Perfect English (Ryland, Peters & Small Ltd)

At its grandest it is a stately home furnished with antiques, but the houses featured in this book are country cottages, farmhouses, townhouses, and apartments. What links them is as much an attitude as a look. The English style of decoration is practical and informal, designed around the inhabitants of the rooms and their lifestyles rather than to awe or impress. These houses are lived in and loved, with interiors that are comfortable, relaxed and not afraid to be pretty. All are perfect in their own way, and all as endearingly English as saying sorry when someone treads on your foot.

The book’s chapters—Plain English, English Eccentric, English Rose, English Country House and Classic English—reflect the many and varied facets of English style, and each section ends with pages devoted to suggestions and ideas for furnishing a house in all these versions of English style. At the back of the book, there is also a comprehensive listing of suppliers to help readers create their very own take on perfect English style.