Georgian interiors tend to be decorated with quiet, tasteful dignity – all subdued hues and well-polished wood. But Nicola Gill, the owner of the Old Stout House in Rye, East Sussex, wasn’t fired up by this approach: “I didn’t want to do another Georgian renovation with a palette of sludgy neutrals, portraits leaning against walls and pared-back styling. The Georgians were exuberant, colourful and hedonistic, using vibrant colours and pattern. I wanted an uplifting clash of styles, eras, patterns, textures and colour.”
Built in the late 18th century, the building has a varied past – as an ale house, a grocer’s and a haberdasher’s before becoming a home in the 1960s. When Gill, a writer and interior designer, and her musician partner Pete found the place in late 2021, it was completely unmodernised, with no central heating and ancient electrics and plumbing.
