Part I - A Fresh Perspective on Antiques, with Interior Designer Lizzy Mills

Auctions are a fantastic place to furnish your home, whatever your style or budget.

With a mix of antiques from the 17^th to the 19^th century as well as key pieces of 20^th century design and contemporary designer furniture, Tennants can help you source unique, beautiful objects for your home. Mix and match different periods and styles, throw in some vintage prints or Victorian taxidermy and turn your house into a home.

To get a fresh perspective, we asked interior designer Lizzy Mills of Tennant Mills to collaborate with us for a day. We gave her the run of the salerooms, to pick out pieces that caught her eye and put together a selection to inspire you.

First up was a selection of items from the Modern Living: Art & Design Sale on 20^th October.

Including: ‘Tomorrow, Tomorrow, Tomorrow II’ by Tom Wood (b.1955) – Estimate: £300-500 plus buyer’s premium

“The Modern sales are amongst my favourite sales.  You can always find some fantastic pieces often for reasonable money.  I love this little scene.  The overall look is really calm, whilst the individual pieces are so interesting.  The chair is a fabulous shape and I always love a bit of cane work; the painting is strong and visually arresting.  And it wouldn't be a Tennants’ sale without some Mouseman”.  

“I think it's fair to say my husband would trade in all the furniture in our house to own a Charles and Ray Eames lounge chair and ottoman like this (estimate: £1,000-1,500 plus buyer’s premium).  They need so little styling - being such a style icon, they stand alone perfectly well - but this vibrant screen-print really sets it off”.

From upcoming Country House, Antiques and Interiors and Specialist Sales, Lizzy put together a mix of period and modern pieces to create a fresh take on a period interior.

Including: ‘A Small Bouquet’, Endre Roder (b.1933) – Estimate: £500-800 plus buyer’s premium in the Modern Living: Art & Design Sale on 20^th October. A taxidermy Kingfisher, c.1900, by Rowland Ward of Piccadilly – Estimate: £250-350 plus buyer’s premium in the Natural History & Taxidermy Sale on 5^th October.

“Again, there is so much to be intrigued by in this scene on an individual level, whilst the overall look is cohesive, tied together largely by colour. When it comes to colour, this painting really hits the spot.  If you have strong colours in a piece of artwork, it can work well to use this as the starting point for your scheme.  All sorts of interesting but otherwise unconnected items, can be linked together harmoniously through colour”. 

About Lizzy Mills

Lizzy runs Tennant Mills, a residential interior design studio in Surrey. Interior Design had always been a dream of Lizzy’s; after having her two daughters, she left her career in Law and has trained at KLC School of Design in London.

The collaboration with Tennants brings Lizzy full circle. Her father is John Tennant, who built the company from its early days in Middleham alongside his brother, Rodney, the current chairman. Having worked in the salerooms as a child, the immersive experience at a young age continues to influence her work; she enjoys combining different styles and periods in her designs from antique to modern, be it art, furniture, or decorative touches.