Thomas Barrie

Albion

Feature writer – @britishgq @_houseandgarden @VFLDN . Contributor – @sohohouse @KCRWPressPlay @TheFaceMagazine. Mook with dreams of knighthood

Articles

A rare 1,000-acre island on the Scottish west coast is up for sale - and comes with eight houses and a castle

1 week ago | houseandgarden.co.uk | Thomas Barrie

The 50-room Shuna Castle sits at the northern tip of Shuna IslandFurther confirmation that private islands off the Atlantic coast of Scotland are the refuge of villainous millionaires, nature lovers, or both – this week a private island, Shuna, went up for sale for the first time in 80 years at an asking price of £5.5 million. Over 1,110 acres, rugged Shuna includes eight houses, a livestock farm, extensive grounds for shooting and stalking, a cornucopia of wildlife and, of course, a castle.
Three clever layout tricks for narrow hallways and entryways

2 weeks ago | houseandgarden.co.uk | Thomas Barrie

A neat umbrella stand in the hallway of a 1930s flat by Daniel SlowikBoz GagovskiThe first space you enter in a house sets the tone for the rest of it, be it a cosy passageway or a high-ceilinged, airy entryway. Unfortunately, in many houses and flats this can also be an in-between, liminal space, and one which hasn’t been as consciously thought about as, say, a kitchen or a bedroom.
The loveliest places to stay in Sussex

3 weeks ago | houseandgarden.co.uk | Thomas Barrie

The George in RyeSussex sits in that perfect in-between realm of the countryside, rural enough to feel like a break from the big city – which for most visitors would normally be London – but not so remote as to be a pain to get to from the capital or elsewhere in the south of England.
The cleverest houses we’ve seen on a budget and what to learn from them

3 weeks ago | houseandgarden.co.uk | Thomas Barrie

All to often, a stunning project catches one’s eye, only for the detailed breakdown of its visual ingredients to reveal the usual to-die-for suspects – de Gournay wallpaper, Pierre Frey fabrics, ten-thousand-pound statement sofas – which put such design schemes out of reach for the average person. And while we love and cherish a super-high-end design concept done sympathetically, it can sometimes feel like excellent interiors are hard to come by without paying through the nose.
Design ideas for open shelving in kitchens

3 weeks ago | houseandgarden.co.uk | Thomas Barrie

Studio Peake maintained the Arts & Crafts look of this Surrey house by housing the shelves in a rounded archway. Designed and created by 202 Design, these units are painted in a combination of Argile’s ‘Blanc de Meudon’ and Farrow & Ball’s ‘Suffield Green’.
A textile designer’s bright, airy Swedish summer bolt-hole

4 weeks ago | houseandgarden.co.uk | Thomas Barrie

Cathy Nordström wasn’t going to buy a summer house in Torekov. The tiny Swedish fishing village, on the northwest edge of a peninsula in Skåne in the south of the country, was home to her parents’ summer house, as well as those of “aunts, uncles, cousins and second cousins”. A lifetime of holidays there almost persuaded Cathy, a textile and wallpaper designer, “to rebel” against going down the same route.
The Nectar Memory Foam Mattress Is Worth the Hype

1 month ago | gq.com | Thomas Barrie

All products featured on GQ are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links. What, I found myself asking this morning, are the best critiques of the Nectar Memory Foam Mattress? A simple question—but one that was making me increasingly frustrated. Where does it fall short of a good night’s sleep? In what situation do you wake up overheated and sweaty, or with a brutally sore back?
The kitchen peninsula: a more collaborative version of the kitchen island

1 month ago | houseandgarden.co.uk | Thomas Barrie

Dean HearneThe kitchen island is a well established and generally understood concept within design, but what about the kitchen peninsula? As you might have guessed from the dubiously related name, a kitchen peninsula is an island which is accessible on three sides, rather than all four. (Does the existence of the “peninsula” imply that there are kitchen continents or kitchen archipelagos?) It’s connected at one end to a wall, but still offers (most of) the accessibility and storage of an island.
The joyfully eccentric London house of designer Phoebe Hollond

1 month ago | houseandgarden.co.uk | Thomas Barrie

The ottoman in the front section of the sitting room was custom-made and upholstered in a George Spencer velvet. The sofa is a George Smith original, upholstered in Studio Hollond’s ‘Duchessina’ fabric, while the curtains are Lewis & Wood’s Belgian linen. The hanging lampshade is an antique, found on Vinterior. Dean HearneWhen Phoebe Hollond and her husband bought their Victorian townhouse in Shepherd’s Bush in 2017, they were looking for a house in which they could put down roots.
Nectar memory foam mattress review 2025: A 25cm dream

1 month ago | gq-magazine.co.uk | Thomas Barrie

All products are independently selected by our editors. If you buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission. What, I found myself asking this morning, are the best critiques of Nectar’s 25cm Premium Memory Foam mattress? A simple question but one that was making me increasingly frustrated to not get an answer to. Where does it fall short of a good night’s sleep? In what situation do you wake up overheated and sweaty, or with a brutal crick in your back?