This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/feb/16/kirstie-allsopp-sarah-beeny-in-own-homes
The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Previous version
1
Next version
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Kirstie Allsopp, Charlie Luxton, Sarah Beeny and Martin Roberts – in their own homes | Kirstie Allsopp, Charlie Luxton, Sarah Beeny and Martin Roberts – in their own homes |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Kirstie Allsopp | Kirstie Allsopp |
| Welcome to Kirstie Allsopp's study. There she is – behind the bunting and the open wicker chest of haberdashery. You can see her if you wrench your eyes away from the 3D birdcage art, floral rug and heavily ornamented bookshelf. "It's a bit grandiose to call it a study. Not much studying goes on in here," she says. There is a desk, though, which belonged to her paternal grandmother – "a source of enormous pleasure to me", she says. "It is exactly the same one as Lord Grantham sits at in Downton Abbey." | Welcome to Kirstie Allsopp's study. There she is – behind the bunting and the open wicker chest of haberdashery. You can see her if you wrench your eyes away from the 3D birdcage art, floral rug and heavily ornamented bookshelf. "It's a bit grandiose to call it a study. Not much studying goes on in here," she says. There is a desk, though, which belonged to her paternal grandmother – "a source of enormous pleasure to me", she says. "It is exactly the same one as Lord Grantham sits at in Downton Abbey." |
| The books seem a puzzle, though. They are stacked strangely, with the spines hidden. Surely that's no way to choose your next read? "Can you see a 'K' in them?" says Allsopp. Now she mentions it, yes: the righthand pillar bends in and out. She is very fond of her initials. "There are definitely quite a lot of Ks hanging around my house," she says. "I would have KMA on absolutely everything." Witness the framed K on the dresser, the "Kirstie" mug, the cutout of Kirstie's face. "It's a bit showy. You shouldn't really." Luckily, Allsopp, who lives with her partner and their four boys, says she is the only initial-botherer in the house. And anyway, this room is very much her room. | The books seem a puzzle, though. They are stacked strangely, with the spines hidden. Surely that's no way to choose your next read? "Can you see a 'K' in them?" says Allsopp. Now she mentions it, yes: the righthand pillar bends in and out. She is very fond of her initials. "There are definitely quite a lot of Ks hanging around my house," she says. "I would have KMA on absolutely everything." Witness the framed K on the dresser, the "Kirstie" mug, the cutout of Kirstie's face. "It's a bit showy. You shouldn't really." Luckily, Allsopp, who lives with her partner and their four boys, says she is the only initial-botherer in the house. And anyway, this room is very much her room. |
| She hoped for a boudoir feel, the female equivalent of study-as-retreat, perhaps for an after-dinner cigar. "I have been to homes where the lady of the house has a sitting room. That is what it was supposed to be," she says. In practice, the study has never delivered on that idea. It "may as well be called the distribution centre". Parcels come and go. Things for the show; online shopping; new looks tested out. Nothing about the rest of the house should be inferred from Allsopp's study, which she describes as a uniquely "feminine and old-fashioned" room. "I live in an incredibly masculine-looking home. A man's dream home. He buys the furniture and dictates the look of it." He being Ben Andersen, a property developer whose parents own an antiques shop on London's Kensington Church Street. So what does Allsopp get to dictate? "I'm allowed to work on Operation Valance – the cushions, soft furnishings." | She hoped for a boudoir feel, the female equivalent of study-as-retreat, perhaps for an after-dinner cigar. "I have been to homes where the lady of the house has a sitting room. That is what it was supposed to be," she says. In practice, the study has never delivered on that idea. It "may as well be called the distribution centre". Parcels come and go. Things for the show; online shopping; new looks tested out. Nothing about the rest of the house should be inferred from Allsopp's study, which she describes as a uniquely "feminine and old-fashioned" room. "I live in an incredibly masculine-looking home. A man's dream home. He buys the furniture and dictates the look of it." He being Ben Andersen, a property developer whose parents own an antiques shop on London's Kensington Church Street. So what does Allsopp get to dictate? "I'm allowed to work on Operation Valance – the cushions, soft furnishings." |
| This seems surprising. It is tricky to match the forthright Allsopp of Location Location Location, always charging into properties and picking out some poor wall for demolition, to the pompom-, haberdashery-loving craftswoman content to select cushions. Suddenly she sounds brisk again. "I do walk into places and think, 'Oh my God, this needs a cornice, or this door frame is the wrong size.' And all of that is in my DNA," she says. "The golden rules for layout are absolutely to work out the use of each space." | This seems surprising. It is tricky to match the forthright Allsopp of Location Location Location, always charging into properties and picking out some poor wall for demolition, to the pompom-, haberdashery-loving craftswoman content to select cushions. Suddenly she sounds brisk again. "I do walk into places and think, 'Oh my God, this needs a cornice, or this door frame is the wrong size.' And all of that is in my DNA," she says. "The golden rules for layout are absolutely to work out the use of each space." |
| • Kirstie Allsopp's Best of Both Worlds, Tuesday 25 February, 8pm on Channel 4 | • Kirstie Allsopp's Best of Both Worlds, Tuesday 25 February, 8pm on Channel 4 |
| Charlie Luxton | Charlie Luxton |
| It all goes on here, Charlie Luxton says. He rests his hands on the kitchen table. "Homework, eating, sat on the laptop, checking stuff out." The kitchen table stands out simply because it is one of few pieces of furniture in the house. Indeed, according to Luxton, the furniture here is best seen as "objects in space rather than the things you need to make a space function". Aside from beds, two sofas, one lounge chair, a 17th-century chest that was a gift from his parents, and – that essential of every comfortable home, a pig slaughter bench – there is very little that is free-standing. "We don't have the space," he says. | It all goes on here, Charlie Luxton says. He rests his hands on the kitchen table. "Homework, eating, sat on the laptop, checking stuff out." The kitchen table stands out simply because it is one of few pieces of furniture in the house. Indeed, according to Luxton, the furniture here is best seen as "objects in space rather than the things you need to make a space function". Aside from beds, two sofas, one lounge chair, a 17th-century chest that was a gift from his parents, and – that essential of every comfortable home, a pig slaughter bench – there is very little that is free-standing. "We don't have the space," he says. |
| What they (he, his wife Kate and their two children) have is a small, white, thatched cottage in the countryside near Banbury, Oxfordshire. The preference for a built-in aesthetic is evident in every room. One kitchen cupboard dug out of a nook is barely three inches deep, but still stuffed full. "Wherever there's a niche you've got to inhabit it," he says. The children's beds are built in. A built-in sofa is planned for the snug. | What they (he, his wife Kate and their two children) have is a small, white, thatched cottage in the countryside near Banbury, Oxfordshire. The preference for a built-in aesthetic is evident in every room. One kitchen cupboard dug out of a nook is barely three inches deep, but still stuffed full. "Wherever there's a niche you've got to inhabit it," he says. The children's beds are built in. A built-in sofa is planned for the snug. |
| Despite his insistence that this is a small house, it feels spacious. The Scottish elm staircase dog-legs to a large square landing, lined with books. The two bedroooms come off this hall, which feels lavish. "It's the circulation space that makes a house feel generous, not the rooms," he says. | Despite his insistence that this is a small house, it feels spacious. The Scottish elm staircase dog-legs to a large square landing, lined with books. The two bedroooms come off this hall, which feels lavish. "It's the circulation space that makes a house feel generous, not the rooms," he says. |
| Texture looms large. Antique Welsh blankets drape the sofas. Behind their bed, unfolded like a frieze, are punchcards from an automated weaving machine. It's all in the details here. What Luxton calls a "dado line", where a bottom section of wall has been gloss-painted to wipe clean, makes the merest interruption to neutral walls: you have to search for the seam between matt and shine. Do Luxton and Kate share the same taste? "It takes months to come to a consensus," he says. "Professionally, I design things for people. On one level, Kate is my client. So I try to give her what she wants." This sounds reasonable. Then he adds, ominously, "Or needs." | Texture looms large. Antique Welsh blankets drape the sofas. Behind their bed, unfolded like a frieze, are punchcards from an automated weaving machine. It's all in the details here. What Luxton calls a "dado line", where a bottom section of wall has been gloss-painted to wipe clean, makes the merest interruption to neutral walls: you have to search for the seam between matt and shine. Do Luxton and Kate share the same taste? "It takes months to come to a consensus," he says. "Professionally, I design things for people. On one level, Kate is my client. So I try to give her what she wants." This sounds reasonable. Then he adds, ominously, "Or needs." |
| Luxton's home has rainwater harvesting, a wood pellet boiler system, solar thermal panels, wood waste insulation. He wants a nice "environment with a capital E" and also with a "small e" – a nice place to live. He's got that. The kitchen shelves are busy with jars of pasta and unfancy teabags; children's lunchbags swing from a cupboard; and, at 11am on a weekday, there's a frying pan on the draining board. A sign of a good breakfast? | Luxton's home has rainwater harvesting, a wood pellet boiler system, solar thermal panels, wood waste insulation. He wants a nice "environment with a capital E" and also with a "small e" – a nice place to live. He's got that. The kitchen shelves are busy with jars of pasta and unfancy teabags; children's lunchbags swing from a cupboard; and, at 11am on a weekday, there's a frying pan on the draining board. A sign of a good breakfast? |
| • Charlie Luxton presents Building The Dream, a new series coming soon to More4 | • Charlie Luxton presents Building The Dream, a new series coming soon to More4 |
| Sarah Beeny | Sarah Beeny |
| "This is the room the children go in least," says Sarah Beeny. We are sitting at a round mahogany table in a small panelled reception, at the very outer edge of her London home. "It remains fractionally more civilised than the rest of the house." The children's possessions wash at the shoreline between this room and the next: a hamster, back in its cage after an early morning escapade; a neighbouring cage with a plain grey mouse in it. It looks like the untamed sort you would rather not see in your house. "The cat caught it," Beeny explains matter-of-factly. "The children wanted to keep it. With four boys, you choose your battles." She rubs at the polished table top, and with her fingertip locates the word S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G penned into its surface. She isn't too cross. Beeny doesn't believe in treating things "in too precious a way. I probably go a bit too far the wrong way." Too laidback? "Probably." | "This is the room the children go in least," says Sarah Beeny. We are sitting at a round mahogany table in a small panelled reception, at the very outer edge of her London home. "It remains fractionally more civilised than the rest of the house." The children's possessions wash at the shoreline between this room and the next: a hamster, back in its cage after an early morning escapade; a neighbouring cage with a plain grey mouse in it. It looks like the untamed sort you would rather not see in your house. "The cat caught it," Beeny explains matter-of-factly. "The children wanted to keep it. With four boys, you choose your battles." She rubs at the polished table top, and with her fingertip locates the word S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G penned into its surface. She isn't too cross. Beeny doesn't believe in treating things "in too precious a way. I probably go a bit too far the wrong way." Too laidback? "Probably." |
| We are sitting in this room because it is the one space that "is as close to how we like to live as possible". Small as it is, it feels grand. There are large ceramic lamps on side tables, original art on the walls, and all that panelling. "We're both a bit obsessed with panelling," she says. "We panelled the kitchen, we panelled here. In Rise Hall [the Yorkshire mansion she owns with her husband, Graham Swift], we panelled about 10 rooms. I think we are both mildly obsessed with stately homes. Given the choice we would have gilding everywhere and trompe l'oeil. Versailles does it for both of us." Except Beeny's panelling is MDF – something she reveals without embarrassment. She likes it because it is "a cheat, cheapy way" of adding interest. | We are sitting in this room because it is the one space that "is as close to how we like to live as possible". Small as it is, it feels grand. There are large ceramic lamps on side tables, original art on the walls, and all that panelling. "We're both a bit obsessed with panelling," she says. "We panelled the kitchen, we panelled here. In Rise Hall [the Yorkshire mansion she owns with her husband, Graham Swift], we panelled about 10 rooms. I think we are both mildly obsessed with stately homes. Given the choice we would have gilding everywhere and trompe l'oeil. Versailles does it for both of us." Except Beeny's panelling is MDF – something she reveals without embarrassment. She likes it because it is "a cheat, cheapy way" of adding interest. |
| Cheap is a theme. Beeny can point to any piece of furniture here and say what she paid for it. The ornate wooden mirror was £35. The enormous dresser was £60. She loves an auction. One of the old artworks was out of a skip. "It's partly because we're tight," she says, and laughs. On and off-screen, Beeny is a bargain-hunter. If her taste is more decorative than I expected – even the radiator has swirls – she is also pragmatic. So what about these paintings on the walls, these haunting portraits of distorted faces? They feel as if they are coming from a different place. Beeny is keen to explain that her husband, the artist responsible, is perfectly capable of more figurative work. "He could make that look just like someone if he wanted to, but I don't think he finds that inspiring. Can you imagine being able to do that and finding it boring? Mad!" | Cheap is a theme. Beeny can point to any piece of furniture here and say what she paid for it. The ornate wooden mirror was £35. The enormous dresser was £60. She loves an auction. One of the old artworks was out of a skip. "It's partly because we're tight," she says, and laughs. On and off-screen, Beeny is a bargain-hunter. If her taste is more decorative than I expected – even the radiator has swirls – she is also pragmatic. So what about these paintings on the walls, these haunting portraits of distorted faces? They feel as if they are coming from a different place. Beeny is keen to explain that her husband, the artist responsible, is perfectly capable of more figurative work. "He could make that look just like someone if he wanted to, but I don't think he finds that inspiring. Can you imagine being able to do that and finding it boring? Mad!" |
| Swift is a bit of an enigma too, mind you. He creates these paintings and is also happy designing MDF panelling. "Being married to an artist is quite hard work, because they are quite complicated," says Beeny. "People talk about struggling artists. They go in a very deep, dark place when they're painting. And then the result is so beautiful in comparison to how dark it was. I'm like, my God, why were you so cross all that time? He's like Jekyll and Hyde. He's massively shallow, then incredibly deep. I always think, 'what a shallow, facile man you are for someone so deep!'" | Swift is a bit of an enigma too, mind you. He creates these paintings and is also happy designing MDF panelling. "Being married to an artist is quite hard work, because they are quite complicated," says Beeny. "People talk about struggling artists. They go in a very deep, dark place when they're painting. And then the result is so beautiful in comparison to how dark it was. I'm like, my God, why were you so cross all that time? He's like Jekyll and Hyde. He's massively shallow, then incredibly deep. I always think, 'what a shallow, facile man you are for someone so deep!'" |
| If that sounds harsh, she is equally happy giving a personal evaluation. "I'm pretty flippant myself." | If that sounds harsh, she is equally happy giving a personal evaluation. "I'm pretty flippant myself." |
| • Sarah Beeny's new property website can be found at tepilo.com | • Sarah Beeny's new property website can be found at tepilo.com |
| Martin Roberts | Martin Roberts |
| He has an expectant look as we enter the kitchen, as if he is waiting for a reaction. That is because his units are in the shape of rockets. It's fine to laugh, as I do. Martin Roberts takes laughter as a sign of approval. | He has an expectant look as we enter the kitchen, as if he is waiting for a reaction. That is because his units are in the shape of rockets. It's fine to laugh, as I do. Martin Roberts takes laughter as a sign of approval. |
| "It was a drunken night. Two bottles of red wine. With my best mate Dave who's a cabinet maker," he says. "I wanted him to build my kitchen. And I thought, 'I don't want something you'd see anywhere else. Why not go for something a bit wacky?'" So the wall cupboards are topped off with prismatic roofs and punched with walnut rivets. "I've always loved Wallace and Gromit, and I've always loved that kitchen in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, where things fold down," he says. "It's mad inventor stroke Wallace and Gromit." Roberts has had the kitchen, at his home on the edge of Bath, for 10 years. "It's just something that you don't see every day." He, of course, does see it every day, but he still smiles every time. "I love it for that." | "It was a drunken night. Two bottles of red wine. With my best mate Dave who's a cabinet maker," he says. "I wanted him to build my kitchen. And I thought, 'I don't want something you'd see anywhere else. Why not go for something a bit wacky?'" So the wall cupboards are topped off with prismatic roofs and punched with walnut rivets. "I've always loved Wallace and Gromit, and I've always loved that kitchen in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, where things fold down," he says. "It's mad inventor stroke Wallace and Gromit." Roberts has had the kitchen, at his home on the edge of Bath, for 10 years. "It's just something that you don't see every day." He, of course, does see it every day, but he still smiles every time. "I love it for that." |
| Roberts shares the house with his wife Kirsty and their two children, aged six and four. It is hard to imagine many spouses hearing his description of the kitchen and agreeing to it. How on earth did he pull that off? He looks puzzled. "Olive and walnut, with granite work surfaces?" What, you didn't mention the rockets? "No rockets," he says. "But it was all OK because she knows I have pretty good taste. The rest of the house is magnolia." | Roberts shares the house with his wife Kirsty and their two children, aged six and four. It is hard to imagine many spouses hearing his description of the kitchen and agreeing to it. How on earth did he pull that off? He looks puzzled. "Olive and walnut, with granite work surfaces?" What, you didn't mention the rockets? "No rockets," he says. "But it was all OK because she knows I have pretty good taste. The rest of the house is magnolia." |
| He's joking. The rest of the house is full of Roberts's possessions, which include what was once purportedly the "main newsgathering camera for Angolan television", an old-fashioned mincing machine and a driftwood dresser whose doors are washed-up keyboards. In the music room, he breaks into a bluesy interlude at the grand. His piano certificates – grades 1 and 3 – are on the wall, and there is a decorative dentist's mould on the mantelpiece. It is the cast of a mouth belonging to an unknown patient who, by the looks of things, was in need of four false teeth. Is that right? "Correctamundo!" he says. | |
| I'm starting to feel a bit sorry for Kirsty, but Roberts cheerfully counters that she has a sewing room upstairs. And she is getting her own back by surreptitiously throwing out his stuff. He cites his favourite cactus, which has inexplicably disappeared. | I'm starting to feel a bit sorry for Kirsty, but Roberts cheerfully counters that she has a sewing room upstairs. And she is getting her own back by surreptitiously throwing out his stuff. He cites his favourite cactus, which has inexplicably disappeared. |
| How does he think other people would describe his taste? "A mess! No." He's joking again. He has faith in his taste. "Interesting. It's not boring, is it? The comment I usually get is, it's a lived-in house that is very you, and it's almost a scrapbook. It's a loved house. One with a warm welcome." | How does he think other people would describe his taste? "A mess! No." He's joking again. He has faith in his taste. "Interesting. It's not boring, is it? The comment I usually get is, it's a lived-in house that is very you, and it's almost a scrapbook. It's a loved house. One with a warm welcome." |
| Back in the kitchen, one ornament seems to strike a different note to the rocket-shaped units: four little coloured cubes that spell out H-O-M-E. Who put those there? "Kirsty," he says. Perhaps it's the start of a fightback. | Back in the kitchen, one ornament seems to strike a different note to the rocket-shaped units: four little coloured cubes that spell out H-O-M-E. Who put those there? "Kirsty," he says. Perhaps it's the start of a fightback. |
| • Martin Roberts presents Homes Under The Hammer on BBC1, weekdays at 10am | • Martin Roberts presents Homes Under The Hammer on BBC1, weekdays at 10am |
| Insider view: what did they make of each other's places? | Insider view: what did they make of each other's places? |
| We showed our hosts photographs of each other's homes and asked for their opinions – but didn't tell them who the homes belonged to | We showed our hosts photographs of each other's homes and asked for their opinions – but didn't tell them who the homes belonged to |
| Martin Roberts on Kirstie Allsopp | Martin Roberts on Kirstie Allsopp |
| "I have to say it is my kind of room because it is so full of stuff. It is obviously somebody who is similar to me in that they have filled the room with memorabilia. A cat would cause chaos very quickly. It belongs to somebody who would actually fit in quite well in my house. They're having fun." | "I have to say it is my kind of room because it is so full of stuff. It is obviously somebody who is similar to me in that they have filled the room with memorabilia. A cat would cause chaos very quickly. It belongs to somebody who would actually fit in quite well in my house. They're having fun." |
| Sarah Beeny on Charlie Luxton | Sarah Beeny on Charlie Luxton |
| "For me there isn't enough stuff in it. But this is how most people want to live now, because it's clean and simple. What a sweet little cottage." | "For me there isn't enough stuff in it. But this is how most people want to live now, because it's clean and simple. What a sweet little cottage." |
| Kirstie Allsopp on Sarah Beeny | Kirstie Allsopp on Sarah Beeny |
| "The pair of lamps work well. Anything you can get in a pair is a great thing as this creates balance. The two paintings above the lamp, although not to my taste are good with their classical colours, but I'd probably do a triptych above there all a bit smaller. Or if I was to keep it I'd drop the centre picture a tiny bit lower. The unit is too full of knick-knacks and needs to be pared back and for me there is too much brown furniture/brown surfaces. The table needs to be broken up with some colour or a cloth or runner." | "The pair of lamps work well. Anything you can get in a pair is a great thing as this creates balance. The two paintings above the lamp, although not to my taste are good with their classical colours, but I'd probably do a triptych above there all a bit smaller. Or if I was to keep it I'd drop the centre picture a tiny bit lower. The unit is too full of knick-knacks and needs to be pared back and for me there is too much brown furniture/brown surfaces. The table needs to be broken up with some colour or a cloth or runner." |
| Charlie Luxton on Martin Roberts | Charlie Luxton on Martin Roberts |
| "Prog Rock reincarnated as a kitchen. Clearly well made and I am sure it brings great joy to the mind that devised it. At the very least it is a statement and I applaud that." | "Prog Rock reincarnated as a kitchen. Clearly well made and I am sure it brings great joy to the mind that devised it. At the very least it is a statement and I applaud that." |
Previous version
1
Next version