{"id":17472,"date":"2022-11-30T12:00:44","date_gmt":"2022-11-30T11:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homesandantiques.com\/?p=17425"},"modified":"2022-11-30T13:43:38","modified_gmt":"2022-11-30T12:43:38","slug":"inside-rachel-bates-colourful-christmas-home","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/rss_feed\/inside-rachel-bates-colourful-christmas-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Rachel Bates\u2019 colourful Christmas home"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Katie Pike\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 30 November 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Painted in flamboyant jewel colours, with spindly and oh-so-fragile stems, crystal glasses stand witness to many a dinner party: the gossip, the scandals, the romance. These elegant drinking vessels are one of Rachel Bates\u2019s passions and, like most of the things she loves in life, could be described as opulent, refined and bursting with character.<\/p>\n

A glance at her drawing room will tell you that Rachel isn\u2019t one for subtlety, or for playing things safe. Textiles are heavily patterned \u2013 and certainly not matching \u2013 countless colours come into play, while gilding, carving and detail are everywhere. \u2018When it comes to interiors, I do tend to veer towards the more daring side of things. I love the feel of stately homes and Italian palazzos,\u2019 she says.<\/p>\n

Her own home, although consciously \u2018not palatial\u2019, was designed by Rachel and her husband Justin from scratch. Georgian country houses were their inspiration: \u2018I haven\u2019t ever lived in a Georgian house but I love the windows and proportions \u2013 the light-filled rooms. It\u2019s a clean, crisp look that enables you to really go to town with the textiles,\u2019 she says. And go to town she certainly did. Although most of the furniture in the house is antique<\/a> \u2013 a passion for which she developed during childhood shopping trips with her antiques-loving parents and aunt \u2013 the upholstery<\/a> is contemporary.<\/p>\n

You might also like<\/strong> a vintage Christmas in a Georgian home<\/a><\/p>\n

As an\u00a0 interior designer, Rachel has a honed eye for unusual designs along with the spirit to experiment with contrasting colour and pattern. \u2018My design is heavily influenced by my mother and how I grew up,\u2019 says Rachel. \u2018My mother, aunt Patsy and aunt Maureen have always been very into their homes, interior design and antiques \u2013 and even bought and sold antiques when I was a child.\u2019<\/p>\n

While Rachel wasn\u2019t inspired to begin a career in antiques, she has launched her own products that she hopes, one day, will become antiques of the future. Her design process involves studying the pieces that fill her home, whether it\u2019s her line of crystal glassware \u2013 influenced by her collection of coloured Edwardian and Georgian pieces \u2013 or her dining chairs that take elements of their shape from two of the antique upholstered chairs in the drawing room.<\/p>\n

\u2018I love the fact that antiques have a story attached to them,\u2019 she says. \u2018I often wonder about the dinner parties that have occurred around a certain vase or item of glass. I want people to wonder about my objects in this same way, which is why quality and longevity are so important to me.\u2019<\/p>\n

Rachel is continually adding to her collection of antique glass, which she arranges en masse on fireplaces and occasional tables, bringing them out for dinner parties. Other favourites include pillboxes and portrait paintings. \u2018My pillbox collection started when I was 21. My mum told members of our family that I loved Limoges boxes so I received two for my 21st birthday. They were probably rather odd gifts for a 21-year-old girl but I still have them today.\u2019<\/p>\n

You might also like<\/strong> Lisa Lloyd & Marc Allum\u2019s antiques-filled home<\/a><\/p>\n

As for the portraits, these she \u2018just adores\u2019. \u2018I hope one day to fill my walls with them. Sometimes you find out about them \u2013 sometimes you don\u2019t, but it\u2019s fascinating when you do. My favourite is the unnamed work above the drawing room fireplace. I bought it because it reminds me of Justin \u2013 not that he dresses like that, but he should!\u2019<\/p>\n

A number of pieces that Rachel has designed came about because she couldn\u2019t find what she wanted elsewhere \u2013 such as the peat bucket in the drawing room, and even this home. \u2018We had our hearts set on a property with Georgian architecture<\/a> but couldn\u2019t find anything from that period in the Cheshire countryside,\u2019 she says. So, when they came across a derelict 1950s building with trees growing inside, they saw it as a challenge that they could get their teeth into.<\/p>\n

Where possible, they opted for reclaimed materials and, if they couldn\u2019t find what they wanted, went for new, locally sourced materials to lend authenticity. The finished house is exactly what they had in mind and although Rachel says that she makes the occasional tweak here and there to the decor, they don\u2019t feel the need to make any other changes. \u2018Once I get something to look the way I want, I tend to keep it that way. I\u2019m not someone who hankers after the next new thing \u2013 I have my clients\u2019 homes to work on to satisfy that urge,\u2019 she says.<\/p>\n

With its three dining tables, wine cellar and numerous seating areas, this is a house that was clearly designed with entertaining in mind. At Christmas, it comes into its own: \u2018Our parents come from huge families so Christmas is always fun. And crazy. It inevitably ends up as a party,\u2019 says Rachel. Perhaps the tableware \u2013 both old and new \u2013 will collect a few more stories this Christmas.<\/p>\n