Home Comforts: Willow Crossley’s creative life in the Cotswolds countryside

Willow Crossley has packed a lot into life. The author, designer, florist and stylist – you might know her as @willowcrossleycreates, or as the creator of The Seedling newsletter – began her career as a fashion journalist at glossy magazines such as Harper’s Bazaar, then Tatler, before embarking on a French adventure with her husband, Charlie. While Charlie was working as winemaker, Willow wrote a blog, then a book, on the back her brocante-trawling there. Having returned home, where she and Charlie took over the Bull Inn at Charlbury (Willow – naturally – did the interiors), she embarked upon her second career, as a florist. Having started off with friend’s weddings, she blossomed – quite literally: in 2018 Willow was asked to do the arrangements for the royal wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at Frogmore House. No wonder she’s been dubbed the UK’s “queen of flowers”.

Willow credits her idyllic childhood in rural Wales with her love of glorious greenery and the countryside. Home for her now, however, is in a tiny village in the Cotswolds, where she shares a Grade II-listed farmhouse with Charlie, their three boys, a treasure trove of trinkets and, of course, a profusion of potted plants. All this and more we discovered when we quizzed her on her Home Comforts.

My most recent home improvement…
I’ve been wanting to redecorate ever since we first did the house up 12 years ago – I was pregnant and made terrible, dull decisions! We’ve finally started redoing it. Our bathroom is now papered in blue ‘Maharani’ wallpaper from my collection for Barneby Gates, and in our spare bedroom, we went for cream ‘Botanica’, also from the collaboration. Downstairs, we replaced the grey walls with hand-painted checks in soft green and lilac, which have totally transformed the space. It’s now light and airy. I spend a lot of time just staring its beauty.

The latest addition to my wardrobe…
The collection I designed for Brora earlier this year. I’ve barely taken it off.

The most useful item in my kitchen…
Our kettle. I drink a lot of tea.

What’s always in my fridge…
Yoghurt in different flavours – often cherry or rhubarb.

The prize bottle in my drinks cabinet…
Monkey 47 gin.

Hanging on my walls…
Most of our walls are covered with paintings by my mother, the artist Kate Corbett Winder. We have so many of her pieces it’s almost like a gallery.

I frame little treasures that I love too: pretty cotton bobbins, shells, snippets of antique fabrics. We have a few pieces by my friend Jemma Powell and I’m saving for a Chloe Lamb creation, or something by Huw Griffiths.

The knick-knacks on my mantlepiece…
There’s a lot going on here! I’ve covered the whole of the fire surround itself with shells, while the mantlepiece shelf hosts an ever-evolving still life. All my favourite trinkets end up here (if they haven’t yet been framed). There’s lots of antique pink lustreware, pink-and-white shells, cowries, crystals, stacks of cream-coloured books, dried alliums…

The books on my shelf right now..
I’ve just finished Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus, which I adored. Before that, Anya Hindmarch’s If In Doubt, Wash Your Hair: A Manual For Life. I thought Georgia Pritchett’s My Mess is a Bit of a Life was also absolutely brilliant.

The music on my stereo…
Mostly my Spotify playlists, which I play on repeat; I really need to be more adventurous.

I love listening to podcasts when I’m in the car. At the moment I’m really into The Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett, Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster, Sarah Raven and Arthur Parkinson’s Eat, Grow, Cook, Arrange, and I’m Absolutely Fine! by The Midult.

Growing in my garden…
The summer’s heat was brutal for my beds, so they looked pretty sad last season. My pots, however, have been great; until very recently they were bursting with dahlias (‘Tartan’, ‘Bishop of Dover’ and ‘Honka Fragile’), geraniums, white gaura, black sunflowers and wild strawberries.

Hidden away in my cupboards…
I hide everything in cupboards. I can’t stand mess, so I just shove everything behind a door.

I have a lot of coats and baskets that I’m always trying to hide. I conceal them under the stairs and pretend I don’t have a problem!

On my to-do list…
It’s a verrrry long list! Work-wise, I’ve just launched The Seedling, a newsletter full of interviews, articles and reviews about travel, interiors and gardening, as well as lots of seasonal flower inspiration. I’ve also got to develop more stock for my shop, and start thinking about creating my own video-tutorial platform. And I’m planning a podcast.

Personally, I want to travel more and to be more adventurous. Ever since lockdown I’ve felt a burning desire to show the boys the world.