House style

For the first time, we’ve brought the Livingetc aesthetic to life, decorating houses that are now for sale. Pip McCormac explains how our collaboration with FABRICA led to some elevated homes

- Claudia Bryant

LIVING ROOM DETAIL

The Editions Barker side table by Sebastian Cox seems to glow in the soft light that filters through the sheer by Hillarys. As ever, we’ve always enjoyed the mix of high-end design with clever, wise buys, and think the Zara Home lamp is a smart and chic addition.

Long before the pandemic could ever have been imagined, the Livingetc team sat around a table, putting mood boards together. We were imagining what houses would look like if we decorated them from scratch, what designers we’d turn to, what colours we’d use, how they would feel to be lived in. Developers FABRICA had asked us to implement the interior design at three show homes at Amber Parkside, its then unbuilt new set of two-, three-, four- and five-bed properties in Cranleigh, Surrey. It was the realisation of a dream we’d long had, to add design to the set of services we can do.

We knew the homes would be architecturally interesting – large vaulting roofs providing arched ceilings and big windows – and the perfect backdrop to our take on contemporary style. In our House Tours Open Door webinars, in features meetings or with clients, I’ll often talk about how a home is ‘very Livingetc’ , and the places we feature have a certain distinction that is hard to quantify. We like a mix – of styles, or textures or eras – with nothing too matched or one-note. Here at Amber Parkside we’ve been able to blend designers such as Sebastian Cox, Pinch and Julian Chichester with brands such as Neptune, Jane Churchill and Heal’s, and the look started to feel layered, interesting and smart.