close

10 Beautiful Rooms: Northern Style

This was one of the most popular Monday posts this year. I did a regional round-up of beautiful rooms starting with the north and everyone enjoyed a stroll through. Here they are again and if you check the accounts some of the rooms have changed – in particular Lisa’s Dawson’s hall – she has gone to the light side.

This week on 10 Beautiful Rooms we are celebrating northern style. When I worked in newspapers there were always compaints that the national press was too Londoncentric. It wasn’t always completely accurate as a lot of the big new stories do happen in the capital but I thought that today I would make a conscious effort to explore the top half of the country – via Instagram – and show you some fabulous homes north of the Watford Gap.

brass yellow sofa from loveyourhome via HIlary and Flo
brass yellow sofa from love  your home via Hilary and Flo who has a shop in Sheffield (and an online store)

It’s true that it doesn’t matter where these rooms are as the internet has made everything in the world reachable at the click of a mouse but I know that many of the so-called northern blogs are setting up their own events in an attempt to lure the big brands and pr companies to visit them and I thought we might as well have a look ourselves.

one of the nicest bathrooms on instagram belongs to Katie Woods
one of the nicest bathrooms on instagram belongs to Katie Woods from Leeds @comedowntothewoods

Because there are some great spaces out there and I defy you not to be inspired…. Take these two bathrooms by the combined duo that is nohouserules, these must be two of the nicest bathrooms on instagram. I have shown you Amy’s before but she has since finished it the addition of these two bulkhead wall lights. Try Original BTC for similar although you can shop around for cheaper.

black and white bathroom with crittall by @thisstylerocks
black and white bathroom with crittall by Leeds-based Amy Wilson of @thisstylerocks

The dark and moody interiors of former model Cowboy Kate, who lives in North Yorkshire, will be familiar to readers of this page already but she’s gradually redecorating and this rather fabulous gold-leaf wall was a recent addition to her home. You might not want to do as much as this but it’s a fabulous trick to consider.

dark wall with gold leaf by cowboy kate
dark wall with gold leaf by @formerlyknownascowboykate 

In Northumberland and dropping into the wonderful kitchen of Kerry Lockwood, whose vintage butcher’s block has me sighing with envy every time she posts it. No, perhaps it’s not entirely practical but I’m sure once you’ve learnt its ups and downs you can put a cup of coffee down without spilling it. I can barely put on down on a flat surface without mishap so I shall forever have to look and only admire

vintage butcher's block via @kerrylockwood_
vintage butcher’s block via @kerrylockwood_

Moving down to York and the home of Lisa Dawson, whose image of her hall gathered nearly 10,000 likes. It’s the power of Down Pipe and Persian rugs methinks. But then I would say that wouldn’t I?

dark grey hall with vintage rug by Lisa Dawson
dark grey hall with vintage rug by Lisa Dawson

And Lisa has since redecorated her hall and painted it light. What do you think?

hall by Lisa Dawson
hall by Lisa Dawson 

Next up Helen Powell, of designhunteruk, who lives in Leaminton Spa, perhaps not entirely north but she runs one of the most beautifully curated and understated accounts and, besides which, it’s definitely north of London so it goes in. And if I run a Midlands version of this, which I’m entirely up for doing – submissions below please – then I might even include her again. Her account deserves to be much bigger so follow her.

dark walls and white chair minimalisem by helen powell
dark walls and bertoia chair minimalism by helen powell @designhunter_uk 

Moving back up to Leeds and work by Karen Knox, co-founder of the Interior Design Collective and guest blogger on these pages when she wrote about How to Plan Your Decorating Budget. This hall is painted in Farrow and Ball Worsted grey and Peignoir and the light came from a church.

worsted grey walls with farrow and ball peignoir by makingspacesnet
worsted grey walls with farrow and ball peignoir by makingspacesnet

And then to an account Beautiful Homes in the North dedicated to just that and run by Katie and Karen, who shoot homes for interiors magazines. This is

navy blue kitchen workspace via @beautifulhomesinthenorth
navy blue kitchen workspace belonging to @beautifulhomesinthenorth  and designed by Newcastle-based Cathy Dean 

Finishing off with a quick look over the border to Scotland where lovely Fiona Cameron’s house has also featured on these pages before but that London Clay sitting room is always a winner for me.

farrow and ball london clay by @around_houses
farrow and ball london clay by @around_houses
Kate Watson-Smyth

The author Kate Watson-Smyth

I’m a journalist who writes about interiors mainly for The Financial Times but I have also written regularly for The Independent and The Daily Mail. My house has been in Living Etc, HeartHome and featured in The Wall Street Journal & Corriere della Sera. I also run an interior styling consultancy Mad About Your House. Welcome to my Mad House.

18 Comments

  1. Loved this feature! I spent a lot of time and £ getting rid of the beige which covered every wall inside & out when we purchased our 1860’s home 7 years ago… Perhaps one for your ‘Midlands Style’ special? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2FSqjUfQU8. Now looking for inspiration for a 1960’s remodel… in Canada!

  2. Would love to see a Midlands version! We often suffer from the same fate as The Grand old Duke of York’s men- we are only halfway up so we’re neither up nor down! @makingspacescount xx

  3. Wonderful to see some stunningly beautiful homes outside of London. I live in West Wales & sometimes feel left out of the loop. Have you seen Melin Tregwynt website? Beautiful woollen throws, cushions, etc. In fact Kate you featured the owners (Mandy & Eifion) home in your book Shades of Grey. Please think about a Welsh-based version too!

  4. “This hall is painted in Farrow and Ball Worsted grey and Peignoir and the light came from a church.” Speaking as the home owner, I can indeed confirm that the light came from a church. It’s huge, weighs a tonne and needed an indoor scaffold to erect it. Also my relationship with the electrician never recovered and he has refused all further offers of work…! Was the light worth it? Yes – but sometimes, being quirky and ‘different’ can mean a whole load of angst that you don’t necessarily bargain for. Pretty pictures only tell part of the story, hah!

    1. Oh my goodness how kind of you to comment. I had read Karen’s comments about the install but didn’t have room for the story here. The poor electrician. It does look amazing though!!

  5. Thank you, thank you, thank you from Newcastle – we do sometimes feel a little forgotten and there really are some amazing homes here. Katie and Karen (@beautifulhomesinthenorth) are wonderful, but we also have some magnificent country houses, hipster hideouts and beautiful barns too. Please come back Kate!!

  6. I think I’ve done more “following” on Instagram and “pinning” on Pinterest from this blog post than any other one I’ve read!

  7. Thanks Kate for including me in this round up of some truly stunning homes. I’ve never been bothered by the London-centric thing though it would be great to be able to attend more real life events – perhaps that will happen in time. Meantime praise be for instagram. x

  8. Interesting post today Kate. It would have been great to have seen something from Scotland given the wonderfully talented designers, bloggers and interior design lovers we have up here.

    Maybe next time ☺

    Karen

  9. Don’t like the gold leaf wall, there’s too much of it. I absolutely love the bathroom with the pink bath, the whole room is just fantastic. I love looking at these rooms as it gives ideas that we can take away to our houses, if it’s just only one small bit.

  10. Great to see these houses, particularly since Pinterest always resets to default American style. I’m trying to evaluate what the difference is between US and UK style, and I think I will make the sweeping statement that in the US people take a style and try to copy it, and in the UK people take a style and try to improve on it. Maybe it’s just an impression caused by there being so many more people in the US than in the UK, or maybe, like most sweeping statements, it’s not true – but UK photos feel like a breath of fresh air.

  11. A really interesting selection today and I’m definitely going to look at some of those on Instagram! The one with the Miniature Schnauzer Gets my vote- mainly because I have two of them myself…..

  12. Great read and some fab accounts (Design Hunter is 👌) Thank you. I would love a Midlands based version! And love even more to be included, but I’m quite a way off that kind of accolade I reckon!

Comments are closed.