Arabella Youens
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A Cornish cottage transformed in a perfect local style by a designer famed for exotic opulence
A look inside this guest cottage on a West Country estate demonstrates the versatility of its interior designer.
By Arabella Youens Published
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Three ideal homes in the small but perfectly-formed city of Winchester
Property writer Arabella Youens is naming her favourite small cities in Britain. Today she turns her gaze towards the fine little spot of Winchester.
By Arabella Youens Published
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Three marvellous homes in the idyllic city of Oxford
Property writer Arabella Youens is naming her favourite small cities in Britain – under the microscope in this piece is Oxford.
By Arabella Youens Published
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Three gorgeous homes in the delightful city of York
York is a city whose restaurant scene ensures that no metropolitan exile will miss the culinary delights of their former home.
By Arabella Youens Published
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The 50 best places to live near London
Where are the best villages, towns and small cities which are a pleasure to live in, but still offer a decent commute to the capital?
By Arabella Youens Published
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How to transform a dark Victorian kitchen into a charming social space with bespoke joinery
Charlotte Crosland redesign project turned into an entire refurbishment when it came to this Victorian house in London, including this stunning kitchen, brightened by the addition of bespoke windows and stunning furnishings.
By Arabella Youens Published
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A perfectly-formed small bedroom, as designed by Nina Campbell
If you're looking for inspiration on how to make a small bedroom both beautiful and comfortable, take a look at how designer Nina Campbell transformed this guest bedroom with a space-defying scheme.
By Arabella Youens Published
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How to use pieces from around the world to create a fine English bedroom
Designer Sophie Paterson explains how she used influences from around the world to transform the master bedroom of a town house in Chelsea.
By Arabella Youens Published
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Country Life Top 10: Luxury dog beds
As our four-legged friends take over our lives, Arabella Youens charts the unstoppable rise of the luxury dog bed.
By Arabella Youens Published
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Escape from the city: The Cotswolds v the Hamptons
Jay Gatsby frequented one, Kate Moss the other, but what makes these rural hotspots so desirable?
By Arabella Youens Published
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The dovecote which became a delightful country home
A long career at Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler was the perfect preparation for Emma Burns’s greatest design challenge yet: the sensitive transformation of the former dovecote and stables in Oxfordshire she inherited.
By Arabella Youens Published
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The rise of the ‘super cottage’: Underfloor heating, dining table for 12 and claw-foot baths in the bedroom
Creaking country piles with drafty corridors and leaky roofs are increasingly a thing of the past - today's homes in the country have a very different list of features, many of which you'd normally associate with top-end hotels. Arabella Youens speaks to a pair of experts who explain the phenomenon of the 'super cottage'.
By Arabella Youens Published
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The benefits of four-poster beds: 'I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t sleep better in one'
Interior designer Veere Grenney tells Arabella Youens why the only bed to have is a four-poster.
By Arabella Youens Published
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A beautiful townhouse in Deal with a kitchen that mixes modern and Georgian
This town house on the Kent coast has been restored by its actor owner to create a kitchen that’s sympathetic to its Georgian roots.
By Arabella Youens Published
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A utility room that demonstrates how style and function can go hand-in-hand
Arabella Youens takes a look at a utility room which shows that practical spaces can also be beautiful.
By Arabella Youens Published
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The dos and don'ts of designing your own ideal utility room
From stone sinks to sturdy, Merlin Wright of Plain English offers advice on creating the perfect utility room.
By Arabella Youens Published
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The beautifully symmetrical London drawing room of interior designer Douglas Mackie
Symmetry is regarded as the secret to creating a calm, coherent space, but for many designers, it’s more about creating balance, says Arabella Youens.
By Arabella Youens Published
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A library in Bath transformed into a bright and beautiful room to think, play the piano and just enjoy the view
Nicola Harding and Christopher Howe joined forces to transform this first-floor library into a serenely elegant sitting room. Arabella Youens explains more.
By Arabella Youens Published
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Inside Kate Moss's bathroom, where the wallpaper alone took six months to create
Supermodel Kate Moss worked with de Gournay and Drummonds to creat an Art Deco-inspired bathroom.
By Arabella Youens Published
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The Gavin Houghton drawing room with wit, elegance and silk wallpaper
Gavin Houghton's brief for the drawing room of a London art dealer was simple: do whatever you like, so long as it's elegant and shows touches of wit.
By Arabella Youens Published
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The designer’s bedroom: ‘Juxtaposing colours and pattern is great, but you still need to know when to pull back’
South African designer Hubert Zandberg’s blend of new and vintage pieces can lend depth and character to any room.
By Arabella Youens Published
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11 steps to creating a perfect bathroom for your house
When the interior designer Joanna Wood moved to an 18th-century manor house in the Cotswolds, she had an opportunity to create a space that combines a bathroom with a dressing room to provide the perfect retreat from her busy life, as Arabella Youens discovered.
By Arabella Youens Published
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Living in a conservation area: Ten things you need to know
Conservation areas have been protecting Britain's most beautiful areas for 50 years – here's what you need to know if you live in one, or are thinking about moving to one.
By Arabella Youens Published
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Six of the best European resorts for ski lodges you can use all year round
Some traditional winter resorts are just as idyllic in summer as they are in winter, with the allure of snow being replaced by wildflowers and cowbells.
By Arabella Youens Published