THE JOURNAL
IT’S A DOG’S LIFE
Over the last century, dogs have migrated from the chilly austerity of the outdoor kennel to the cosseting warmth of their owners’ homes – and, in some cases, their beds. Giles Kime considers the practicalities of combining elegant living with the demands of our four-legged friends
that is sterile, lifeless and inanimate.” Dogs, she feels, give so much more than they could ever take away. In any case, if Salthrop House, her beautiful Palladian pile in Wiltshire isn’t a paragon of cleanliness, you would never know; light, height and towering blooms from her garden imbue it with a feeling that is as fresh and dewy as a spring dawn. A century ago, most dogs were subject to the physical
“D
discomfort of life outside. Today, they are more likely to enjoy the warmth of the utility room, the Aga or even their owners’ bedrooms. Pet ownership rocketed during the pandemic and there are now estimated to be 13 million dogs in the UK, with more younger owners than ever before. Our strong bond with our canine companions has been the subject of a number of books including At Home in the English Countryside: Designers and their Dogs (Rizzoli) and, more recently,
ogs might do terrible things to a house,” says Sophie Conran, cook, designer and dog lover, “but then I would never want to live in a house
Top Dogs (Trigylph Books) that features names from the world of design, including John Pawson, Gavin Houghton, Max Rollitt, Charles Rutherfoord and Jasper Conran. The Duke of Richmond, one of the dog lovers featured, offers a reminder that human concerns for the physical comfort of our pets isn’t an entirely modern phenomenon; his ancestor, the third Duke commissioned the architect James Wyatt to design the grandest kennels ever built (so grand, in fact that it is now the Goodwood Golf Club) and provided his hounds with central heating long before guests of the main house were ever treated to such creature comforts. Every new dog owner starts by establishing rules
that set the boundaries, most of which are broken soon enough;
‘not upstairs’ rapidly becomes ‘not on
beds’ which in turn becomes ‘not under the covers’ and sometimes even that is broken, too, perhaps more commonly during an energy crisis when pets bring thermal benefits. Now that we share our homes with our pets, how do we create interiors that balance both human and canine requirements in perfect harmony?
Of course, there are practical measures that can be taken; plenty of throws on upholstery, for example, and as Joanna Plant, interior designer and dog owner (who designed the layered Tissus d’Hélène bedroom at the inaugural WOW!house) points out, there’s a huge advantage to loose covers that can be thrown in the washing machine and floors that can easily be swept and mopped. Nina Campbell, another dog loving interior designer, advocates a sink in the utility room that is capacious enough to bathe a small dog, or a bath outside (plumbed for hot water) for larger, more boisterous members of the species. “A clean dog is pretty vital,” she says. The subject of dogs and interior design was recently
explored at an event I hosted at Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour with Georgina Montagu, author of Top Dogs and Lucy Hammond Giles, associate director of Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler (who features in the book), both of whom were accompanied by their dogs Storm and Rollo. As well as the practical aspect to the challenge (for example, the tactical positioning of child gates
OPPOSITE: Kit Kemp’s shepherd’s hut at the bottom of her garden, where spaniels Impy, Pixie and Rupert like to head for some down-time. The hut is a microcosm of Kemp’s exuberant approach to decorating, with ‘Friendly Folk’ fabric by Andrew Martin (her own design) upholstering the sofa, and a vintage needlepoint rug sourced from Vaughan. ABOVE: Edward Bulmer’s dogs, Lenny and Molly, make themselves at home in his conservatory; the sofa is upholstered in a mohair velvet by Lelièvre Paris
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© Stacey Bewkes / At Home in the English Countryside: Designers and their dogs (Rizzoli)
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