2009 by Hearst Communications Inc
At the 1740s Connecticut farmhouse she shares with her husband, Tim Street-Porter, interior designer Annie Kelly displays the rare confidence to match fine antiques with Kmart finds.
WRITTEN BY LIESL SCHILLINGER
PHOTOGRAPHS BY TIM STREET-PORTER
Annie Kelly balanced the seriousness of her living room's 18th-century English sofa with chartreuse curtains and red lampshades from Target.
Peonies from the garden fill a 19th-century cut-glass pitcher.
Tim Street-Porter poses outside with Annie Kelly.
On their front porch, a clematis vine winds its way around a trellis. The couple stashes birdseed in the metal bin beneath the table.
[Photograph]: IMAGES (EXCEPT FOR PORTRAIT) ARE EXCERPTED FROM ROOMS TO INSPIRE IN THE COUNTRY: THE INFINITE POSSIBILITIES OF AMERICAN HOUSE DESIGN, BY ANNIE KELLY, PHOTOGRAPHS BY TIM STREET-PORTER. © 2009; REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF RIZZOLI INTERNATIONAL PUBLICATIONS, INC.
Vertical cream and green stripes, painted by Street-Porter, counteract the low ceiling in the upstairs sitting room.
The daffodils were plucked from Kelly and Street-Porter's garden.
Kelly turned a swath of antique crewelwork into a canopy for the guest room's bed. The writing case on top of the desk belonged to her grandmother.
Pillows covered in mattress ticking and coral-colored crewelwork dress up a pair of flea market wicker chairs.
In the dining room, Kelly updated a set of 17th-century Yorkshire chairs with cheerful striped cushions.
Street-Porter, who trained as an architect, modeled this garden pagoda after an English design.
Nestled amid a grove of pines down a winding road in Litchfield County, Connecticut, sits a snug, brown farmhouse with a curving Dutch gambrel roof. A stream runs around the property; lilacs, irises, and lilies gambol by the front door; and clematis vines twine up a porch lattice.
Annie Kelly and Tim Street-Porter's 1740s home looks like an idyll from the age-crisped pages of a book of English nursery rhymes. But the story of how the couple became its owners is modern as can be. "We found the listing online," explains Kelly, an Australian-born interior designer and author of four books, including Rooms to Inspire in the Country (Rizzoli), out this month. Not only did she and her husband make an offer "on the spot," they bought the three-century-old cottage sight unseen.
Six years later, Kelly cheerfully confesses that an improvisational spirit shaped her decor as well. Guided by the excellent bones of the house, which had been carefully restored by the previous owners, the designer simply obeyed her instincts in fleshing out each room. Unlike the projects she manages for clients -- which usually evolve slowly and take months to develop -- her own home came together with serendipity and speed. "I decorated in a very casual way," says Kelly, pouring tea into delicate porcelain cups, balancing them on an ottoman amid quill boxes and antique postcard albums. She wanted a place to relax, entertain, and soak up the unharried pleasures of the New England countryside. Beyond that, she explains, "I haven't followed any particular plan." On moving day, says Kelly, "We walked into the house with only a few towels." Luckily, their mattresses arrived that afternoon.
The designer secured period pieces -- oak chairs, gateleg tables, tall armoires -- from auctions and antiques shops, and offset the stately furniture with assured, playful colors, like vibrant pinks and juicy greens. Each room combines 18th-century treasures with affordable chain-store finds. To spot her bargains, however, you must look closely.
The parlor's lustrous quince curtains may be custom-made, the throw pillows covered in elegant, antique embroidered fabric, but those pomegranate-red lampshades? They're a Target score. "You're sitting on a sofa from Christie's," she notes. "The rug is Pottery Barn."
In the breakfast room ("We think the original owners kept farm animals here," says Kelly), a secret steal lurks within a Scandinavian hutch: a collection of crockery Kelly discovered at Kmart. "I already had some 18th-century creamware that I got at auction," she says. "When I went to buy more china for this place, I was thrilled to find that Martha Stewart had copied its design, because it matched the stuff I've got." She turns over one of the replicas to reveal a stamped inscription: WILL GET HOT IN MICROWAVE.
Out of respect for the property's agricultural past, Kelly hung a painting in the foyer of San Ysidro, the patron saint of farmers, kneeling in a field. "It's an 18th-century work," she says. "You can tell from his breeches." Other walls hold line drawings of public figures, also from the 18th century. She likes the faces: "I wanted to have portraits in the house, because they give you company."
Kelly clearly enjoys company. Depending on the occasion, she'll set out her creamware in the formal dining room, the breakfast room, or the small parlor. Last summer, she and her husband built a gazebo on the lawn -- "a triumph," she sighs -- so they could serve dinners outdoors. "I don't mind carrying the food out there," she proclaims. "We have a lot of trays." Next she hopes to convert their garage into a sunroom. "Right now," she laments, "the car's got the best view of the property."
Decorating is complicated, observes Kelly. "You'd be amazed at what can go wrong with ordering a custom-made pillow." But tailoring this Colonial retreat to her own needs has been a liberating experience. For one thing, she doesn't need to worry about pleasing a demanding client. For another, she can take as long as she likes to perfect the project, changing the decor as she goes to suit the fancies of its owners and guests. "Some people live in their house as if it were a stage set, but I think it's essential she says, then adds, "May I offer you a chocolate?"
Liesl Schillinger is a New York-based writer and book critic.
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