In the classic novels of Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, George Eliot, and others, home sweet home is a well-worn sanctuary where the furniture is a bit threadbare, the kitchen has yet to be tidied up from breakfast, and a cheerful domesticity reigns over all. Woven into the architecture of these richly detailed worlds are countless lessons on how to live simply and meaningfully. When in doubt, keep it comfortable, they tell us. Embrace the charms of disorder. Go ahead and let the stitches show. And don’t ever underestimate the restorative power of a good armchair.
Mismatched chairs and plywood wine crates enhance this dining room’s cottage feel.
Divided cubbies provide ample space for shoes underneath. Straw baskets keep everyone in the family organized.
“The hall at Charbury was the most lived-in room of the house. You came into it through the narrow lobby where the hats and coats and walking-sticks were.”
Monica Dickens,
MARIANA
At its most basic, home is a refuge. It’s the place where you go to be yourself. If you’re always worrying about scratches and spills, how does that enhance your ability to relax and unwind? Or to invite people over, for that matter? Patina is what gives our possessions—and ourselves—character and meaning. Behind every chip and scratch is a story; in Persuasion, Jane Austen confirms this when she writes affectionately of a pretty little drawing-room whose faded sofa is a living testament to “four summers and two children.”
Part of what makes this chair charming is its decrepitude: the tattered fabric alludes to a lively life.
Well-worn furniture feels like an old friend—it knows what position you like to curl up in and exactly where your neck feels most comfortable. In her wonderful novel Mariana, Monica Dickens writes about a roomful of armchairs “whose springs were at the perfect stage of comfort—half-way between newness and decadence.” When it comes to dining tables, a wooden one that’s already scarred from a generation of meals takes the stress level way down—who’s going to notice one more scratch?
Tattered rugs add texture, patina, and history to any space. In his novels, Charles Dickens mentions a well-worn Turkish carpet or hearth rug as code whenever he wants to indicate a room that’s full of soul.
This much-loved sofa has achieved the perfect stage of comfort.
Fabric curtains on the lower half of this breakfront cabinet let you display what you like and keep the rest hidden.
“Dinner was nearly ready in the kitchen—for so I suppose the room ought to be called, as there were oak dressers and cupboards all round.”
Elizabeth Gaskell,
CRANFORD
In this cream-paneled pantry, deep shelves hold kitchen essentials at the ready.
A LESSON FROM THE BOOKS
THE VIRTUOUS PANTRY
A well-stocked pantry quickens both your appetite and your heart. In Charles Dickens’s Our Mutual Friend, Eugene Wrayburn extols the merits of his: “See! Miniature flour-barrel, rolling-pin, spice-box, shelf of brown jars, chopping-board, coffee-mill … The moral influence of these objects, in forming the domestic virtues, may have an immense influence upon me.” Whether your pantry is a former utility closet, a kitchen cabinet, or just a few dedicated rows of open shelving, painting it a pretty color, trimming the shelves with brass tacks and grosgrain ribbon, or keeping a few of your favorite cookbooks on display will inspire you to make something delicious every time you gaze at it. It’s also a good idea to keep a few provisions on hand in case you find yourself entertaining unexpected guests: roasted nuts have a long shelf life, and an unconventional flavored syrup, like elderflower or black currant, can be mixed with sparkling water and a spirit for an instant cocktail.
A flowering bush presses up against a window and offers a tempting view to inhabitants.
A door or window that’s clustered round with flowering vines can turn an ordinary view into a magical frame. In Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South, “the little casement window in Margaret’s bed-chamber was almost filled up with rose and vine branches.” There’s a liberating beauty to things allowed to grow according to their natural wont … and perhaps an inspirational message, too.
“ ‘Don’t let us make it tidy,’ said Mary anxiously. ‘It wouldn’t be a secret garden if it was tidy.’ ”
Frances Hodgson Burnett,
THE SECRET GARDEN
An exuberant hedge frames the windows of a bedroom and makes an urban cottage feel like an Arcadian retreat.
Tongue-in-cheek watercolors reflect an owner’s love for vintage Penguin Classics. An antique glass-fronted cabinet displays a fresh stack of bath towels.
A bowl of antique dice affirms Anthony Trollope’s belief that old objects have more soul than new ones.
A round table stacked with books, a hot supper on a clean tablecloth, a pretty work basket, a jug of wildflowers—authors like Jane Austen and Anthony Trollope believed things like this went a long way in making our environments feel safe, reassuring, and familiar. In Mariana, Monica Dickens describes the essence of a house through its scents: “It was the smell of clean sheets that reminded Mary of what … she called the Charbury Smell … an indefinable pot-pourri of all the fragrant things in the house—roses, wood-smoke, polished floors, bread, and lavender-kept old linen.”
Oatmeal-colored linen has an old-school cool to it that’s borne out by tradition: in Lark Rise to Candleford, Flora Thompson’s semiautobiographical novel about a small nineteenth-century English village, the families eat dinner every night on a “table spread with a clean whitey-brown cloth.” Flax, the raw material for linen, is durable yet pliant, so its fabric will last for years and gradually become softer every time you wash it.
In David Copperfield, Charles Dickens writes of a room that’s “half parlor and half kitchen.” If yours also serves dual purposes, patterned tiles on the floor are an effective way to define a room’s cooking and dining areas.
“It was a picture of comfort, full of easy-chairs, cushions, and footstools, worked by his mother’s hand, and with no sort of thing omitted that could help to render it complete.”
Charles Dickens,
DAVID COPPERFIELD
Framed with love: a needlework owl is a handmade connection to family and adds warmth and history to a room.
Plain white cotton sheets have a simple, honest appeal to them that makes going to sleep feel like a personal reward. It’s luxury at its most basic and elemental. For the softest sheets, look for a high thread count, but also consider the quality of the thread: luxury weaves like pima, Supima, and Egyptian cotton come from plants with extra-long, silky fibers.
Needlework forges a handmade connection to the past and to the long-standing traditions of domestic life. Old samplers, embroidered cushions, and knitted tea cozies add warmth and history to a room and give people a deeper glimpse into your personal sensibilities. When it comes to framing a vintage piece, try floating or pinning it onto a white mat in a white shadow box (so it can really pop), or even hanging it from the wall in a wooden embroidery hoop.
This snug sleeping refuge, replete with its own bookshelf, built-in drawers, and ship’s buoy, reminds me of Peggotty’s houseboat in David Copperfield.
A little wooden bridge gives a path leading to a backyard art studio a pastoral charm.
This wooden covered gate welcomes visitors in laid-back style and would make a perfect arbor for climbing roses.
A colorful front door, an amusing knocker, a few tubs of flowering plants, an iron boot scraper shaped like an animal, or a generously sized doormat will establish a cheerful stance before guests even cross the threshold. In Emma, Jane Austen writes of Emma’s delight in passing a cottage one morning: “Oh, what a sweet house! There are the yellow curtains that Miss Nash admires so much.” If you want to take charm to the next level, think up a name for your house and engrave it on a plaque beside the front door.
“Tom Tulliver came home to [Dorlcote Mill] earlier than usual in the evening, and as he passed over the bridge, he looked with the old deep-rooted affection at the respectable red brick house, which always seemed cheerful and inviting outside.”
A LESSON FROM THE BOOKS
NAMING YOUR HOUSE
Giving your house a name sets a lighthearted tone and invests it with a bit of character. There are many different ways to choose a name—maybe it describes a particular feature of your property, such as its landscape or location (Hilltop or Shady Rest, for example), hints at an amusing quirk or attribute (Five Corners), alludes to a bygone time (Arcadia), or even represents the style of those who live within it (Bedlam). Below, a few celebrated literary examples.
BARTON COTTAGE HARTFIELD MOLE END and TOAD HALL THE SMALL HOUSE AT ALLINGTON |
HOWARDS END |
Cheerful touches like a blue door, some irrepressible flowering bushes, and a meandering stone path give this cottage an entrance to remember.
It doesn’t matter where the furniture comes from as long as it makes you feel good. An old flea-market sofa that still supports hours of literary wanderings has a value that makes it all the dearer. Its usefulness, not its bloodline, is what counts—no matter how humble its origins, an object that serves a role radiates its own nobility.
A collection of mismatched china for everyday use has a nonchalance to it that’s both liberating and creative. Flora Thompson gives the classic blue-and-white version a shout-out in Lark Rise to Candleford—“A blue-and-white dish of oranges stuck with cloves stood on the dresser”—but all patterns and colors are equally welcome in this unpretentious style. The idea is to keep everything fairly inexpensive, so if a piece accidentally falls short of the kitchen counter, it’s not a calamity, merely an opportunity to embark on an interesting new treasure hunt.
A beautifully worn butcher-block counter does double duty as spice repository and work space.
A great dinner party is one where each guest’s personality is allowed to shine, so why shouldn’t the same principle apply to your dining chairs? If you’ve always been attracted to the laid-back vibe of a mismatched set, keep a few tips in mind to make sure everything looks good.
• To start with, all seat heights should be approximately the same so that everyone sits at approximately the same height.
• Keep an eye on balance: if your side chairs are mismatched, try anchoring the heads of the table with two of the same armchair.
• Finally, make sure there’s at least one common denominator. Maybe you paint all the chairs the same color or upholster them in the same fabric. Or maybe they’re all made of wood, metal, or plastic. Either way, they’ll share a similarity and still celebrate their differences.
“The people whom she had hitherto known just put what they had or could get into their homes, old things and new things, side by side with each other.”
Dark paneling gives a dining room a snug feeling, and the wallpaper is a cheeky solution for a room not big enough for bookshelves.
With a marble top added to it, an antique table offers versatility for baking and cooking.
Mug hooks, vintage tins, antique drawer pulls, and pleasingly arranged stacks of dishes turn this antique cabinet into a bespoke mini-larder.
Have you ever wondered why at a party everyone ends up congregating in the kitchen? If you ask me, it’s because the kitchen is usually the least pretentious room in the house. It’s not out to prove anything, and it doesn’t sit in judgment of anyone—after all, its fundamental purpose is to serve. In a kitchen, conversation gets looser, laughter gets louder, and if you knock something over, well, it’s probably not the first time that’s happened. (Revelation: an accident is an unscheduled opportunity to make your guests feel more comfortable.) A home that embraces these qualities is a place friends will return to again and again.
Here, well-worn furniture, faded rugs, and details like knitted throws, old books, and treasured mementoes liberate a room from stuffiness.
“She has the idea that one night in your house would give her pleasure and do her good.… Being one of those imaginative girls, the presence of all our books and furniture soothes her.”
E. M. Forster,
HOWARDS END
The friendliest homes seem to have an untidiness that enhances their beauty, with books crammed into the recesses, flowers trailing around the windows, and half-completed projects scattered on the dining room table. In Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, there’s a blissful-sounding “wilderness of books” in the March family’s library that Jo hurries to every chance she can.
A good armchair is a private little piece of real estate. Curling up in one is like getting an upholstered hug: it enfolds you and offers a snug retreat from the world beyond. In Elizabeth Gaskell’s novel Cranford, a well-worn chintz easy chair is Miss Matty’s throne of choice in the evenings. And don’t understate the importance of armrests. There are those who say home is where you hang your hat, but personally, I think it’s where you rest your elbows.
An old leather armchair, a tattered rug, a pile of books, and a crackling fire transform a Hollywood bedroom into a cozy English scene.
CREATING THE ULTIMATE COZY CORNER
A warm and inviting nook can make the difference between a room you merely pass through and one you actually spend time in. Here, tips for creating your own little refuge.
• Choose a corner that’s out of the way of foot traffic. You want to create a space where you’ll be able to get in some uninterrupted time for reading or relaxing.
• Find a space near a window. The serenity of natural light and a cool breeze can never be undervalued. If you don’t have a convenient window, though, don’t worry. A plant or small tree nearby can give you the same sense of the great outdoors.
• The right seating is crucial. I’m partial to a roomy armchair with a seat that’s fairly low to the ground. If you’re going to be spending a lot of time here, make sure the incline and curvature of the chair work with your body. A longer seat depth of 38 to 43 inches will give you room enough to put your knees up should you wish.
• A footstool or an ottoman will create extra legroom. You can always match the fabric to the chair—it will visually elongate it and make the seating look more like a chaise—but upholstering it in a coordinating color looks just as nice. Or try a vintage leather ottoman, which goes with pretty much everything.
• Choose a pillow that’s 12 inches by 18 inches to work equally well as lumbar support, headrest, and elbow propper. I have a velvet one that I filled loosely with a mixture of dried lavender and buckwheat hulls, and every time I smush it into a new shape, it gives off the most amazing scent.
• A small end table nearby will give you someplace to set a drink; a basket will make a convenient catchall for reading material; and a small tray or box—John Derian makes nice ones—that holds reading glasses, notepads, and pencils will keep you nicely organized.
• Finally, bring in the details. Flowers, candles (amber-scented ones smell like an old house), a lap blanket, and a pair of cozy slippers are a few sybaritic extras that will keep you firmly planted there.
Then there was light: a well-placed reading lamp ensures that a cozy armchair is an illuminating refuge to curl up in.
This petite snuggery has a reassuring security that a larger room can sometimes lack. Warm brown walls intensify the charm.
Small rooms grant a quiet power to their inhabitants, perhaps because they offer an intimacy that doesn’t intimidate or overwhelm (as a larger room can). In Our Mutual Friend, the cozy proportions of Mr. Boffin’s room are much prized: “Far less grand than the rest of the house, it was far more comfortable, being pervaded by a certain air of homely snugness.” A little peace and quiet, and a little space—sometimes isn’t that all a home needs?
An upholstered L-shaped banquette creates a cozy kitchen nook and does double duty as a homework command post.
“In every nook and corner there was some queer little table, or cupboard, or bookcase, or seat, or something or other, that made me think there was not such another good corner in the room; until I looked at the next one, and found it equal to it, if not better.”
Charles Dickens,
DAVID COPPERFIELD
A hand-stitched sampler by Reed van Brunschot tells visitors exactly what the owner holds dear.
A repainted breakfront cabinet makes a lovely destination for flea market treasures.
Look for these items the next time you find yourself wanting to add a little rosy domestic glow to your home.
| Tea accessories (kettles, tea canisters, trays, Brown Betty teapots, wooden tea chests) | Rag rugs |
| Brightly colored crockery | Wooden plate racks |
| Vintage metal tins | Tartan blankets |
| Brass candlestick holders | Ceramic water jugs and basins |
| Lattice trellis or fencing for garden landscaping | Small round mirrors |
| Framed animal portraits | Swiss cuckoo clocks |
| Cracked leather ottomans | Mason Cash mixing bowls |
| Beeswax candles | Punch bowls |
| Peg shelving | Iron bedsteads |
| Rush matting | Vintage breadboards |
| Iron strap hinges for cabinetry |
Hot-water bottles with knitted covers |
| Toby jug figurines | Cast-iron animal boot scrapers |
| Sunderland lustreware | Wainscot paneling |
| China cake stands |
“Simple elegance is what we aim at … make it all look pretty, and impromptu, and natural.”
Ample seating, a table piled with books and flowers, and colorful landscapes framed in wood give this room a bright, relaxed feel.
