Redcover.com (Photo credit: Alun Callendar)



At home with Jane Packer

by Ruth Corbett Monday, 03 March 2008

"Like most girls I used to make perfume from rose petals. But since I was 15 I've believed that flowers are an important part of interior design," says florist Jane Packer whose home is living proof of this deign ethos.

Jane Packer started her flower business more than 20 years ago from the basement of this graceful Georgian terraced house in north London. She's one of the country's most famous florists, having made her name as the woman who designed the Duke and Duchess of York's bridal flowers.

Colour is obviously important to Jane. A black and red sitting room is one of many bold statements, not for the feint hearted which she pulls off effortlessly...

Determined to be different, right from the start, Jane broke away from the conventional florist's mould by adapting the principles learnt during her time in fashion design to the flower industry. She evolved a fresh approach, searching for new sources of inspiration and pursuing the least conventional and most innovative ideas.

Needless to say, her reputation has grown as fast as her business. She has written a number of best-selling books and now presides over five shops and a flower school in London, a concession in The Conran Shop in New York and a shop and school in Tokyo.

Amazingly, she still lives in that very same house she started out in. A wreck of place that was riddled with grotty bed-sits, it didn't always look this good. ‘My husband Gary and I had a flat in the same area, but we'd always looked at these houses and loved them,' says Jane. ‘When we eventually bought this place, we lived in the attic and slept on a mattress on the floor for ages to keep the costs down - it was so depressing!'

The plan was to re-convert the building back to its original family house status, but the money they'd set aside for its decoration was quickly used up to plug a more urgent hole. ‘It all went in essential and very extensive damp proofing work,' explains Jane. ‘It had to be done, of course, but ultimately we had nothing to show at the end of it - except for a dry house!'

Fast forward a couple of decades and the house has evolved into a stylish and yet totally unpretentious family home. Filled with all the paraphernalia teenage children bring, there are some unusual extras lurking amongst the designer and one-off furnishings: a drum set and a football table in the dining room for starters. ‘This is how we live,' shrugs Jane. ‘You might as well embrace all this stuff rather than hide it.' Her daughter Lola and son Rebby, clearly agree that the funky, yet graceful surroundings are perfectly conducive to teenage requirements.

Colour is obviously important to Jane. A black and red sitting room is one of many bold statements she has introduced to the house. Not a look for the feint hearted, she pulls it off effortlessly. Sofa, armchairs and bean-bags are all deeply black, while rugs, throws and vases filled with roses come in various shades of red.

3 IDEAS TO TRY

 1. Interior designers insist that a touch of black lifts any room. Jane chose black stair carpet which is both practical and super stylish.

2. Paint a simple frame directly on to the wall and hang a mirror in the middle of it. The mirror will immediately seem more important.

3. For visual impact, group different shaped vessels and vases of the same colour together.



1 | 2

Search Property (2048 listed)



Enter a Development, City, Real Estate Agent or Developer name
Property Type
Added to Site
Price Range
to
Bedrooms
Area (in sqft)
to
to

Quick Links(Residental)