Under the Tuscan sun

The dappled light streaming through the windows of this Italian farmhouse was hugely influential in all the decorating decisions designer Nicola Harding took when reinventing the property as a luxurious retreat

- FIONA MCCARTHY

How do you find a compromise between the tastes of an Italian husband and an American wife when bringing an ancient Tuscan farmhouse to life? Bring in the colourand comfort-loving British interior designer Nicola Harding. “They wanted something soulful, warm and friendly,” says the designer renowned for her gentle, soothing approach to interiors. “They wanted a house that would feel immediately like home the minute they arrived, and somewhere relaxing to spend time together as a family and entertain friends.”

The couple, having met ‘in some far-flung corner of the world in their twenties and made their fortune in New York from nothing,’ says Nicola, bought the house and surrounding olive groves, not far from where he grew up. They wanted to instil in it an element of future-proofing — should their twenty-something children bring friends or start to have families of their own — as well as allowing for the wife to feel at ease having people in her space. ‘She was open about finding this difficult, so we needed to make this comfortable for her.’