Some of you may remember Butter Wakefield. She’s the effervescent garden designer – and consummate host – who, last December, spoke to us about the joys of year-round greenery when seasonal flowers are in short supply and, in doing so, gave us a masterclass in maximalist table-laying. She’s also the subject of this week’s Home Comforts.
It couldn’t be a better series for Butter, really. Her house on a tree-lined street in Shepherd’s Bush is the very picture of proper plushness, all Staffordshire-stuffed shelves and squishy sofas that beg to be sat on: “Not grand,” she says, “but wonderfully comfy.” It makes sense – before retraining as a designer of gardens, she was one of interiors, working for Colefax & Fowler. Her experience shows: everywhere here there’s an artful abundance of paintings and plates, cushions and candles, while outside, Maryland-born Butter’s urban patch of green, a wildflower meadow left to self-sow, buzzes with almost as much life as an acre of countryside. In fact, green is a bit of theme (spot the front door. And the wallpapers. And the panelling…). Butter is, she admits, mildly obsessed…
She has called this stucco-fronted late Victorian townhouse home for more than 30 years, raising her four children here (though now it’s just her and her “heavenly” kook of a border terrier, Wafer). Her work creating gorgeous, considered outdoor spaces for her clients sees her travelling up and down the country, meaning this place holds a special significance. “It’s funny how soothing and welcoming I find it,” she says – though looking round, we wouldn’t say it’s funny at all. Home comforts indeed.
