Style File: Veere Grenney
Having apprenticed under Mary Fox Linton and David Hicks in the early Eighties, and later worked as a director at Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler, Veere Grenney is one of the most respected names in British interior design, and as such is naturally a member of our Top 100 Interior Designers. We've put together a retrospective of our favourite Grenney-designed spaces, from a sophisticated modern country house in Norfolk to a bamboo-clad beach retreat in Mustique. Veere sums up his philosophy as "less cool, more beauty", and the interiors we've collected here are some of the most beautiful there are.
Simon Upton/The Interior Archive1/21The primary suite in Veere's London house, as featured in the book, Inside, At Home with Great Designers (Phaidon, 2022), is bedecked in white linen and gold silk trimming, from the drapes around the four-poster bed to the matching curtains. A lack of cupboards led Grenney to transform a small room on the floor below into a dressing room that features a bed cosily framed by ochre-coloured cashmere curtains. ‘I love the idea of creating niches of beds,’ says Grenney. ‘It’s like a child, you know – children love making huts under tables, so it’s got that element.’
Simon Upton2/21Though on the Norfolk coast, this handsome Regency house wears its beach credentials lightly, thanks to Veere, whose masterful mix of practical and decorative elements has created an elegant, liveable interior. In the entry hall, walls in Paint & Paper Library’s ‘Ziggardy’ archive design in a custom colourway set off the warmer tones of the door curtain in fabrics from Sandra Jordan’s Prima Alpaca collection, sourced from Holland & Sherry, and the brass ‘Florin’ wall light from Jamb. The internal door offers an inviting glimpse of the study.
Simon Upton3/21In a cosy corner of the Regency house's living space, the bespoke banquette in Guy Goodfellow Collection’s ‘Olive Sacking’ in cocoa is teamed with a 19th-century Hoshiarpur side table with bone inlay from Westenholz Antiques and a vintage spoon-back chair designed by Michael Taylor for Baker Furniture.
Simon Upton4/21Each bedroom in this Regency house has a strong colour scheme, with beds in marine ‘Rafe Stripe’ by Veere for Schumacher and ‘Malmaison Rayure’ in cedrat from Pierre Frey, and curtains in scarlet ‘Lin Glacé’ from Rubelli.
Lucas Allen5/21On a plot of farmland on the Atlantic coast of Long Island, a firm of Manhattan architects collaborated with Veere to create a barn-style holiday house for their clients that is appropriate to its rural setting, yet has all the accoutrements of stylish modern living. The sitting area, with its double-sided granite-faced chimney, has a summery bleached-oak floor.
Lucas Allen6/21The painting at the entrance to the main bedroom suite in the Long Island farmhouse – a calming, off-white oasis – is by Francis Picabia.
Lucas Allen7/21The screened porch in the same Long Island house, located on the first floor, is typical of traditional 'Shingle'-style houses. It is a place to sit and be cooled by cross breezes in the summer, the folding, louvred shutters acting as sunshades.
David Oliver8/21In this country house in Norfolk, the dressing room bed in this house has curtains in a wool felt from Holland & Sherry.
David Oliver9/21Connected to the conservatory, the kitchen in the country house is huge, but friendly. The island is from Orwells Furniture and tiles are from Ann Sacks in the alcove above the Aga.
David Oliver10/21Light fixtures crafted to look like stalks of wheat look handsome against the warm beige tone of the walls, armchair, and sofa in the country house.
David Oliver11/21In the main building of this beach house in Mustique, the 15-metre-long, open-plan sitting and dining room is decorated in similar neutral hues to the bamboo.
David Oliver12/21Below the sitting and dining room in the beach house is the TV room, in which the walls and ceiling are clad in the same cured bamboo from Saint Vincent.
David Oliver13/21The main bedroom in the Mustique beach house, set in a pavilion, has a bed from Soane.
14/21At this house in Hampshire, featured in Veere's book On Decorating (Rizzoli, 2018), Veere furnished the drawing room with twentieth-century pieces by Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand.
15/21Plaster palm trees and plates by Royal Worcester adorn the walls of this dining room in the same Hampshire house, which is decorated with painted shield-back chairs and a fireplace inspired by John Fowler.
Ngoc Minh Ngo16/21When Veere purchased this villa overlooking the Strait of Gilbraltar in Tangier, its garden was an untamed wilderness. With the help of talented friends, he has transformed it into an elegant series of terraces with eye-catching planting that enhances the breathtaking views.
17/21The Indian guest bedroom at Veere's house, the Gazebo, in Tangier, was featured in On Decorating (Rizzoli, 2018). With Moroccan embroidered curtains and hand-stenciled walls by Alistair Erskine, the room is a calm, welcoming oasis, perfect for guests.
18/21The walls in Veere's library at the Gazebo in Tangier, as seen in On Decorating (Rizzoli, 2018), were hand-painted by Alistair Erskine as an homage to Renzo Mongiardino.
Simon Upton Veranda Magazine19/21Veere Grenney's second home is a eighteenth-century folly in Suffolk previously owned by David Hicks. 'When I first moved here, it was quite primitive. Charming, but not comfortable,' says Veere. 'Of course, it was never meant to be lived in. So apart from the grand salon (pictured), which is the focal point of the house, the rest is rather small. The challenge with the decoration was to ensure that there was a balance between the two. It needed to be formal but comfortable.'
This has been achieved through an airy colour scheme and clever furniture choices. An 1810 Directoire chair faces an ottoman covered in velvet from Décor de Paris, while the wing chair is upholstered in 'Temple' fabric from Veere Grenney.
Simon Upton Veranda Magazine20/21The festoon blinds in the salon in Veere's Suffolk holiday home - made of Fox Linton satin and taffeta from Tissus d'Hélène - disguise the fact that the windows on one side of the room finish higher than those on the other.
Simon Upton Veranda Magazine21/21'In the main bedroom [of Veere's holiday house], there is only room for a bed, but one way to make a room like this seem bigger is to select a compact four-poster. It creates a feeling of grandeur and makes the proportions of the room seem larger.'
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