Which Farrow and Ball colors have become your go to?<\/strong><\/p>\nMouses Back we use all the time. Stoney Ground is popular for kitchens, Farrow\u2019s Cream is a buttery, perfect yellow. You want a brown with a little pop of red, so Cola is good for that.<\/p>\n
Many of your projects feature vintage and antique finds. What role does timeworn character play in your overall design philosophy?<\/strong><\/p>\nThere\u2019s a soul that is brought into a space when you bring in a vintage piece, and I love that no two are alike. It adds something special. When you see a piece of vintage furniture, you see soul, the warmth of the wood that was used, its character and story<\/p>\n
What do you look out for when you\u2019re sourcing then? How do you find those gems among everything else?<\/strong><\/p>\nYou need patience! I will wander around an antique store, then go round a second time, and again, a third time, then they\u2019re ringing through my things at the checkout and I\u2019ll still be spotting stuff I didn\u2019t notice – things that make my heart feel good. If it has a unique color, or is something you don\u2019t usually see – I recently got some vintage crocks in a dusty pink. They\u2019ll be perfect to leave on a nightstand with flowers in them or on a kitchen shelf with spoons stacked upright in them. Yes, you can buy reproduction, but it\u2019s usually beige and doesn\u2019t have the chips and glazing of a vintage piece. There is a beauty in imperfection. <\/p>\n
How do you guide clients who want a timeless home but are nervous about mixing old and new?<\/strong><\/p>\nIt usually comes down to the functionality. They\u2019ll say \u2018I love the idea of the vintage dresser, but can I actually open the drawers?\u2019 Some clients get scared of the authenticity, so for them we aim to make new things look old, or we bring in vintage via accessories and display pieces.<\/p>\n
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(Image credit: Lauren Miller\/Design by Ashley Montgomery)<\/p>\n
You often bring in visual softness through aged wood, traditional fabrics, and antique lighting. Are there materials or finishes you reach for again and again?<\/strong><\/p>\nI love a pattern, especially on fabrics and when printed with a warm, oatmeal-colored back. When they\u2019re on a stark white then it doesn’t have the same depth. And I love mixing the scale of patterns, so pairing checks with and stripes, in materials like velvet and boucle.<\/p>\n
Where do you source those oatmeal-tinged fabrics?<\/strong><\/p>\nI love Jasper – everything it does makes my heart sing. But it\u2019s not just those fabrics that add softness, to back to your previous question. Also painted tiles – and you only need a few as the price points are high, but a handful mixed into plain tiles will make a big impact. And living finishes like unlacquered brass from Perrin and Rowe, that ages and patinas as if it were vintage to start with. <\/p>\n
In many of your spaces, the kitchens feel like extensions of the living areas, with vintage rugs, custom cabinetry, and furniture-like islands. What makes a kitchen successful in your eyes?<\/strong><\/p>\nI always start with the kitchen, as it\u2019s the heart of the home. First it needs to be a workhorse, but also beautiful, so I\u2019ll look at elements others might not consider like the feet of the island, and work out how we can make them look like an old shop counter. I just did a panelled fridge that had vent holes so it looks like an old hut rather than a fridge. I like an eclectic feel.<\/p>\n
Do you approach bathrooms in the same way?<\/strong><\/p>\nBathrooms are similar, we want to make sure they\u2019re functional, but we\u2019re also asking what\u2019s our wow moment going to be? Is it the tub with some cool drapery, or is it a special floor tile, or is it a marble shower? You can have fun with the tiles, the floor finishes, and elements of how the vanity\u2019s feet are going to look, and you can add in vintage furniture like a stool next to the bath. Not everything has to be shiny and white and purely functional.<\/p>\n
And finally, what\u2019s inspiring you creatively right now?<\/strong><\/p>\nIt\u2019s paint – it can transform a space. People forget about the ceiling, but if you add wallpaper, or add a wood treatment, or paint it something wonderful then it\u2019s just as important as the rest of the room. Back in the 1990s, trim was always just painted white, and we still deal with that a lot today – I always paint it a contrast to the room. Paint is what really brings soul into your home. If it feels and looks good to you then it\u2019ll feel that way forever.<\/p>\n
See more of Ashley’s work at <\/strong>Ashley Montgomery Design<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ashley Montgomery is the founder of Ashley Montgomery Design, a Toronto-based interior design studio celebrated for creating homes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":353226,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3939],"tags":[4021,4020,4022,77,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-353225","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-design","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115047673003776195","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=353225"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353225\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/353226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=353225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=353225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=353225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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