The dictionary definition of ‘traditional’ is straightforward, referring to anything habitually done, or long-established. When it comes to our homes, however, it appears that there’s room for interpretation. Polled designers had varying responses as to what constitutes a traditional interior, with quick answers ranging from ‘timeless and a neutral, calm palette’ to ‘brown furniture, and Colefax & Fowler chintz’ – and many noted that their clients would all have different answers, too.
But it’s worth thinking about – not necessarily for its own sake (though for some people, tradition is all) but because often there is sound reasoning behind tradition. “With the uncertainty of climate change, certain traditional elements are more important than ever,” points out Susan Deliss. She was at her house in France for last summer’s heatwave, and “the bones of a building matter, having shutters to keep rooms cool or warm,” she says. “In most cases, traditional materials are better at withstanding weather, and lasting.” But does that translate to soft furnishings, furniture, and room layout? And, if so, how?
Let’s examine the aesthetics. “‘Traditional’ can be either classical or vernacular – in both cases it is about using a historically enduring canon of patterns, motifs, structures and crafts,” says Janie Money, a decorator at Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler. In this country, what we call English Country House style is often mooted as being the most traditional approach (and certainly it’s endured the decades). Ros Byam Shaw describes the style as “a mix of antique furnishings, at least one capacious sofa with a generous serving of cushions, rugs, table lamps with fabric shades, and flowers both fresh and recreated in prints and paintings. Antique textiles, a dash of modernity, a flourish of the oriental, and a couple of dogs can be added for extra flavour.” Alidad points out that the look can be a spectrum, “you can have heavy traditional, or light traditional.” Ben Pentreath warns against an interior that is too traditionally in keeping with the period that the house was built – “it can feel like a museum set piece.”
Indeed that modernity – whether it is just a dash, or more – is vital, “or an interior stagnates,” says Nina Campbell, calling in from Colorado, where she’s been updating a house that she first worked on thirty years ago. Janie talks of “traditional with a modern twist, which is something we at Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler enjoy doing very much”. And traditionally, that ability is what tends to make an interior outstanding – for additional examples, look at the work of thththe most influential designers of the 20th century. David Hicks married antique furniture with clean, modern lines and bold colour. Roger Banks-Pye (another Sibyl Colefax decorator) put the famous Colefax & Fowler Fuchsia chintz on his bedroom floor. Nicky Haslam – well, Nicky’s still working now, and still innovating; just look at the chintz-wrapped pillars in Flora Fraser’s drawing room.
But, however new the product, Janie emphasises the importance of tradition in how it’s made. “In chair- and sofa-making, it is about the perfect jointing and tenons of the pieces and getting the angle of rake of the back correct, which ensures comfort. It’s about methods rooted in best practices which have been relayed from craftsperson to craftsperson over time.” The value of that craft and associated quality is something that Susan agrees with, “a traditional interior is one that contains things that are beautifully made.” And, “I mostly see traditional as pre-industrial,” says Edward Bulmer.
Similarly, many of the designers emphasised the importance of the mouldings being traditionally appropriate to architectural style, mouldings being the skirting boards, architraves, doors and fireplaces. These, says Ben, often need to be corrected, as often they’ve been messed about over the years. “You have to listen to the house,” says Alidad, “and, when it comes to proportion, respect its own traditions.” A building might be Georgian, Victorian or mid-century modern – each has its own rules. Proportion, of course, has been a visual tradition since the time of the Ancient Greeks, and is a key ingredient of a home’s form – along with function.
But function is interesting when looked at through the prism of traditional, for often the origins have evolved. “Traditionally, furniture was grouped around the fireplace for warmth,” says Edward. Many fireplaces no longer have fires in them, new builds are mostly built without them, “and yet if a room doesn’t have a focal point, as is tradition – well, it’s just a waiting room.” In a similar vein, ceilings were once painted white “because it would be a soft distemper, and easy to keep clean from soot and smoke,” says Edward. Electric lighting has rendered that irrelevant, “but white ceilings do tend to make a room lighter, which is why they’re still so popular,” he continues. Patrick Baty of Papers and Paints tells of how traditional ‘stone’ colours – which run the gamut from palest pink to grey via cream and magnolia – were once used because they were at the more cost-effective end of the 18th century ‘hierarchy of colour’, when different pigments came in at different prices. Their popularity endures because “their shade is a foil, a background, and can be very grown-up, very sophisticated.” (While we’re talking about paint, incidentally, it’s worth circling back to previous mention of pre-industrial; the modern plastics in so many contemporary paints do not allow old houses to breathe, which is why Edward Bulmer Paint, Papers and Paints, Farrow & Ball and other ranges are developed from traditional recipes. “And often traditional materials have much better eco credentials,” says Edward.)
Continuing to think about function, there are occasions when contemporary living should take precedence, certainly when it comes to floorplan. “We have moved on from servants’ quarters and outside loos,” says Alidad. Edward points out that improvement is itself traditional. Indeed, our interiors came on leaps and bounds in the early 20th century, “when fiercely able American chatelaines came over as wives of Dukes and Earls. They set about ensuring that food arrived hot on the dining table, that seating was comfortable, cold drafts got no further than the window and there was plenty of hot water in the pipes for bathing.” Then there’s up-to-date technology – for which there is also ‘traditional’ precedence; witness the Great Kitchen at The Royal Pavilion, Brighton, designed for King George IV, and stocked with contraptions that had never before been seen in Britain. “Traditionally, houses were designed with a view to the future, rather than attempting to capture the past,” says Alidad.
In summation, “the tenets of traditionalism are that a house has to be comfortable, suitable for purpose, function as a place to live, and be somewhere lovely to invite your friends,” says Nina – to the general agreement of all. Within that, palette, quantity of brown furniture, and proportion of chintz are all variables in the (again, traditional) quest for beauty.
