Home Comforts: Butter Wakefield on the glory of green

Some of you may remember Butter Wakefield. She’s the effervescent garden designer – and consummate host – who, last December, spoke to us about the joys of year-round greenery when seasonal flowers are in short supply and, in doing so, gave us a masterclass in maximalist table-laying. She’s also the subject of this week’s Home Comforts.

It couldn’t be a better series for Butter, really. Her house on a tree-lined street in Shepherd’s Bush is the very picture of proper plushness, all Staffordshire-stuffed shelves and squishy sofas that beg to be sat on: “Not grand,” she says, “but wonderfully comfy.” It makes sense – before retraining as a designer of gardens, she was one of interiors, working for Colefax & Fowler. Her experience shows: everywhere here there’s an artful abundance of paintings and plates, cushions and candles, while outside, Maryland-born Butter’s urban patch of green, a wildflower meadow left to self-sow, buzzes with almost as much life as an acre of countryside. In fact, green is a bit of theme (spot the front door. And the wallpapers. And the panelling…). Butter is, she admits, mildly obsessed…

She has called this stucco-fronted late Victorian townhouse home for more than 30 years, raising her four children here (though now it’s just her and her “heavenly” kook of a border terrier, Wafer). Her work creating gorgeous, considered outdoor spaces for her clients sees her travelling up and down the country, meaning this place holds a special significance. “It’s funny how soothing and welcoming I find it,” she says – though looking round, we wouldn’t say it’s funny at all. Home comforts indeed.

My most recent home improvement…
As all the kiddos have flown the coop, I have just renovated the family bathroom after 25 well-worn years. It’s now my favourite room in the house. I splashed out on a divine free-standing tub with luxurious-feeling brass fittings, and some wall lights from Soane Britain, and I used a wallpaper from Blithfield in green (of course). I have covered the walls in old plates and floral prints, hanging them above green-painted panelling to create a pattern-rich and textured little room. Every time I am either in it or I walk past it, I say out loud: “I love you!”

The latest addition to my wardrobe… 
I never have much time to shop, but as I was speeding around the Chelsea Flower Show this year, I spied a lovely dress from a company called Really Wild, which captured my imagination immediately. It’s mid-length and made of silk in the dreamiest colours: a bronzey olive-green floral pattern on the softest pink background. My son Jack is getting married soon and I think it might make the perfect ‘mother of the groom’ dress…

The most useful item in my kitchen…
A year or so ago, I treated myself to a really good Japanese knife, which has transformed my chopping, slicing and dicing…. A sharp, well-balanced knife really does make such a difference. It seems a bit boring perhaps, but it is a lovely thing – as well as being useful.

What’s always in my fridge…
A lovely bottle of Miraval rosé, Oatly oat milk and Bold Bean Co’s organic chickpeas.

The prize bottle in my drinks cabinet…
I do adore Laurent Perrier’s pink champagne. It’s perfect at Christmas, when everyone is all together at home. There is something remarkably spoiling and festive about its pale-pink colour and those tiny bubbles.

Hanging on my walls…
Lots! But one of my favourite things is a painting of a bright-green gate in the middle of an orange-and-yellow field, with blue hedges in the distance. It was made by a British artist called Eardley Knollys, who was a member of the Bloomsbury Group. I was lucky enough to meet him when I first arrived in England from the States in the late 1980s, shortly before he died. His landscapes are joyous and full of colour – just like he was.

The knick-knacks on my mantelpiece…
I have a deeply distracting love for antique porcelain and a huge fondness for black-and-white Staffordshire models of King Charles spaniels. I have a little (ha! Not that little, actually!) collection of them on my shelf above the cooker in the kitchen. They are such happy-making little friends and make great company when I am cooking or pottering about with flowers from the garden.

The books on my shelf right now…
I am reading The Overstory by Richard Powers, which won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2019. It is a remarkable tale about nine characters and their unique love and connection to the natural world and to trees in particular. It has made my profound appreciation for them and the role they play in my life even deeper.

The music on my stereo…
I have a very varied collection of music on the go at any given time. It ranges from a bit of country – I love George Strait – to the dulcet tones of Ella Fitzgerald and Patsy Kline. I am also extremely partial to a playlist called ‘Songs to Sing in the Shower’ on Spotify… There’s one for the car too.

Growing in my garden…  
As we hurtled toward the summer equinox, my garden was full to bursting with all manner of excitement. Midsummer is when the wildflower meadow is at its most captivating too, alive with insects and bees and bringing new interest every day.

I also have a parade of hydrangea ‘Annabelle’ flanking both sides of the meadow. When they dance about on the edges of the garden, it’s always a good moment.

Hidden away in my cupboards…
Yikes, what isn’t hidden away in my cupboards is a slightly better question. I am, on the surface and to anyone looking in, quite a tidy person. But oh, my days – open any cupboard anywhere in this house and you’ll face an explosion of chaos and confusion. There are garden tools and bits of twine mixed in with tealights jumbled with shoe-cleaning paraphernalia tangled up with overflowing piles of napkins, placemats and tea towels. And that’s just one in the kitchen. Every drawer and cupboard in the house is much the same, I am loathe to admit.

On a good day, however, I like to tell myself that when I have more time, I will stop stuffing and start sorting, but I think that may never happen – mostly because there is too much lovely gardening to do.

On my to-do list…
I have a desperate urge to wander along the West Coast of Ireland. I would love to spend several weeks there every summer, exploring and viewing the damp, lush green vastness of it all.

FURTHER READING

Butter Wakefield Garden Design

Butter on Instagram

Photography: Simon Brown