An Instagram account can be viewed as a snapshot of the year, chronicling its owner's life like a photo diary. The House & Garden account is no different, showcasing images of tastemaker's houses and interior designer's projects. It's an eclectic mix of new imagery and favourites from the archive, covering print features and online exclusives in equal measure.
But what can we learn from this? Looking at the most popular houses by Instagram likes can offer us a better understanding of people's instinctual, gut reactions. Each of these images has captured imaginations and been recognised as something compelling. In total, we have posted around 700 photos, each representing the tastes and interests of 2022.
Without further ado, our most popular images from the year gone by:
1. Sebastian Bergström's colourful dining area
This online exclusive story took Instagram by storm in February, with its cheerful colours, inventive use of space, and informal charm. Designer and creative consultant Sebastian Bergström shares the tiny apartment in Stockholm with his Jack Russell, Herman, and has cleverly packed a whole house's worth of colour and pattern in to the 40m2 space. What do we love most about this picture? The combination of tomato red and sky blue is totally brilliant and very much worth copying: the cabinet is painted in Farrow & Ball's ‘Oval Room Blue’, which Sebastian calls the perfect backdrop for chairs painted in ‘Heat’ by Little Greene. We also love how there's something to look at in every corner of the room, from the neatly arranged gallery wall to the collection of ceramics in the cabinet. Finally, there's a healthy dose of Scandi hygge here, with plump cushions, woolly rugs, and patterned textiles warming up the space.
2. Amanda Brooks's inviting kitchen
Our story on Amanda Brooks' Cotswold farmhouse decorated for Christmas is one of our most popular festive stories of all time, but funnily enough, one of the best-loved images is this rather un-Christmassy image of her kitchen. Yes, there's some evergreen foliage above the window, but it's the homely tableau around the cooker that grabs our audience. In common with Sebastian Bergström's Stockholm apartment, a muted sky blue is the main colour here. Could this be the shade we're all longing to paint our houses in 2023? It's also a very covetable cooker arrangement, with pans hanging on one rail and utensils on the one below – we'll be stealing that idea at home for sure. And of course we love the rich wood of the kitchen; what could feel more comfortable and inviting for festive cooking?
3. Sarah Vanrenen's galley kitchen
One of our most-liked images of all time, this scene from designer Sarah Vanrenen's Victorian terraced house in London is a testament to our readers' love of a galley kitchen. A galley kitchen that opens on to such a delightful little garden (complete with outdoor fireplace) is surely the best of all. If you don't happen to have such a space on hand, however, there are still some great takeaways from this image. Sarah's motto is ‘Be bold!’ and you can certainly see that in the deep emerald green of the cabinets. We love a green kitchen here at H&G and it seems that you do too. Green and pink is a classic colour combination which Sarah has employed to great effect with the pink dhurrie underfoot. The marble countertops add an element of glamorous modernity, while curtains in Sarah's 'Sunda' linen bring the balance back towards the traditional.
4. Jane Gowers's galley kitchen
What were we saying about galley kitchens? Galley kitchens that open on to the outdoors? This image from Jane Gowers' house in London is, funnily enough, not a galley kitchen at all (the cooker on the right is part of an island), but it certainly looks like one. Painted in soft earthy tones with french doors that lead to a lovely roof garden, this kitchen is a timeless classic from the H&G archive. There's something incredibly elegant and Parisian-looking about the proportions of this room, with its decorative mouldings and panelled shutters, whose outlines are mirrored in the glass-fronted cabinets.
5. Patrick Williams's Berdoulat pantry
Well-designed storage always goes down well with our loyal readers, and it's very much the case here in the pantry of Berdoulat designer Patrick Williams' house in Bath. The pantry is separated by a glazed screen from the dining room and kitchen in the house, which we think is such a lovely idea, reminiscent of the servants' quarters in grand country houses. It's also an elegant solution to the problem of storage in a kitchen. Designed by Patrick, the pantry screen was made by local joiners using historic glass and painted in ‘London Brown’ gloss by Edward Bulmer Natural Paint. The simple and chic curtain that covers the lower storage space is a super idea to copy, as are the sweet frilly pendant lights above.
6. Mark and Georgie Rowse's shepherd's hut bathroom
That sky blue shade makes another appearance in the guest cottage of Mark and Georgie Rowse's Cotswold barn, and again it's teamed with bright red, making this a colour combination we're determined to steal. And while a bath in a bedroom might not be the most comfortable arrangement for permanent living spaces, there's something about the image of it that seems to appeal. Perhaps it's the thought of crawling out of bed and straight into the soothing embrace of warm water in that rolltop bath? We also love the chest of drawers that doubles as a desk - campaign furniture like this is the best combination of fun and function.
7. Chris Graves's kitchen
Interior designer Chris Graves of Clarence & Graves set the internet alight with this kitchen when we first featured it two years ago. The deVOL kitchen within the green Crittall windows is the perfect modern kitchen in our eyes. Dark cabinets and marble worktops are fresh and of the moment, while French cafe floor tiles lend an understated timelessness. Controversially, Chris has placed a double sink in the chimneybreast. "Of course you would expect the hob to go there," says Chris, “but I like to be sociable when I cook, and I didn't want to have my back to the room.” It may be an unusual choice, but it all came together beautifully. The kitchen walls and skirting are painted in Little Greene’s ‘China Clay Mid’, the ideal backdrop for strong blues and greens.
8. Anahita Rigby's Marylebone project
This recent online exclusive from up-and-coming designer Anahita Rigby is a masterclass in understated elegance. While white walls aren't always the first choice for our readers, there is so much texture and layering going on here that they feel like the most elegant backdrop. The use of olive green and plentiful plants in this sitting room helps to add a sense of comfort and warmth, but we suspect that what you loved most was the glazed partition. Screens and glass doors are all the rage right now, as we've seen in a few images so far, and this classic example is the perfect way to divide up an open plan space while still allowing light to stream through.
9. Natasha James's Monet inspired kitchen
When this sprawling Yorkshire house featured in our August issue this year, we immediately seized on this as one of our favourite ever country kitchens. Perched on the edge of the North York Moors, the house has been made fresh and light by its owner Natasha James, who designs many of the textiles featured throughout under her label Tasha Textiles. Possibly the best bit here is the original checkerboard terracotta floor, said to have been inspired by Monet’s kitchen at Giverny. The Plain English cabinets and preparation table in ‘Pale Powder’ and ‘Hague Blue’, both Farrow & Ball, tone in beautifully. The blind in Natasha’s ‘Pushkar’ linen for Tasha Textiles is complemented by a trio of Scottish spongeware plates on the wall.
10. Lucy Williams's brilliant blue living room
Creative consultant Lucy Williams had legions of adoring fans waiting to see the unveiling of her house renovation on Instagram, and they weren't disappointed when we featured it in an online exclusive story this summer. There is a lot to like here, from the bespoke bookshelves (designed by Buchanan Studio) to the deeply comfortable Maker & Son sofa, but the main thing we want to copy in this room is the perfect colour combination of sky blue (there it is again - this time it's archive Farrow & Ball colour Yonder) and rich tan.
