Elizabeth Metcalfe, Features Editor of House and Garden Magazine and author of New English Interiors is joined by designers Cath Kidson and James Mackie to discuss the ever-evolving ‘English style’. Of the countless interior design trends that sweep through our homes year on year, the English style of decorating is synonymous with colour, pattern, and a certain eccentricity. The panel will discuss the different techniques used to create a home rich with personality, which successfully blends the past with the present.
Included in the ticket price is a welcome refreshment. Following the talk there will be time for an audience Q&A and a book signing.
10-10.30am - Guest Arrival and Refreshments
10.30-11.30am - Talk
11.30am - Audience Q&A and Book Signing
12pm - 1pm - Lunch in the Ox Barn
*Talk and lunch tickets include access to the talk, welcome refreshments and lunch in the Ox Barn - either a 2-course Prix Fixe menu, or a £30 allocation towards your bill. Guests may be seated on a communal table - if you have a seating preference, please let us know and we will do our best to accommodate you on the day.
New English Interiors
New English Interiors profiles the colourful, pattern-rich houses of 22 creatives across England – from illustrators and artists to antiques dealers and furniture makers. The English style of decorating has always been synonymous with colour, pattern and a certain eccentricity, and these houses tap into that aesthetic.
Championing homes that are a portrait of their owners, the houses featured include makers Alfred and Tess Newall’s softly coloured home in Sussex, interior designer Gavin Houghton’s house in London and illustrator Fee Greening’s whimsical cottage in Dorset. Each house is profiled, with the photographs exclusively shot for the book by Dean Hearne.
Elizabeth Metcalfe
Elizabeth Metcalfe is a writer and editor and currently House & Garden’s Features Editor. She joined the magazine in 2015, with a BA in English Literature from King’s College London and a Masters from the Courtauld Institute of Art.
Her interest in interiors was sparked through a Saturday job working in Pentreath & Hall when she was a student. She likes writing about lived-in, layered interiors, as well as discovering little-known craftspeople. Her writing has appeared in Toast Magazine andCereal, and she hosted talks for the likes of Christie’s and Collect Art Fair.
Her first book, New English Interiors (Frances Lincoln) came out in October 2024 and profiles the colourful, pattern-rich homes of 22 creatives. She lives in Sussex with her husband and daughter, and spends her spare time rummaging for treasure at antiques fairs.
Cath Kidston MBE
Cath Kidston MBE is a British entrepreneur and designer known the world over for her pattern and print design. After leaving her eponymous company in 2016, Cath has gone on to establish a new design studio, Joy of Print, working with international retailers on print design and strategy and collaborating with independent companies via her studio portfolio.
She has published several best-selling books, her most recent being A Place Called Home with Christopher Simon Sykes published by Pavilion books in 2020.
In 2023, Cath founded C.Atherley, a British body care brand specialising in scented geranium products. Cath lives with her husband, music producer Hugh Padgham, in Gloucestershire.
James Mackie
James Mackie is a House & Garden Top 100 Interior Designer. His aesthetic is a synthesis of a long held interest and academic background in architectural history and the decorative arts, in particular the evolution of English country house style that is allied with a discerning eye honed by an art world career centred on 20th century modernism.
Recent projects include an early 18th century house in London’s Spitalfields and a Regency house in Herefordshire. Prior to establishing his studio James headed Sotheby’s Impressionist & Modern Art department in London.
