This Christmas, local designer Beth Hannant is decorating the Castle - and it is a tall task. The theme is the 12 Days of Christmas “with a twist!” Beth assures me. Beth is a theatre designer by trade and specialises in bringing the outdoors indoors – she has even turfed a theatre’s stage as part of a design in the past. This is the key to this year’s décor; Beth is bringing the Castle alive by inviting
the stunning scenery in which the Castle is set to be part of its rooms. Beth explains, “Nature will be invading the Castle! You won’t find a partridge in a pear tree but you will find something. I also want to link the 12 days of Christmas to the Castles history - so it’s not run of the mill.” This is where the details come in and Beth has referenced historical documents about Leeds Castle life to gain some of her inspiration “Lady Baillie would not allow black grapes in the Castle at Christmas and so we have made white grapes from acorns”. It is the little touches like this that bring the magic to life and link contemporary, living design to this inspiring stone castle.
Since early May Beth has been working on the design brief (most of which is top secret and no amount of cajoling would break Beth’s silence) and keeping her eyes out for décor inspiration. The Castle is heavily linked to bird life with the majestic swans and peacocks claiming their territory within the grounds. We know that one of the displays will include the ‘Four Calling Birds’ and I saw two bird boxes made from feathers, “I did look crazy picking bird kill off of the road” Beth admits but the result is some stunning artwork. Making use of nature’s larder is part of the brief and Beth has been utilising all sorts of natural products including Honesty, Willow – which Beth has been happiest working with – and Eucalyptus bark. Some designs do need a wire base too but where ever possible a natural product is used.
The palette of the decoration will largely be taken from the colours of the 1920’s and the noble peacocks which strut around the grounds – royal blues, pea-green and turquoise with glitter and a thread of white and silver woven into the design. There will be a magnificent 25ft tree in the main stairway and Beth hopes visitors will learn something new about the castle through her designs as well as appreciate them for their aesthetics. The Queen’s bedroom and spiral staircase are going to see the most dramatic transformation but there will be twelve rooms featured.
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