A slower pace

Antiques dealer and interior designer Odette Welvaars has taken a relaxed approach to restoring and decorating her French holiday home - letting the house's history speak, and filling it with European pieces in keeping with its 18th-century heritage

- GERALDINE NESBITT

Odette Welvaars has been dealing in antiques for 40 years. 'I started buying from all over Europe in the 1980s and have gradually built up a network of contacts, which gives me access to lots of beautiful items,' she says. Her father was also in the business, so antiques have been part of her life for as long as she can remember. Her wide network means that her own homes blend furniture and decorative items from all over Europe, with pieces from Sweden often taking a leading role. 'My son-in-law is Swedish, and incorporating Scandinavian elements into my interiors is a way of ensuring my grandchildren feel at home when they visit,' she says.

This home - a 1780s French farmhouse located in the village of Nénigan in southern France - is no exception. In the dining room, a 19th-century Swedish pine table still retains its original red paint, while in the bedroom, a fragment from an old piece of Swedish wallpaper is framed above the fireplace.