Richard E Grant Home, Photographer Christopher Horwood
On The Sofa with Richard E. Grant
Richard in front of a mixture of old prints and four large 18th-century embroidered landscapes from The Lanes in Brighton in the green study.
Step inside Richard’s world, a home where colour reigns supreme, and every George Smith piece has a story to tell.
1. Hi Richard, you strike me as someone who loves the theatre of Christmas, are you the type to deck the halls in November, or do you wait until December to unleash the magic?
I put up two Christmas trees, one in the drawing room and one in the kitchen, on the 1st of December, and I decorate every room except for the bedrooms!
2. Your home at Christmas looks like something out of a storybook, twinkling lights, a towering tree, and George Smith sofas everywhere. Which sofa gets the best seat in the house for festive lounging?
The 12-foot tree sits in the drawing room with two George Smith Signature sofas, one covered in Gollut, and the three-seater signature sofa is cream and caramel striped with the best view of the TV.
Richard E Grant Home, Photographer Christopher Horwood, Signature Sofas
3. You once said the previous owners of your home were minimalists. How long did it take before you filled it with the colour, character and warmth that make it so unmistakably you?
When we moved in thirty years ago, every room was painted white with minimalist furniture. We thought that’s what sophisticated Londoners lived like. Our removal boxes filled the cellar and, within a week, I’d painted every room a different colour and filled the walls and house with furniture and collected gubbins.
4. You’ve collected pieces over the decades. Was there one George Smith sofa that truly started your love affair, the one that made you think, ‘Ah, this is what comfort really means’?
The Signature sofa in Gollut was our first buy, quickly followed by sofas in every room, including the kitchen, covered in kilim fabric!
5. The craftsmanship behind George Smith is all about timelessness. How do you feel your home, with its layers of history and personality, honours that same enduring ethos?
I have an aversion to corner L shaped sofas that resemble bouncy castle beds, so I’m the perfect George Smith aficionado for a traditional shaped sofa.
6. Through the years, cushions and fabrics change, but the frame remains. How has your favourite George Smith piece evolved alongside your home life?
My late wife was an inveterate tapestry maker, so every sofa is piled with her hand-embroidered cushions, and each year she designed a cushion with all the key events of that year, recording our family history.
