The fabric of life

Co Down-based interior designer Emma Johnston champions Irish linen in her home and in her new soft furnishing collections, writes ALANNA GALLAGHER

INTERIOR DESIGNER Emma Johnston cut her teeth working with some of London’s Sloane Ranger set. At Jane Churchill, her A-list clients included Trinny and Susannah, the original mistresses of the make-over, Perfect Housewife presenter Anthea Turner and handbag designer Lulu Guinness’s mother, April Guinness.

From there she moved to Percy Bass Ltd, run by interior designer Jane Morris, who believed in mixing good quality antiques with contemporary accents. It’s a credo that is reflected in Johnston’s own home decor.

Johnston has dealt with Middle Eastern sheikhs and Hollywood A-listers. Her clientele had houses in the Hamptons as well as in London and thought nothing of ordering their soft furnishings in London and shipping them out, she explains. They also recognised quality, something Johnston carried with her.

She returned home in 2006 to project manage interior and renovation projects, and is now mother to three children; Jemima, age five, Harriet, four and James, who is two.

Eighteen months ago she and her husband, Jason Johnston, moved into what had been his family home in Co Down. The detached Edwardian house is set on the banks of the River Bann and the garden runs down to the river’s edge.

The reception rooms are bright and airy and well proportioned. In the drawing room a pair of matching chesterfield-style sofas bookend the period marble fireplace. The walls are painted in two complementary shades of Farrow Ball paint: No 84 Green Blue and No 210 Blue Ground.

A Harriet ottoman, one of Emma’s own designs, acts as a coffee table and footstool. Johnston’s new soft furnishing collections use 100 per cent pure Irish linen that she sourced in Co Down. The cushions, headboards, ottomans and blanket boxes are all made in Co Antrim.

Double doors lead from this room into a south-facing wrought-iron conservatory where there are vines growing. The family press the black grapes to make juice.

Across the hall is the dining room, which is home to an extendible dining table that can accommodate 14 people. Except for special occasions, the family use it as their sitting room. The furnishings include a big old dresser retrieved from her mother’s house and repainted. Matching overstuffed sofas and a Jemima ottoman, another of Emma’s designs, sit in front of the gas fire. This room is also painted in a Farrow Ball colour – Churlish Green – a colour that looks light grey at night but is a warm, muddy green during the day, Johnston explains.

Double doors lead into the garden where there are eight apple trees of eating and cooking varities. “We can only eat so many apple tarts and apple chutneys,” Johnston admits, so they bought an apple press and have started making their own cider.

Leading off the dining room is an eat-in kitchen. There are quarry tiles on the floor and fireside seats by the open fire. The reclaimed beam above the fireplace was bought at Wilson’s Yard, a great architectural resource outside Belfast, while the antique French bench was bought in an antique shop nearby. A servants’ staircase leads up to two rooms she uses as offices.

Upstairs, there are four bedrooms. The two girls, Jemima and Harriet, share a pink painted room. Embroidered patchwork quilts by Laura Ashley cover the metal beds from Ikea. Both have a roll-out bed underneath so the girls can have a friend to sleepover. “The room is then known as The Dorm,” Johnston explains.

James’s room is painted blue and has prints of old vintage cars hanging on the walls.

The master bedroom has a slate-grey Jemima headboard and matching bed box, both part of Johnston’s new range. There is also an adjacent traditional dressing room complete with dressing table and tallboy.

To launch the collection, Johnston held a three-day event in her home, so the pieces could be seen in a real home setting – great for helping homeowners visualise the pieces in their own space. Her house is now open by appointment and she serves afternoon tea to potential clients while they look at what’s on offer.

Her eldest daughter may already be following in her mother’s footsteps. For the open viewings, she made a jewellery box bed from some discarded cardboard boxes; the jewellery box was inside the bed and she insisted that it too was put on display for clients to view it.

Emma Johnston’s new collections are available to view by appointment at her home or online. Cushions start from €55, deep-buttoned headboards from €565 (the size shown is king size, price €864). Bed boxes cost from €647. Delivery throughout Ireland is within four weeks and costs €36. Private consultations also available.

See emmajohnston.com, tel: 0044-7779667317