The Minimal, Clutter-Free Home of a Design Couple (and Five Kids) in the UK
Photography by Maria Le Mesurier
In spite of their minimalist tendencies, there’s plenty of arresting visual interest in the 17th-century UK home of the couple behind WoodEdit. Instead of color, Maria and Paul rely on found foliage to breathe life into rooms. And in lieu of patterns, they emphasize textures, like linen, terra-cotta, sisal, and wood. And the key to maintaining a tidy minimalist home with their five children? Lots of layering.
Boot racks in the entry. "I hang endless baskets from the peg rails and lots get chucked in them—Lego pieces, cars, hats and gloves, loo rolls," says Maria.
WoodEdit's Kitchen Table Style 1 and, in the corner, old fruit-picking baskets now used to contain firewood.
In the kitchen, Maria allows for a pretty display in one open cabinet but everything else is kept behind doors.
In the winter months, she swaps out light-colored fabrics for darker ones, like this Portuguese terracotta-hued linen curtain in the kitchen.
Branches of silver birch in an antique Italian pot.
“In the play room, the walls are very damp. I stapled hessian sacking to the walls, so we can delay the repair!"
In the bathroom, Maria repurposed a sturdy branch she found on her property as a curtain rod.