From four-poster beds to an eccentric downstairs loo - here are the decorating rules Britain's best country homes follow
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Most modern home dwellers have to make do with a narrow hallway. But in the words of Oscar Wilde, ‘You never get a second chance to make a first impression’, which is why no great English country house would be without a grand entrance hall. It is a chance to immediately impress and sets the tone for the rest of the house.
![[Lady Delia Goodenough’s spectacular loo at Beck Hall, Norfolk. The tiger skin was from a big cat shot by a Victorian forebear]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/18/12/93272399-14205677-Lady_Delia_Goodenough_s_spectacular_loo_at_Beck_Hall_Norfolk_The-a-13_1734524835932.jpg)
The entrance hall of the Court of Noke, a Queen Anne house in Herefordshire owned by Edward Bulmer – interior designer, architectural historian and founder of the eponymous natural-paint company. Historically, the entrance hall would be a place of social mingling among the classes – tenants might be received here and the space would be shared by staff and family alike. Because the footfall would be busier in the hall than in any other part of the house, it made sense to have hard surfaces that could be cleaned easily, stone floors that could be swept and washed, and little or no upholstery.
![[A fittingly exemplary drinks table (an old planning chest with a zinc top) at the home of Sam and Georgie Pearman, founders of Country Creatures inns and hotels, near Stroud]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/20/16/93272401-14205677-A_fittingly_exemplary_drinks_table_an_old_planning_chest_with_a_-a-9_1734710814325.jpg)
Lady Delia Goodenough’s spectacular loo at Beck Hall, Norfolk. The tiger skin was from a big cat shot by a Victorian forebear. The downstairs loo of a country house can range from relatively small and intimate to something with the footprint of an entire ground floor in a new-build, two-bed semi. Size aside, the downstairs loo is usually the most highly decorated room in the house. The walls are often a shrine to family history (animals and people) and smothered in school photos, army commissions, family trees, team insignia and hunting, fishing and shooting mementos.
![[This guest bedroom in the Court of Noke is a riot of pattern and colour]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/18/12/93272403-14205677-This_guest_bedroom_in_the_Court_of_Noke_is_a_riot_of_pattern_and-a-17_1734524865749.jpg)
