At Home With: Natalie Jones

^{Wall: Studio Green No.93 in Modern Emulsion}

If there’s anyone who knows a thing or two about making a new house feel like home, it’s the minds behind design-led estate agency The Modern House. Our shared love of creating spaces that excite, invite, inspire and envelop led to the creation of a four-part film series titled Living with Colour, which follows the stories of those who’ve recently brought their spaces to life using our palette.
Among these is Natalie Jones, whose home in Bruton, Somerset, we’re taking a peek inside today. For the full tour, you can watch Natalie’s film here.

^{Wall: Studio Green No.93 in Modern Emulsion}

To those lucky enough to have paid a visit to Caro, the Somerset lifestyle store, creative space and bijou B&B, it’ll surely come as no surprise that the impeccable eye of founder Natalie Jones extends to her own home.

The Grade II listed property, a former bakery in the bucolic market town of Bruton, is a tale of two halves: the building’s 18^th-century origins shine through in features like its shuttered windows, stone cladding and brick-crowned fireplace, while a contemporary larch-clad extension forms the main downstairs living area.

^{Wall: Hardwick White No.5 in Estate Emulsion; Ceiling and Wall: De Nimes No.299 in Casein Distemper; Shutters: Hardwick White No.5 and De Nimes No.299 in Estate Eggshell}

Wanting to stay true to the historic nature of the house’s first floor, Natalie chose a palette to impart, in her own words, “a kind of soberness”. Carrying neutral tones throughout each upstairs room fosters flow, carrying the eye seamlessly between spaces while adding a second, bolder tone brings just the right amount of character.

^{Wall and Ceiling: Lamp Room Gray No.88 in Modern Emulsion; Panelling: Bancha No.298 in Modern Eggshell}

In the guest bedroom, grey-blue De Nimes is painted onto the ceiling and taken down to the tops of the doorframes and window shutters for a contemporary-feeling cosiness. In the bathroom, the intense tones of Bancha on the wooden panelling contrast with the Hardwick White walls, conspiring with Natalie’s tropical houseplants to create the sensation of an inviting indoor jungle.

^{Living Room – Wall and Ceiling: Pink Ground No.202 in Estate Emulsion; Woodwork: Pink Ground No.202 in Estate Eggshell; Hallway – Walls and Trim: Railings No.31 in Modern Emulsion and Modern Eggshell}

Downstairs, says Natalie, the extension is the hub of the home. Discussing her choice to opt for intense Studio Green throughout, she adds “I wanted to be a bit more playful and keep the modernity, so we went for a very dark colour. As the light shines on it the pigment really comes out, and you can tell it’s this deep green – light is really important to kind of grow with the colour and appreciate it at all different times of day."

Finally, in a quiet corner of the ground floor, a secondary living room sits in striking contrast to the richness of the Studio Green kitchen, dining room and living space. Painted from floor to ceiling in Pink Ground, it has a softness and lightness that makes for an inviting den away from the main living and entertaining space.

If you hadn’t already guessed from the deft combinations that define this characterful property, it seems that its owner shares our attitude when it comes to embracing boldness in the home.

“I always think you should follow your heart when it comes to colour” she says, echoing the oft-repeated mantra of our own Colour Curator. “If you’re going to use colour, I would say be bold – what’s the worst thing that could happen?” she laughs, “you paint over it!”

Photography by Mariell Lind Hansen