John Sutcliffe obituary

My brother-in-law John Sutcliffe, who has died aged 78 of cancer, managed to construct a career and a life around his passion for colour and for the domestic design of earlier centuries. Unusually for an interior designer, in his later freelance commissions he did the work himself, mixing the paints to his own palette of pigments and applying them in a wide variety of finishes. He also made important contributions to the Farrow & Ball range of colours.

John was born in Boston, Lincolnshire, to Holman, a shipbroker, barrister and founder member of the conservation organisation the Georgian Group, and Sheila (nee Frowd), a writer. He went to Winchester college and then to St John’s College, Cambridge, where he read first architecture and then fine art, graduating in 1965. His first main job, from 1968 to 1973, was as the East Anglian historic buildings representative for the National Trust, based at Blickling Hall in Norfolk.

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* This article was originally published here

Passion project: the passive house that raised the roof on sustainable living

A family home constructed on derelict land in Melbourne sets new standards for a hard-working eco house

The overlooked plot that Marc and Felicity Bernstein-Hussmann ended up building a house on was deemed unfit for construction use by their local council in Melbourne, Australia, and so they faced extreme hesitancy from any bank to lend for development. Despite this, they pushed on with plans, even moving into a motorhome for four years while they went through the planning and saving process for their new home. Their tenacity was rewarded when both the council and bank U-turned, and their dream became a reality.

But what started life as a wedge-shaped piece of derelict wasteland – situated next to a 10-storey apartment block, double-storey housing site and a busy train line in Coburg, Melbourne – has been transformed by the couple into a modern passive house.

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* This article was originally published here

‘I’m proud of us in the picture’: a family portrait captures laughter in lockdown

In a new series sharing stories about the artwork in Australian homes, Alice Gage shows the painting she commissioned for her husband’s birthday

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Alice Gage’s family portrait originated as an idea to celebrate family life post-lockdown.

“Like all families, we went through a lot during Covid – when the pandemic started our daughter was three, and our son was only five months old, so we basically spent his first two years in our back yard,” says Gage, who lives in Sydney’s Arncliffe. “It was really hard, but there was a lot of joy in it, too. David built a treehouse. We pitched the tent and had fires. We cooked a lot outside.”

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* This article was originally published here

An expert answered your questions about how to get the Modern Farmhouse look on a budget.

Amalia Graziani and Jura Koncius took questions about how to get the modern farmhouse look at home, without spending a fortune.

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6 big answers for home buyers now that interest rates are soaring

With high interest rates, buying a house is more complicated. We have answers about refinancing when rates go down, cashing out stocks or retirement accounts, and how much house you can (really) afford to buy right now.

* This article was originally published here

Tropical plants in Europe don’t need ice cubes – whatever social media might say | James Wong

The increasingly popular idea that tropical plants should be watered with ice cubes doesn’t transfer to the European living room

About 10 years ago, I went to a truly amazing horticultural show just outside Amsterdam. It was an exhibition by the very best houseplant growers of their newest creations all displayed on ultra-glossy stands. Right at the centre of the event space was what looked like an enormous music video set with theatrically oversized 1950s-style fridges on podiums. Between these were huge faux ice sculptures, and metre-high martini glasses filled to the brim with plastic ice cubes, all in Miami Vice lighting in shades of pink and blue. You might wonder what this all had to do with horticulture, until I explain that pouring out of all these props were the most immaculate Phalaenopsis orchids with a giant neon sign saying: “Just add ice”. The idea was that the easiest way to water orchids is to simply add three ice cubes to their pot once a week and presumably, by extension, demonstrating how simple these plants were to care for.

More than a decade later, the message of this campaign still echoes over social media, magazines and in overheard conversations at garden centres. But where does the idea that tropical plants should be watered with ice come from?

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* This article was originally published here

A designer’s Paris home showcases styles and periods working together

The elegant home of Samantha Hauvette combines 1930s touches with a 1970s vibe and a patinated modernism

‘Mostly my home is about catering to the ‘Aperol hour’,” laughs Samantha Hauvette. “There are comfortable spaces and cushions in the living room where you can sit on the floor and gather friends together and low tables that you can stick snacks on.”

What you will actually find on entering the Paris home she shares with her husband, Swan, and their three children, Achille, May and Gaia, is the richness of Barbara Hepworth-inspired curves – and a paean to Ricardo Boffil’s Brutalist architecture and Donald Judd’s furniture. Hauvette is one half of the French design studio Hauvette & Madani, whose magpie approach to design deftly weaves references from the 1930s and 1970s to create elegant interiors with a patinated modernism.

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* This article was originally published here