‘I Would Remortgage My House For A Mattress’: Craig Revel Horwood On His Home Reno

More accustomed to the glitz and sequins of the Strictly ballroom than the dust and paint fumes of a building site, Craig Revel Horwood is now swapping out spray tans for plasterboard as he embarks on a head-to-toe renovation of his countryside home. With his new position as Sofology‘s Head of Fusstomer Experience (more on that later), we caught up with Craig to find out all about his taste in interiors.

Q&A: Craig Revel Horwood On His Home Renovation

Craig is working with Sofology who pride themselves on being there for fussy ones, visit sofology.co.uk

Have you always been interested in interiors or is this a newfound love of yours?

It all began when I was renting. I was living in Camden Town in London and renting a big house that was falling down. We asked the owners if we could paint and decorate it to fix it up a bit. So it started as an ambition just to be in a nicer space. But I went as far as sanding the floorboards and then varnishing them because I wanted it to look like I was living in Mayfair. We had an Egyptian bathroom for instance; I was making artefacts and things for that. And then when I bought my first home in Camden I had to choose colours for the front of the house and choose the interiors. That was the first time I’d done that to something I actually owned, and then I did fall in love with it.

Did you buy this property on the hunt for a renovation? 

No, I didn’t really want a project. I just fell in love with the house. I love the aspect, the land that it’s on, the view, and I really love all the Stamford stone. It was two houses that have been made into one, one of which was built in 1867. It was done in a less than sympathetic way, you might say, and nothing seemed like it was in the right place. The layout was completely wrong. I hated the tiles. There were old bits and new bits. Nothing matched. There was a room that was totally useless that I just ended up using as a cabaret lounge.

After living here for a couple of years I know how to use the space: where the sun rises, what it’s like in winter, where you see the last sunsets of summer. And I think that’s really important. I don’t think I could have come in immediately and done it without living here first. 

How thorough is the renovation? 

I actually have no outdoor walls at all. There’s just a roof and second storey which is being held up by poles. I’m currently living in a one-up, two-down annex. So it’s basically the size of caravan.

On your Instagram you joked that you hoped it would only take two weeks. I guess it’s going to last longer than that?

After a year, we came up with a plan. Then it took another year to get planning permission. It’s in the demolition stage and then the first bit will begin in a month. I think we’re looking at August next year, which is alarming. I’m just glad something’s happening. 

How would you describe your interior design style? Are there any particular eras you’re drawn to?

I have various and I change like the weather. When I was living in Camden, it was all a little bit esoteric: deep purples and golds, bright oranges, and blow-up clear plastic furniture. We had all glass shelves with glasses on them that would rattle as the tube went underneath the house. I sort of grew out of that, and then went to browns and stuff like that.

In this property, I just want it to be more neutral and let my artefacts and my worldly possessions be shown off by the house, instead of the house showing itself off. I don’t want the house to be art, I want the house to be a beautiful, comfortable, gorgeous space that you can walk through in peace and tranquillity. My life is so so busy that it’s nice to come home to a sense of calm. I don’t want any sense of busyness. But my style has changed. I’m in love with the Art Deco era, so I do want to devote one of the rooms to all my gold stuff: palm trees, pineapples, my ’30s trolley. But the rest of the house I want to be reasonably neutral. 

In your previous properties you had glittery panther and dalmatian statues. It seems like quite a shift…

I did have a glitter panther, which I still intend to use, of course. I still want to use those elements, but have them shining out of something that’s quite tranquil. You could say beige, but it’s not beige; it’s architecturally beautiful. There’s a lot of wood going into the house. There’s a lot of natural cladding and things that fit into the village itself, because it’s a conservation area. We’re trying to keep everything as local as we can. 

Have you worked with a designer for this project? What’s the collaboration process like? 

Thankfully I already knew our architect Adam Knibb because we’ve been through a design process before but it never came to fruition. It was meant to be built and then Covid hit; I ended up selling that house and moving. 

I’ve had time to think about what mistakes I made in the last house, which was putting sparkly floors down that no one wants apart from me and were terrible to clean. I want this to be one beautiful, fabulous vision. I’m working closely with Adam and my interior designer, Cleo, who is amazing. I didn’t think I’d need one because I thought, ‘I could do that’. But actually, she’s come up with the most incredible ideas that I never would have thought of and, I’ve got to say, she’s my taste monitor. She stops me making those terrible, outlandish Liberace gestures around the house. There are moments and places for them, but not the entire house like I did last time. 

Are you planning any unique rooms or fun features? Or anything to celebrate your Aussie roots?

I’m having a concert hall with a white baby grand in it as part of the Orangery extension. I’ve also still got an Australian suite where everything is sort of based around koalas and eucalyptus leaves. I’ve kept the eucalyptus trees out front because they’re the reason I bought the house in the first place. With the planting around the pool, we might go Australian. 

Tell me more about your garden plans.

My fiancé Jonathan is a horticulturist. He worked at Kew Gardens for three years and he’s got green fingers. Off the butler’s kitchen we’re having a whole kitchen garden and beyond that will be the outdoor kitchen with a great big pergola. There are going to be different zones. I’m having an aqua lounge on the opposite side that goes near the swimming pool – which will be quite big and expensive to heat. (I prefer a cold swim anyway!) I’m also getting a small swim spa which I can use in the winter, and a jacuzzi and sauna in the aqua lounge. 

What aspect of the renovation are you most excited about? 

I’m most excited about the catering kitchen. I think the heart of the house is your kitchen. My hobby is cooking. I live in hotels eight to nine months of the year and having a kitchen is really important to me. I like cooking for a lot of people; I’ll have 20 people over for a dinner party. I can’t get any of my commercial-sized pots or pans in a domestic 600 x 600 mm oven. I don’t think I could live without my commercial equipment. I have a lot of it in storage, so it needs to go somewhere. You can leave all the mess in the butler’s kitchen, and then go through to what I call the vol-au-vent kitchen where you can serve champagne and canapés. That will be a beautiful place to entertain. 

Sofology

You’ve recently been made Sofology’s Head of ‘Fusstomer’ Services – what on Earth does that mean?

As head of fusstomer experience, it’s my job to put the teams at Sofology stores to the test. As the nation’s fussiest undercover shopper, darling, I go in there to make sure that they can actually handle all the most particular requests that people have. I’ll say, ‘Oh, I’ve got a sparkly panther. What’s going to go with that?’ And they’ll be able to say, well, actually, this goes with that. 

The Sofology thing celebrates fussy mindsets like me – and the art of choosing well. I thought it was a perfect fit, actually, because I was thinking I need six types of sofas in my house. I’d like to keep it under the same umbrella. I don’t want to be going around spending £50,000 on a designer sofa that the dog will chew.

When you’re choosing, for instance, a sofa, you’re going to be living on that for quite a long time. It’s like a bed. I say, always spend money on your mattress. It doesn’t matter about the frame, but spend money on the mattress because you spend a third of your life on it. I would remortgage my house to buy a good mattress. I really would. I think it’s really important.

What’s your criteria for choosing the perfect sofa?

It has to be aesthetically pleasing. And the biggest thing is sitting down on it. And not only that but lying on it. I like to lie on the sofa and watch the telly. I need a sofa that accommodates both. I remember I bought a designer sofa – it was a terrible thing, very low to the floor. I never sat on it. I just loved the look of it. And then when I did go to sit on it, it was the most uncomfortable sofa I’ve ever sat on. It was in my cinema room and no one ever wanted to use it. So I’m not making that mistake again. 

Moving away from interiors, what are you doing these days to live a balanced life?

I try and take two days off a week if I can, because come November I’m going to be busy seven days a week as I’ll be doing panto – Cinderella in Nottingham – plus Strictly. I was nice to myself this year because I only got six days off last year and that was too much. I took July off to spend that time with my family from Australia, who flew over for my 60th birthday. And then I took August off as a holiday. Now I’ve regenerated, and I think that’s really important to have a work-life balance.

How are you feeling about this year’s Strictly Come Dancing line-up? 

I think it’s a really fantastic year. The celebrities are absolutely amazing. It’s been phenomenal. I’m so shocked by some of them. Lewis Cope, for instance, is extraordinary. Karen Carney: who would have thought she’d come out with that incredible jive? Wow, she was like a skyrocket exploding. It was amazing. I’m delighted with how it’s going, because we don’t want anyone to ever go, but someone’s got to leave each week. And I blame that on the audience, because they put them in the bottom two.

You mentioned the up-coming panto season. Is it tiring work?

I wouldn’t want to do anything else over Christmas, because I know what it would be like: I’d just be eating, eating, eating and more eating. This keeps me off the streets. It also entertains people and that’s what I think is important as well. And it’s fun. But yes, it’s really difficult, difficult work. It’s two shows every single day. I’m up at 9am to start warming my voice up. I’m in by 10:30am to start putting the drag on. Then I’m in heels, corsets and all of that stuff for nine hours. Then you finally get to relax at the hotel room, and then do the whole thing again. So it is difficult, but I always remind myself when I get exhausted that those kids that are coming to see it are future-proofing theatre. It’s often their first experience of live theatre after playing on their iPads and computer games – that’s what they’re used to, isn’t it? I think it’s really important to secure the future of all of our wonderful theatres in the UK. 

Find out more at sofology.co.uk