Read her advice here.
Thyme includes 32 bedrooms situated throughout the Georgian rectory, The Lodge, The Tallet and the buildings around the courtyard and gardens. Ox Barn (seats 62) offers a wonderful dining experience, with its own twist on seasonal British food.
Thyme also offers the Baa bar, meadow spa, pool, orchid house and botanical bothy. The piggery and balcony room boutiques stock Bertioli by Thyme's range of silkwear, tableware and bespoke homeware.
If that's not enough, their 'village within a village' also contains a cookery school, floristry and drawing classes, farm, kitchen gardens, orchards and water meadows. Cottages are available for private hire and you can also book the Tithe Barn for private events.
You can view our collection of Thyme recipes and our interview with Charlie Hibbert on L-Shaped.
Thyme’s room rates currently start at £335 (midweek) / £395 (Fri, Sat) per night. These are room rates include breakfast.
Thyme, Southrop Manor Estate, Southrop, Gloucestershire, GL7 3PW
www.thyme.co.uk | 01367 850 174 | reception@thyme.co.uk
This autumnal recipe for quince tart is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. It comes from Charlie Hibbert, who is Head Chef at Thyme's Ox Barn restaurant. For the ultimate indulgence, he recommends serving with both cream and ice cream.
'I discovered this frangipane recipe when I was working for the wonderful Jeremy Lee at Quo Vadis. It is the best recipe and I love it, so here’s to Jeremy…
At Thyme, we actually make this dish with medlars as well, because they lend themselves brilliantly to it. However, you can find quince membrillo much more easily than medlar membrillo (we make our own), so I’ve suggested quince for this recipe.' Charlie Hibbert.
Prep time: 1hr30
Cooking time: 1hr30
Difficulty: medium.
Serves 8
For the sweet pastry
250g plain flour, sifted and extra for dusting
125g unsalted butter, cubed
50g icing sugar
1 free range egg plus 1 free range egg yolk
All ingredients should be well chilled
For the almond frangipane filling
500g unsalted butter
500g caster sugar
4 free range eggs
500g blanched almonds
120g quince membrillo (this is available at most supermarkets and online)
To serve
Double cream
Vanilla ice cream
Start with the pastry. Using a food processor, blitz the flour, butter and icing sugar until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the egg and egg yolk and blitz again until the pastry has started to come together. Dust the work surface with a light dusting of flour. Turn the pastry out onto your surface and form it into a uniform ball – do not knead the pastry, this should only take a minute or so. Rest it in the fridge for at least half an hour.
While the pastry chills, make the filling. Cream the butter and sugar well, before adding the eggs one by one, ensuring each is well incorporated before the next is added. Next, grind the nuts in a food processor until they are well chopped but not a powder - this will give the tart some texture. Add them to the butter, sugar and egg mix and mix together. Chill the filling completely.
When the pastry has chilled, roll it out onto a lightly floured surface to fit a 22cm loose bottom tart tin. Chill the pastry again for 15 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 150°C (normal) | 130°C (fan) | gas mark 2
Once the pastry has been chilled for a second time, spread a layer of quince membrillo in the base of the tart, before filling it with the almond frangipane mix. Bake for 90 minutes.
Once cooked, remove the tart from the oven and allow it to cool. Serve with cream and ice cream.
Andrea, who owns and leads Last Drop Wines on the King's Road in Chelsea, recommends two wines that she describes as 'magic in a bottle' to accompany this indulgent dessert. Read her advice here.
Thyme includes 32 bedrooms situated throughout the Georgian rectory, The Lodge, The Tallet and the buildings around the courtyard and gardens. Ox Barn (seats 62) offers a wonderful dining experience, with its own twist on seasonal British food.
Thyme also offers the Baa bar, meadow spa, pool, orchid house and botanical bothy. The piggery and balcony room boutiques stock Bertioli by Thyme's range of silkwear, tableware and bespoke homeware.
If that's not enough, their 'village within a village' also contains a cookery school, floristry and drawing classes, farm, kitchen gardens, orchards and water meadows. Cottages are available for private hire and you can also book the Tithe Barn for private events.
You can view our collection of Thyme recipes and our interview with Charlie Hibbert on L-Shaped.
Thyme’s room rates currently start at £335 (midweek) / £395 (Fri, Sat) per night. These are room rates include breakfast.
Thyme, Southrop Manor Estate, Southrop, Gloucestershire, GL7 3PW
www.thyme.co.uk | 01367 850 174 | reception@thyme.co.uk
As cooler days approach, Thyme has released this hearty recipe for ribollita, a Tuscan bread soup. At this time of year, we can find ourselves with a surplus of garden or allotment produce. This dish is perfect for making use of seasonal leftovers and getting the most out of your vegetables.
Charlie Hibbert is Head Chef at Ox Barn, Thyme's restaurant. Charlie says: 'Ribollita is a famous Tuscan bread soup. You can use a variety of different vegetables that you have on hand, with the core ingredients being the beans, kale, and of course the bread. The fennel and celery give this soup its distinct depth.'
Serves 2 - with plenty left over for the rest of the week.
Prep and cooking time: 45 minutes.
Difficulty: easy.
4 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for serving
1 onion, peeled & diced
1 head of fennel, diced
4 sticks of celery, chopped
1 carrot, scrubbed & chopped
½ tsp ground fennel seed (if you don’t have ground fennel, just use a pestle and mortar with the seeds)
6 thyme sprigs, leaves picked and chopped finely
1 bunch of cavolo nero, leaves stripped
4 cloves of garlic, peeled & grated
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tin of whole tomatoes, best you can find
1 tin of cannellini beans
Pinch of chilli flakes
½ loaf of stale bread, torn into chunks
Sea salt flakes & freshly cracked black pepper
Parmesan for finishing
Heat the olive oil in a pan large enough to fit everything in comfortably. Sweat the onion, celery, carrot and garlic on medium heat for 2 minutes. Next, add in the ground fennel and chopped thyme and cook until the vegetables have begun to soften (around another 10 minutes). Add in the lemon zest and stir through before adding in the tomato. Allow the tomatoes to cook and thicken for 5 minutes before adding in the cannellini beans, chilli and just enough extra water to cover. This is a thick soup so don’t drown it.
Allow everything to simmer together and get to know each other for a further 10 minutes. Finish by adding in the cavolo nero and torn bread chunks. Allow the bread to soak up moisture and the cabbage to braise for 10 more minutes. Season with plenty of salt and pepper, ladle into a bowl and grate Parmesan on top along with plenty of olive oil. This soup will keep well in the fridge for several days and improve with time, so enjoy.
Andrea, who owns and leads Last Drop Wines on the King's Road in Chelsea, recommends a wine as sustainable as it is delicious to accompany this dish. Read her advice here.
Thyme includes 32 bedrooms situated throughout the Georgian rectory, The Lodge, The Tallet and the buildings around the courtyard and gardens. Ox Barn (seats 62) offers a wonderful dining experience, with its own twist on seasonal British food.
Thyme also offers the Baa bar, meadow spa, pool, orchid house and botanical bothy. The piggery and balcony room boutiques stock Bertioli by Thyme's range of silkwear, tableware and bespoke homeware.
If that's not enough, their 'village within a village' also contains a cookery school, floristry and drawing classes, farm, kitchen gardens, orchards and water meadows. Cottages are available for private hire and you can also book the Tithe Barn for private events.
You can view our collection of Thyme recipes and our interview with Charlie Hibbert on L-Shaped.
Thyme’s room rates currently start at £335 (midweek) / £395 (Fri, Sat) per night. These are room rates include breakfast.
Thyme, Southrop Manor Estate, Southrop, Gloucestershire, GL7 3PW
www.thyme.co.uk | 01367 850 174 | reception@thyme.co.uk