The English style in interior design is admired and imitated the world over.

At its grandest it is a stately home furnished with antiques, but the houses featured in this book are cottages, farmhouses, townhouses and apartments. What links them is as much an attitude as a look. The English style of decoration is practical and informal, designed around the inhabitants of the rooms and their lifestyles rather than to awe or impress. These houses are lived in and loved, with interiors that are comfortable, relaxed and not afraid to be pretty.

The book’s chapters – Plain English, English Eccentric, English Rose, English Country House and Classic English – reflect the many and varied facets of English style, and each section ends with pages devoted to suggestions for furnishing a house in all these versions of English style. At the back of the book, there is also a listing of suppliers to help readers create their very own take on perfect English style