GRAZIA

September 2007

ROOM WITH A VIEW
With a mix of quirky antiques and splashes of colour, Amber Galloway’s house is a far from run of the mill.

Most of us pull back the curtain to a view of our neighbour’s house – but not Amber Galloway.  The first thing she sees every morning is a river gently winding its way past her garden.  Her home, a 400 year old mill, sits right over the water, and to get the best of the vista she has placed her gigantic bed right up against the window, facing out.  ‘On Sundays I have breakfast in bed and read the papers, and everyone joins me – my son Oliver, the dogs, and if we have visitors, even they end up here!’ she says.  Amber ditched a stressful London life as a luxury property developer for the peace of rural Hampshire seven years ago, when Oliver was a baby.  ‘I no longer had enough fire in my belly to get on the phone and shout at builders every day’, says Amber.  ‘I wanted to be a full-time mother.’  She saw ‘loads’ of properties before she fell in love with this one, a creaky but atmospheric old house at the end of an overgrown drive.  ‘I didn’t even need to see inside, I just knew this was the place I wanted to be, ‘says Amber.  ‘It had a real feeling of sanctuary.’  The property was a mess, thought.  ‘There was water pouring down the inside walls, and god knows how many rodents had taken up residence,’ says Amber.  ‘Four skips and many sloshes of paint later, it looked much better.  But it’s a full of holes that allow the wind to blow through and animals to get in.  You get used to it!’  Unusual furniture and accessories in textures from fabric and leather to glass, silver, wood and china ensure a cosy vibe.  Amber buys what she loves, then finds a place for it.  It’s a philosophy that she uses for her online fashion and interiors shop Global and Gorgeous, which she runs from home.  ‘I love shopping and looking at pretty things, so it was a natural thing to do,’ she says.  We do understand!