Antique painted furniture and pretty textiles combine to give the country home of fabric designer Barbara Coupe, a distinctly French feel... 

When Barbara Coupe and her husband Neville looked for a house to buy in the country, they wanted a Georgian house with surrounding land. 'We both like houses with Georgian proportions, tall sash windows, shutters, high ceilings and cornices, but when we came across this cottage surrounded by an acre of garden and a meadow, we fell in love with it.  It was midsummer, the sun was shining and the maize was ripe in the meadows.  The place was just so romantic, intimate and cosy with a happy atmosphere.  I felt I could easily spend a night there on my own and not feel isolated even in the depths of the Cheshire countryside.'

From the point of view of sunlight and its state of repair, the cottage had a lot going for it.  'In plan it is a long narrow house rather like a barge, which had been added onto at different times in its history. It is just one room wide so it enjoys cross lighting - each room is lit by sunshine in the morning and then again in the early evening.

Barbara and Neville have a wonderful collection of painted furniture, the result of years of collecting and dealing in antiques.  Barbara used to have an antiques shop in Nantwich and a showroom in Battersea, London.  'When I was working in the antiques business, I always had difficulty in finding the right kind of fabrics to go with 18th and 19th century painted French and Swedish country furniture ,' she says.

Barbara knew exactly what she wanted: something light, simple, hand-crafted and rich in texture with simple embroidered designs inspired by nature.  Having travelled extensively in the Far East when she was in the fashion business (how she and Neville met) Barbara began to realise that she could pull together the right contacts to produce her own range of fabrics.  The proof of her success is demonstrated in the curtains and cushions all made in fabrics from Barbara's own ranges, that can be seen around her home , which make the cottage so decorative.  'My style is very relaxed and I have always liked things with a past.  I also like to play and move things about just for a change.'