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A charming Victorian farmhouse designed to feel like the inside of a ship
“I imagined them like a glamorous couple sailing the seas on a ship,” says interior designer Bodil Bjerkvik Blain. Although they are actually of Nordic descent, Bodil describes the owners of this charming Victorian farmhouse, a couple with three children between ten and eighteen, as distinctly English in their aesthetic inclinations. “He’s always in a three piece suit, and she has a 1950s elegance. But they travel all over the world.” This picture set the tone for the project, which is rooted in traditional English materials while keeping an eye on broader horizons.
The house was totally dilapidated and freezing when Bodil first joined the mission to transform it into a cosy holiday home; a little more ‘wind-swept pirate ship’ than ‘elevated sailing boat.’ “Although it was a rather a cold shell of a building, I quickly realised that the scheme would be beholden to the style of the house.” For Bodil this meant a lot of layered colour and patterns: “we wanted to bring back the original cosiness of the farmhouse.”
The kitchen was the only part they decided to keep very neutral, with contemporary wooden fixtures that feel more ‘finished’ than the rest of the house. But Bodil’s nautical motif means it still feels in-keeping with the tone of the rest of the house. The new kitchen had to be super hard-wearing to cater to the various children, teenagers and guests using it, but the hanging copper pans and panelled ceiling mean it’s far from charmless.
Follow the lateral lines of the kitchen’s wooden slatted ceiling and the room opens up into a low-ceilinged dining room that wouldn’t be out of place in a National Trust property. I half-expected to see a carefully curated selection of fake fruits and a pheasant pie on the table. Bodil herself is a dedicated fan of heritage English properties, and you can see this in the historic feel of the scheme, which is largely drawn from key pieces of antique furniture. “The dining room certainly has a scullery feel, which fits in with the rest of the house so well,” agrees Bodil, “but this big, central fireplace also feels very Scandinavian, which I love.” The antique hanging lamps were reclaimed from a ship, creating a dramatic, cosy central source of light in the evenings. Fresh, morning sunshine streamed in during my visit, but it’s the kind of place that would thrive in winter months, with a roaring fire heating the room and a busy kitchen steaming up the windows.
It is perhaps Bodil’s Nordic roots and time spent travelling the world (as a model and then as an expert antiquer then interior designer) that allows her to observe the English heritage aesthetic with a sense of distance. “What I love more than anything about English style is the cluttering and layering,” she rhapsodises, “and the wonderful textile industry here means there’s so much choice, and every fabric and pattern tells a unique story which can inform the narrative of the room.”
Bodil brought in a wide variety of textiles throughout the house, from the soft tartan of the sofa and the antique raspberry ottoman in the main living room, to the romantic hanging canopy above the main bedroom, but she didn’t stop there. “Another thing about old English houses is that they need an extra layer of padding,” she noted, “so I suggested to the clients that we pad and upholster some of the walls. And they went for it!” One of Bodil’s favourite parts of the job was what she calls the “generosity” of the family: “they were collaborative and creative, but also very willing to go along with my ideas and let me take my time collecting the pieces we would need.”
The tactile walls were a clever way to dampen any residual coldness in the old house and to create an even more cocooning effect. In the eldest son’s bedroom, for example, Bodil used a brushed Mulberry tartan on the walls and for the bolster cushion on the bed. “This classic pattern was perfect here, as it feels both teenage and adult. It will work for their son for a long time.” The fabric also does the job of breaking up the wooden panelling which emerged after the clients visited Soho Farmhouse and admired the depth and texture it lends. This is a skill you can see a lot in Bodil’s work; just when you think a motif or style might become repetitive, it’s turned on its head in an inventive and engaging way.
This is primarily because Bodil has no one true influence. Although she oversaw the entire project from desolate outhouse to chocolate-box family home in one go, she was keen to avoid the house ending up too “consistent”: “I love houses that look like you’ve travelled a lot, not like you’ve finished it in one swathe.” Just like the imagined English seafarers at the heart of Bodil’s imagination, the house is full of worldly items from travels and trips. This approach comes with real joys, like finding the perfect antique mirror and end table for the main bedroom, but Bodil admits that “there’s something scary about standing in France with all these armoires and wondering if they would work!” She advises that you can sand down any piece of furniture you find to make it fit in with a room, like the side tables in the main bedroom which were too varnished and dark for the airy, fresh scheme. “You can also add glass-fronted fabric inserts to wardrobes or cabinets and then repeat that fabric in the rest of the room to create coherence” she notes.
Where antiques didn’t work, Bodil adapted existing furniture or designed new furniture to fit neatly into the spaces. In the main bedroom, she felt that looking up at a wooden ceiling might feel “a little crass”, so she designed an elegant canopy to hang over the owners' existing linen Ralph Lauren bed. She also designed armchairs with marginally extended legs so that the very tall family could comfortably sit and enjoy the warm, yellow sitting room.
This cosy ship of a house is a neat illustration of the successful integration of styles and themes, where warmth and tactility hold everything together. “It's really miraculous how texture and pattern can elevate even the coldest shell into something so warm and practical,” says Bodil.
Bodil Bjerkvik Blain: bodilbjerkvik.com/@bodilbjerkvikblain
Dean Hearne1/16Chesterfield Sofa and pouffe by studio Bodil. Sofa Fabric Colefox and Fowler Lowish plaid Teal
Dean Hearne2/16The open doorways allow a clear aspect through the rooms on the bottom floor. The colours and patterns dance against each other.
Dean Hearne3/16The wall lights are David Netto for Soane.
Dean Hearne4/16On the other side of the living room, Bodil wanted to emphasise a Scandinavian feel. She added a wall of wood to add to the rural feel whilst bringing in texture.
Dean Hearne5/16The downstairs loo features William Morris wallpaper and roman blind.
Dean Hearne6/16The same
Dean Hearne7/16The daughter wanted a ‘princess feel' in her bedroom, but it doesn't feel overwhelmingly girly because of the exposed wood on the ceiling and one wall. The wallpaper is from GP and J Baker and the bedding is Angela Wickstead.
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Dean Hearne10/16In the family bathroom, the mosaic tiles are from Bert and May and the bathroom fixtures are from Lefroy Brooks.
Dean Hearne11/16In the main bedroom, the wallpaper is GP and J Baker's Ferns, which continues onto the canopy above the vintage Ralph Lauren bed.
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Dean Hearne13/16In the younger boy's bedroom, the ceiling light is an antique boat lantern. The vintage cupboards were sourced by Bodil in France and then painted in the son's favourite shade. She added fabric glass inserts in a strip which coordinates with the bolster on the bed.
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Dean Hearne16/16Bodil kept the crack in the original window treatment, highlighting it by painting it a gloss red.
