House Notes #3
The monthly newsletter – with design tips and new products, personal updates, interviews, books and recipes. Subscribe so you never miss it. This month, Lucinda Chambers shares her Interior Life.
Welcome to House Notes, my monthly ‘magazine’ covering interior design, homes, lifestyle, books, recipes and clothes. It’s a bit of everything, basically – and it’s free to read. If you would like more interior design tips, know-how and beautiful houses then do subscribe. In addition to three monthly posts you will also get a chance to attend my monthly drop-in Design Clinic for help with your own design and decorating dilemmas.
House Notes was born from a desire to write a free-to-read post that would be both a joy to read and a reward for signing up. I want it to feel like a mini monthly magazine that will inform, entertain and inspire over a range of subjects from interior design to clothes, food and books. For that reason it is long, but I think also that allows you to dip in and out as the mood, or time takes you.
There are more than 13,000 of you now and I thank each and every one of you for signing up. You made a decision to do that and I feel honoured. And on that note, please do like ❤️ and/or restack, as that helps others to find this newsletter too.
This month I’m thrilled that Lucinda Chambers, former Fashion Director of British Vogue, stylist extraordinaire and co-founder of shopping platform Collagerie, shares her Interior Life with us as she launches her latest collaboration with John Lewis.
HOUSEKEEPING: My month this month
The podcast came back for a mini series so if you want to catch up with that you can click the link. We interviewed Andrew Tanner, Habitat’s creative director, on the store’s 60th anniversary. We also discussed our own design principles – and we solved your decorating dilemmas. We’re taking a pause for now, but there are 154 episodes for you to catch up on or revisit.
In addition to that I hosted the first interior retreat at my house in Italy and we’re gearing up for the second. Fourteen women from all over the world – including Singapore, Seattle, Sydney and Surrey, Nottinghamshire and the Netherlands – all came together in Torino for four days of food, wine, interior design, sightseeing and shopping. We ate everywhere from a city restaurant that features in the Michelin guide to my village trattoria. We shopped for vintage homewares at the biggest open-air flea market in Europe and spent a couple of days hanging out at my house. In addition to having a good old poke around and a free-range Q&A session, there were two expert guest speakers – stylist Nicole Gray of You magazine and colour consultant Fiona de Lys. Both have agreed to come back next year, so as soon as dates have been finalised I will let you know. Keep an eye on this page for details.
If you want to see more of the house, you can read this piece in Domino magazine.
I also took part in a couple of panel discussions at Focus Design Week at Chelsea Harbour. I now realise I should perhaps have told you about those in advance so you could have come! I’ll remember next time.
I was also delighted to be interviewed for a piece in House & Garden magazine about why we are so interested in looking at other people’s homes, written by lovely Eleanor Cording-Booth, aka A Considered Space here on Substack. She writes beautifully and has exquisite taste, so do consider subscribing.
Now, on with the newsletter:
MY INTERIOR LIFE: Lucinda Chambers
Who are you and what do you do?
I’m Lucinda Chambers, co-founder of Collagerie, an online shopping platform that curates the best of fashion and interiors across all price points, and Colville, a design company founded with Molly Molloy.
And your top design tip?
My trade secret is to keep your eyes open at all times, as inspiration can come literally from anywhere. I keep a notebook full of ideas from colour combinations to jottings of what inspires me along the way. It can go from a leaf on the pavement to an exhibition, feeding the eyes and brain.
What would you rush to save if your house was on fire?
Probably my husband who might be asleep! But if he is safely out then my mother’s signet ring which I wear everyday as she did herself. It’s battered and worn and reminds me of her everyday.
What’s your (current) favourite Instagram account?
I don’t follow many people as I don’t want to feel overwhelmed but I love 8Holland Street because I am an admirer of Tobias Vernon’s taste as it is as eclectic as mine, from mid-century to modern, I really like the information he provides with it, putting things into context. And there’s always a curveball thrown in.
If I gave you £150, what would you buy?
If I was given £150 to spend in September I would definitely buy the geranium cushions and the fern leaf duvet set from our John Lewis collaboration.
What’s your favourite style of furniture/decor?
I don’t have a particular favourite ‘style’, that’s part of what I love about decoration, it’s the mix that excites me. Putting the unexpected together. If it’s all of one period or aesthetic I find it a bit dull! I do admire people who can do this and stick to it, but it’s not for me! The trouble is… I see the point of too many things.
Tell us your most visited interiors websites/stores.
I like different sites and shops at different times. It’s great working at Collagerie as I really do look at everything! I’m never not looking at ZaraHome and after that it can be everything from eBay for great kantha quilts, and Silo Studios, that are launching wonderful ceramics on Collagerie
What’s the best thing you ever bought?
I would have to say a photograph by Lee Miller, Déjeuner Sur L’Herbe. It’s black and white and is of a group of friends sitting under trees having a picnic. The women all are naked from the waist up and the men fully clothed! It has such a spirit, is so beautifully shot and was a bargain, I bought it at an auction, the only time I have done this and was thrilled with it. It always gives me a lift when I pass it.
(Note: The film Lee is out in cinemas now, starring Kate Winslet as Lee Miller.)
Your cocktail of choice?
I recently had a spicy Picante at our office summer drinks party. Delicious.
What’s the soundtrack to your favourite room?
Dean Martin’s Memories are Made of This…. dancing to it in the kitchen, it’s our tune. One line in it he sings ‘three little kids for the flavour” and that’s our family.
Confess – what’s your screen-time total so far this week?
I have no idea and I wouldn’t know how to get this information. Probably just as well as I might go into shock.
What do you wish you had designed, or could own?
The next thing! I am working on a few things at the moment and get very excited about the product possibilities.
What’s one thing you do for your mental well-being?
I swim. It’s very meditative. Not as often as I would like though. And I do read a lot. For me, when I read, my mind isn’t whirring around but is fully immersed on someone else’s story.
What’s the ugly thing in your house that you can’t bring yourself to throw away?
I love an ugly thing! It’s like a punctuation point… and challenges you. But if I have fallen out of love with anything, I give it away.
Plan B. If this wasn’t your job, what would you be doing?
What I feel particularly fortunate about is that my career is not repetitive at all. It involves so many things and works so many parts of my brain in so many different ways. But I am attracted to gardening and love plants and the time it takes to grow and nurture them, so maybe that could be an option, a garden designer?
DESIGN DISCOVERY: HARLEQUIN x HENRY HOLLAND
The fashion designer turned ceramicist has created a collection with Harlequin and it’s divine. Lots of soft blues, bitter chocolate, sludgy greens and soft pinks. I could put it all over my house, from the moire silk to the boucle checks and embroidered designs inspired by his mother’s chateau in France. You can see the full collection here.
TRADE SECRET: SEASONAL WINDOW DRESSING
At this time of year I’m often asked how to dress windows when there are radiators underneath them. We all know (yes we do) that floor-length curtains are best. They are more elegant, they make your ceiling look higher and the room grander. I’m not a fan of the floor puddle - you can spend far too long arranging it and the “puddle” just collects dust. Instead aim for 1cm above the floor. This will look like it’s skimming the floor but in reality it’s just high enough above to make it easy to open and close them.
Now the bit about do what I say not what I do/have done here. To the eagle-eyed I will say that my bedroom floor isn’t quite level, and while one curtain skims perfectly the other is probably 1cm too long. And below - the green summer curtains - I had been up and down the steps about three times trying to fold the top panel in a straight line and then they were too long and I needed a sandwich and, well, that was four months ago. I’ve just taken them down again – and this time I measured the fold carefully so that next summer they will be perfect…
If your radiator is there – as mine are – the answer is a simple blind or café curtain. In winter when the heating and lights come on the blind gives privacy yet allows the heat to enter the room. When I go to bed and the heating goes off, I close the curtains.
Also, as you can see from these images, I change the curtains from summer to winter. The green ones are simple linen panels that hang from clips and fold/roll away to nothing during the winter. The cream ones are heavy, thermal-lined velvet numbers for winter that I carefully roll up and stash in summertime.
BEDTIME READING….
I read myself to sleep every night but if I’m honest this has been a busy month and I’ve either been too keyed-up for reading or fallen asleep as soon as I lie down. However, as the film Conclave, starring Stanley Tucci, is released, I am reminded that I loved the original book, Conclave By Robert Harris, on which it is based. I mean, you start out wondering how he’s going to get a whole book out of a two-day meeting to decide the new Pope, but it’s an excellent thriller with a twist.
LATE NIGHT WATCHING…
The Americans: This is an old series but we discovered it a few weeks ago following a news story that a family of undercover Russian agents posing as Argentinians had been sent back to Russia as part of a big prisoner exchange. Their children spoke no Russian and were greeted in Spanish by Putin. I was completely fascinated by this story, which various people likened to the Disney+ series.
La Chimera: Is an Italian film about a shady English archeologist who joins a rag-tag group of Etruscan grave robbers. It’s very stylish, thought-provoking and genuinely one of the best films I have seen all year.
Slow Horses is back. I read Mick Herron’s books as they came out and adore the series. He writes so well and I often find myself re-reading sentences for the sheer joy of them. The TV show is also great and there has been much excitement in our house to see if the scenes that Gary Oldman filmed in our local pub make it into the final edit.
In Vogue – The 90s: A lavish new six-part doc on Disney+ that looks back at the decade when superstar designers (Galliano, McQueen, Ford, Prada) joined forces with Hollywood to light a rocket under celebrity culture. The access and interviews are top-drawer, as are the photography and storytelling. The clothes are jaw-dropping. And many of the interiors are fabulous, too.
ON MY RADAR: Fishy Business
I came across Kate Jenkins at the Merchant & Found vintage supermarket earlier this year and fell instantly in love with her knitted fish counter. I then bought one of her prints to hang in my kitchen at the house in Italy and it turns out she is exhibiting in London and New York if you fancy seeing her work in real life.
20 September - 5 October: Kate will be manning the 'Knitted Fish Counter' in Soho at Air Contemporary Gallery in Ham Yard. Customers will be able to choose their own plate from the selection – sequinned anchovies, knitted prawns, embroidered oysters and mussels and more - and have it mounted on a choice of predesigned plates or platters. Each one is signed by the Brighton-based artist in limited edition and priced from £100. And you’re in good company as I noted on Instagram that Jamie Oliver not only attended but apparently shopped as well.
December: Show at Eerdmans New York, where she is knitting NYC inspired decorations, gifts and artworks - think Fishy Wreaths and Pastrami sandwiches.
AND A REALLY GREAT… Make-up Brand
I have written about the clean, minimalist make-up brand Merit before - after years of never wearing lipstick I now can’t leave the house without a slick of their Matte Power on. I read a post the other day that said red lipstick evens out skin tone as well as refreshing and flattering and do you know, I think that might be right. So if nothing else you must buy that.
Below is a rather amateur selfie with a face of Merit and all the products I used are in the caption above.
I have been using the Great Skin Instant Glow for a few months (and it does) and they have now brought out a moisturiser to go with it which they very kindly sent me to try. Gifts not withstanding, I’m recommending it to you. Serum, moisturiser, a slick of the minimalist stick and a dash of red lipstick and you’re good to go. It’s one of those things that when you’re blearily getting ready in the morning you think - oh this feels lovely but I don’t know if it will make a visible difference - and then inevitably someone will ask if you’ve been away, or remark on how well you slept or just how good your skin looks and you think -hmm, well it must be that then.
The really good news is that they have offered a discount for you all to try – so do take advantage of it.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Please drop a ❤️ to like or share/restack this post which massively increases reach and visibility. And a huge thank-you to all my paid subscribers, whose support allows me to continue writing here.
Please can you do an article on candles. I am always curious as to why some cost so much? I am a lover of lighting a lovely candle in the evening, but I do not want to light something that is doing me harm. Curtains? Blinds? Still a dilemma for me.
The Domino article was interesting as I have never seen your Italian kitchen before. Amazing sink! Was that in the house already? And how on earth did you manage to get the Mad Husband to agree to the skirtain beneath it!!!
I really enjoy these posts with a mix of all sorts.