Nicola Harding’s designs are usually full of contrasting colours, but we rather love this toned down scheme in a Jacobean country house, where walls in Pure & Original’s ‘Calm’ allow the gilt-framed paintings and blue and orange upholstery to stand out.

Paul Massey

Here at House & Garden we’re steeped in the tradition of country houses – places that have often been owned by generations of the same family, where antiques and pictures acquired centuries ago mix with recent additions. In reality, there may not be many such houses left, but their style has left its mark on the way we decorate, and there are few things we like more than a layered, relaxed country living room, where old and new sit happily together. We’ve gathered our favourite rooms that exemplify this idea – some of them look like they could have existed forever, while others have a decidedly contemporary feel. Some are in tiny cottages, and others in grand manors, but all of them are places we’d like to put our feet up and stay for the weekend.