A Christmas Feature in Homes and Antiques Magazine

The December edition of Homes and Antiques magazine is out now, and we are really lucky that our home is featured.

At the end of September the magazine Editor Sam Scott-Jeffries and Homes Editor Katie Hallett came to Bincknoll House to organise the styling for the photo shoot day, and photographer Jason Ingram came to shoot each room. It requires a great deal of patience and perseverance on behalf of a magazine photographer because every single frame has to look just right – which involves endless moving around of furniture, accessories, lighting and props, quickly and efficiently as autumn daylight hours are at a premium.

We had flower arrangements and a wreath made by Polly Nicholson of Bayntun Flowers in Wiltshire and Charlton Park Estate near Malmesbury kindly donated a Christmas tree. It is still alive and fresh today, many weeks later, outside in a bucket of wet compost.

I cooked a typical Christmas menu with cakes and sweet treats for breakfast, roast duck with all the trimmings for lunch, and we had a brunch of Prosecco and canapes in front of the log fires and in the kitchen, with little lights and candles twinkling in the September heat.

That is the world of magazines – everything is shot months before the feature goes to print, and you have to make everything look completely seasonal and authentic for that specific theme and edition. I hope you enjoy reading it.