Chatsworth house in Derbyshire is the seat of the Duke of Devonshire and has been home to the aristocratic Cavendish family, since the Countess of Shrewsbury – later Lady Cavendish – settled here in 1549 with her second husband Sir William Cavendish. M’ lady was married four times in all and had a pretty tasty collection of furniture and textiles, which she bequethed to her heirs to be preserved. Family Cavendish has been adding to it ever since. Chatsworth house now contains oodles of ancient and contemporary paintings, furniture, sculptures and artifacts, all of which you can snap away at while the staff of the house smile on and answer questions.

So, I know what you’re thinking – how do I get the Chatsworth look? Here’s my 10-step guide…

Step 1: Paint murals on your walls and ceilings, especially in the hallway. You may need to invest in bigger ladders.

Step 2: Gild your window frames with a bit of gold leaf. Budget for this.

Step 3: Decorate with fossils. Big ones.

Step 4: Hang hand-drawn Chinese wallpaper. All over the place.

Step 5: Hang up some of your ancestors’ old art that you’ve got knocking around the place. Ideally on some nice wallpaper by an old chair.

Step 6: Buy some contemporary ceramics and arrange around the fire.

Step 7: Mix up your chairs – use ones with tapestry seats where possible.

Step 8: Get someone to knock up a bit of wood carving on the walls. Think garlands and cherubs.

Step 9: Ask some well-known artists*  to draw your family and pets.

*clockwise from left, The Three Olympians by Susan Crawford, Henry Wyndham by Justin Mortimer and Lady with a Little Bird by Michael Leanard.

Step 10: Dedicate one of your rooms to sculpture. Note, ideal if you can clad all walls in high quality stone.

I hope you found some of this useful.

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