Take a pew

Vintage fruit-picking ladders – stalwarts of orchards for hundreds of years – are now cherished for their rustic charm and are finding new life as stylish, functional pieces in modern homes, as Alice Roberton explains

Often reflecting the vernacular, flooring in a period home is guided by landscape and locality, but global travel and interaction over the centuries also began to influence design aspirations

Buying guide

We regularly come back to Dean Antiques, and rightly so: Dean Gipson’s stock is exceptional, especially for country house tastes. Suited to this style, the company deals a lot in restored and recovere

Budget airlines love to charge extra for luggage, with pricing structures that can make checking in a suitcase almost as expensive as booking a seat. Consequently, this summer, lots of holidaymakers w

Buying a property that includes a ruin carries undoubted romance, but there are caveats, reminds Lucy Denton, who advises on the help at hand